It was a fairly long journey across the straight to Nanaimo. I was heading to the island to visit my pal’s parents for a historical food party. The parents lived in the boonies of Merville, a delightfully isolated community hidden in the rural hinterlands of little Courtenay. The beauty of the place is in the simplicity. Unlike us city dwellers, my friend’s parents live on a compound they built almost entirely themselves. They home features cutting edge heat preserving windows for those gloomy days next to Mt. Washington. Showers with your partner are encouraged to save water (lovely!) and our hosts had even recently installed a couple low flow toilets (anyone know how these work?).
Not far away stand row after row of vegetables, enough to feed a small Napoleonic army. Potatoes, tomatoes, herbs - you name it. The foods there and it’s just about as local as humanly possible. Next to the vegetable patches is the chicken coup. Need some eggs or looking for some poultry to go with your meal. Want to experience the thrill of harvesting your own eggs. It’s all there - like some sort of countryside Disneyland.
On the ferry ride back I started to think of all the nifty things living on the countryside provides, and just how many of these things are transferable to our homes here in the city.
Sounds like a great time!
This late-December-holiday I installed a low flow toilet at my mom’s place. I’m not an expert on how they work, but they do and they do work well.
I often think of how to ruralize my new metropolitan home. Last summer I gardened on my deck, mostly herbs and salady things. This year I’m ready for tomatoes and some more ambitious stuff, but for the life of me I can’t convince my strata council that chickens are a cool thing to keep on the 4th floor…