…is probably not what you think.
I run about twice a week, three times if it’s leading up to an organized run (TC10K or something similar), which I don’t do that often. I don’t run as often as I would like considering how much I enjoy it. I rationalize not running by telling myself that the other things I’m doing are more important. Then I run and I realize all over again that, what I get out of running actually enhances all those ‘other’ things.
I’m getting to the point, please bare with me.
My Twitter bio says that “running calms me”, which it does.Today I went for a longer than usual run. And I ran in the late afternoon which seems to suit me better than running in the morning. I pushed myself particularly hard the last kilometre. The sounds from the iPod helped (Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield)
So here’s what I like most about running - that 10 minute walk at the end of the run. And not because of the fact that I’ve stopped running and now I can walk, although that plays into it. It’s the metaphysical feeling, the clarity of mind I get during that walk, especially after a hard run.
Today I turned off the iPod, and just walked with the wind and setting sun on my face and the smell of the trees around me. I reach that same calm state after meditating, which I haven’t actually done in a long time, too long.
Today that clarity turned into an awareness; the answer to question I’ve been asking myself for a while. A big decision, bigger than buying a car or a house or a washing machine. It feels good…
What do you like most about running?
Tags: running
In case you weren’t able to attend the Glendale Gardens 30th anniversary celebration, here are the speaking notes from both Roger Charles (Executive Director) and Joanna Drewry (President).
Roger Charles (Executive Director, The Horticulture Centre of the Pacific)
Ladies and Gentlemen,
12 months ago I had never heard of the Horticulture Centre of the Pacific or the Glendale Gardens even though I have been coming to Victoria for over 50 years.
When I became aware of the HCP, what struck me most was the Vision Statement, to wit,
Glendale Gardens and Woodland will be a beautiful, locally treasured garden and internationally recognized centre for horticulture education, celebrating the importance of plants in a sustainable world.
To me this vision is the essence of what differentiates the HCP from Abkhazi Gardens, Butchart Gardens as well as our sister post secondary institutions. We are a garden and we are an education centre.
And if you look back to the original visionaries, they planned as phase two a Pacific School of Horticulture which would, and I quote “ have the development of vocational training programs, with a curriculum emphasizing a combination of practical garden experience with formal classroom learning leading to an international recognized diploma in horticulture.”
This vision has been realized.
They went on, “The school will provide the unusual atmosphere of a small institution, encouraging intimate contact and exchange of ideas and horticulture techniques among students and faculty drawn from Canada and the Pacific Rim countries.
This vision has been realized.
And so where to now?
We are not satisfied with our student numbers so we need to build them up. A new website is to be launched for the college alone and we are reaching out to employers, to partnering institutions and to individuals who are seeking a true understanding of nature and its productive forces.
We need to develop an applied research function so we are in talks with the University of Victoria and the Plant Research Centre.
This is a propitious time to be the Horticulture Centre of the Pacific. The global zeitgeist is organic, sustainable, 100 mile diets. That is what we are. That is what we offer to you our honoured guests and our loyal members.
But most importantly of all, that is what we offer to the younger generations and to future generations. We have the people, we have the skills and we have the gardens. Today’s young people now have the desire. Our primary goal now is to let the young know there is a scientifically sustainable way to provide food for the future.
With the financial support of Telus and TD Bank and the sweat and intelligence of our students, we are building an urban garden that incorporates all the latest knowledge on environmental sustainability matched with food production.
The urban garden is being built to the highest principles of environmental sustainability focusing on energy, water and soil. Energy will be generated by solar panels to heat a greenhouse and pump water. A pond created by irrigation run off will provide the water and algae growing on the water will provide nutrients for the soil. Staff and students are working on the concepts even as I speak.
This urban garden is surrounded by all the other gardens lovingly and passionately maintained by our volunteers and the conservation area which is so central to our future development.
I want to thank the volunteers for the passionate commitment to these gardens as well as the support of the Municipality of Saanich and BC government without which we would not be here today.
We have a dynamic vision for the future that is based on what all these people and institutions have constructed and supported so tirelessly over the past 30 years.
Thank You
Joanna Drewry (President, Horticulture Centre of the Pacific Society)
Speaking notes for 30th Anniversary Celebration – July 18, 2009
Welcome to our Education Fair – our celebration of this 30th Anniversary of the Horticulture Centre of the Pacific. We are delighted that representatives of the federal government, provincial government, and the Municipality of Saanich and several other municipalities have all kindly agreed to be with us today to participate in this special occasion. Particular thanks to the Hon. Murray Coell who has taken time from his busy schedule to be our keynote speaker.
This event really is a celebration for those who created this wonderful garden and college. Since 1979 there have been hundreds of people who have volunteered their labour, time, love, money and dedicated support to building this organization. They ensured that it continued and thrived. Many of you are here today and to you a warm THANK YOU.
This 42 hectare (103 acre) site was provided by the Province of British Columbia. The province drew up the lease with the Horticulture Centre of the Pacific Society in 1979. Thank you to the Province of British Columbia for making it possible for this Centre to be created. Mel Couvelier, today’s Honorary Chair, was Mayor of Saanich when the Centre started and Saanich has, since that time, provided the Centre with substantial support each year. Thanks to Mayor Leonard and the Saanich Muncipal Council. That ongoing support for the Centre has enabled it to become what it is today.
The creative energy that started this Centre is as strong today as it was 30 years ago. Today we are announcing the creation of an Urban Garden, a garden that will be a huge draw for young and old alike who want to learn more about growing their own food. It is possible through a generous $10K donation received from TD Bank and Telus to help the Centre increase its focus on youth. The students of the Pacific Horticulture College are building the Urban Garden as their group project. With the addition of this garden we will have more than 30 demonstration gardens.
This beautiful place which today we know as Glendale Gardens began as a dream more than 30 years ago when leaders in the community agreed that a major horticulture centre showcasing gardens from Pacific Rim countries would be ideally sited in the Victoria area. A major part of that dream was to create a Pacific Horticulture College. It is the College that is at the core of our vision for the future here.
Our College is unique. It is sited in this beautiful teaching garden where practical skills are taught by highly qualified instructors. We have sought out the most knowledgeable instructors in a wide range of disciplines for both practical skills and academic training. Today we have more than 400 alumni working in every aspect of the landscape industry. Employment for our graduates is a guarantee. We tell our students that they will all be working within 3 to 4 months of graduation. Those who start their own landscaping businesses are turning work away within the first year after graduation.
Today we are increasing the reach of the Pacific Horticulture College by giving more community education programs and additional courses for the horticulture industry. This is a teaching garden – a place where gardeners come to learn more about gardening in our lush sub-Mediterranean climate. We offer dozens of community education courses throughout the year. Want to learn to garden in Victoria? This is the place.
Since the first class graduated in 1986, our Pacific Horticulture College has become a distinguished accredited college whose graduates enjoy careers in every aspect of horticulture.
Today we are expanding our reach, seeking to draw students nationally and internationally. We are expanding our programs and anticipate increased demand for our courses. Several of our graduates are with us today – and several of them have come to love these gardens so much that they now work here as volunteers.
We are the training site for the Victoria Master Gardener Association, we provide training courses here for the horticultural industry and we offer on-going learning experiences for the hundreds of volunteers who come here every week to work in the gardens.
Please take time to enjoy the Educational Fair, with some of our community partners that we have invited to be with us for today’s celebration. Go down and look at Cob House building, the Bonsai Club’s display, the Dry Stone Wall building display and chat with the Master Gardeners.
On behalf of myself and the current Board, a heartfelt thanks to all of you who are here today who have made this wonderful place what it has become. And to those visitors who are new to Glendale Gardens, please take time to explore and enjoy. We would love to welcome you back as Students, Members or Volunteers. Enjoy this beautiful day!
Tags: Glendale Gardens
Yesterday I attended the 30th anniversary celebration of Glendale Gardens, 
which is also home to the Pacific Horticulture College. I have been visiting the gardens every couple of months for the past few years and had no idea it had such a rich history and vibrant back story.
The event was well attended (admission was free) and featured guest speaker Murray Coell (Minister of Labour and BC Liberal MLA for Saanich North) as well as a number of local and provincial politicians including; Ida Chong (Minister of Healthy Living and Sport), Gary Lunn (Minister of State and Sport), Mel Couvelier (former Mayor of Saanich) Mel was mayor of Saanich when the initial proposal for the Pacific Horticulture Centre was drafted back in 1978, the current Mayor of Saanich Frank Leonard and Dr. Keith Martin (MP for Esquimalt Juan de Fuca).
Joanna Drewry (President of Glendale Gardens) announced the creation of a new Urban Garden, a garden that will be a huge draw for young and old alike who want to learn more about growing their own food. It is made possible through a generous $10K donation received from TD Bank and Telus to help the Centre increase its focus on youth. The students of the Pacific Horticulture College are building the Urban Garden as their group project. You can see the full text of the speeches from both Roger Charles and Joanna Drewry.
The Back Story
I learned that the original name “Horticulture Centre of the Pacific” (HCP) was changed to the current Glendale Gardens & Woodland in 2006. However, I can’t say the I have ever heard anyone refer to it using the “& Woodland” portion of the name. Glendale comes from the name of the valley area which includes the Vancouver Island Technology Park, run by the University of Victoria, Camosun College and the Pacific Sports Complex.
The gardens were developed over time with the help of many dedicated volunteers and philanthropic donors including the Doris Page Winter Garden, the Takata Zen garden (my personal favourite) and of course a Rhodo garden. Any garden worth its salt in Victoria has to have a good Rhodo garden.
Gardener’s Garden
They call Glendale “the gardener’s garden” and I guess that’s what I love most about it. I have taken home many gardening ideas, as well as plants, they sell plants at a good price. The plant labels are very helpful and so are the gardeners and volunteers that I’ve talked to along the way.
The other nice thing about Glendale is the Pacific Horticulture College which offers a number of courses, lectures and programs. We found out about the college two years ago when we enrolled our, then 6-year old daughter, in the Junior Master Gardener camp. What a wonderful experience it was for her to learn about the earth, soil, plants, where our food comes from and how it’s grown. You just cannot get that from a book. She loved planting her own vegetables, weeding the gardens and making compost. She has since created her own garden space in our backyard and tries growing new vegetables each year.
I have taken several classes at the college and would love to find the time to take the 16-week Master Gardener Course. Until then I’ll have to get my fix from occasional visits and working in my own garden.
Garden facts:
- 9 acres of spectacular gardens showcase over 10,000 varieties of plants, the majority of which are labeled.
- 34 different areas are designed and planted to demonstrate landscaping techniques suitable for the Pacific Northwest.
- Some gardens are cared for by local clubs including: Heather, Rhododendron, Lily and Hardy Plant
- Year-round interest includes the renowned Doris Page Winter Garden
Images below: Left - Roger Charles (Executive Director) and Joanna Drewry (President) talk to Dr. Keith Martin. Right - a bench being fashioned from clay and straw.
If you’d like to see more photos of the event and Glendale Gardens check out my photo album on Facebook.
I would love to hear your comments about Glendale Gardens. Please use the comments box below to share your thoughts or story.
As I walked around the lower bowl of the festival the most wonderful scent caught my attention and lead me to the Rocky Mountain Soap booth where I met co-owner and manager Kazuyo Iga.
Franchise opportunity
Kazuyo worked in the Banff location for four years when in November of 2007 her and husband Scott decided to open the franchise at Mayfair mall in Victoria. This is their second year as exhibitors at the festival and say they are seeing although there seems to be less foot traffic to the booth than last year, they’re happy to hear that many people already know them and are seeking the out.
Kazuyo echoed what I have been hearing from many other exhibitors, that most of their customers are much more knowledgeable about the products and their value.
Rocky Mountain Soap uses only 100% natural ingredients, the finest essential oils, real grains, berries, and other sources that Mother Nature provides. They offer a wide variety of soaps and bath products including Pumpkin Patch products designed specifically for eczema relief.
Free samples and redemption
Kazuyo was kind enough to send me off with a paper bag full of samples that my wife would have loved. But alas, I have to confess that in my travels from booth-to-booth I must have left it somewhere. Aack - my wife was so disappointed. Guess I’ll have to head down to Mayfair to redeem myself.
>> July 8 update: Scott (aka @FootButterGuy on Twitter) heard about my mishap and was kind enough to offer to replace my forgotten treasures. I swung by the store at Mayfair yesterday and sure enough there next to the til was a bag of Rocky Mountain Soap products waiting with my name on it. Thank you. Wife = happy. Me = redeemed.
Tags: Natural, Organic Islands Festival
As someone who lived in Japan for eight years and regretfully never attended a Japanese tea ceremony, I was happy to attend the tea ceremony hosted by Silk Road Tea at the festival today, in the very authentic tea room.
The tea house was founded and built by TAKATA volunteers and is use exclusively for Japanese Tea Ceremonies.
That’s where I met one of the founders of Silk Road Tea Daniela Cubelic. I wanted to watch the rest of the ceremony and we agreed to meet up later to talk tea.
A few hours later
I swung by the Silk Road booth and was greeted by a couple of gracious hosts offering me a choice of delicious organic teas. This is Silk Road’s fourth year as an exhibitor and “it keeps getting better every year”. Daniela noticed that the festival is growing and there are many more exhibitors which she likes because it means more local companies and producing natural organic products.
Daniella echoed what I had heard from other exhibitors, that attendees were more aware of the value and selection of organic products and were open t paying a price premium because they understand the value and benefits of what they are getting.
As a 17-year old company I assume that Silk Road Tea must be one of the original organic companies in Victoria. They sell only organic products and try to source as much locally as possible. They also have a “refill program” offering $0.50 off if you bring in your old tea tin.
What’s Daniella’s favourite tea? “Whichever Silk Road Tea I’m drinking at the time”. Which I guess means she loves them all…
Tags: Organic, Organic Islands Festival, tea
I love coffee and I really love organic coffee (just read my Twitter profile). So I was happy to stroll up to a line of stainless steel urns full of direct, organic, fair trade, dark roast coffee under the Level Ground Trading tent. Once the cheerful folks behind the coffee bar filled my cup, I sought out founder Hugo Ciro to find out more about the company.
Talking to Hugo was inspiring as an entrepreneur, coffee connoisseur and eco-leader. I learned that this is Level Ground’s fifth year as an exhibitor. They enjoyed the festival so much last year that they decided to become title sponsor or “organic champion”.
Level Ground Trading was founded by four Canadian families for the purpose of improving the lives of disadvantaged producers through trade. The company’s first trade relationship was setup through Hugo Ciro with a cooperative of small scale coffee farmers in Antioquia, Colombia.
In 1999, Level Ground moved to its own roasting and packaging facility in Central Saanich (north of Victoria BC). Since then they have roasted more than 1.5 million pounds of coffee. It supplies nearly 1,000 stores across North America with its products and 250 stores across British Columbia.
In 2008 they finally moved to a larger facility where they no longer feel like they’re crammed onto a subway car and the elbow room is greatly appreciated. With a larger facility and larger contracts they stepped up to write and implement more stringent standards and were recently recognized as a organic food processing facility.
Their “nearly zero” waste policy has reduced landfill waste by 90 per cent and won them an Ecostar award in 2005.
What impressed me the most? The strong, bold, yet smooth taste of that cup of Montaño from Bolivia. Mmmm…
Tags: coffee, Organic, Organic Islands Festival
I have good reason to feel grateful and blessed to be a father and to have two wonderful, healthy children, and I do. Then every year around this time my family (children and wife) remind me again just how very fortunate I really am.
The day started out with a delicious breakfast of waffles, fresh fruit, whip cream and mint, maple breakfast sausage and some Kick Ass Kicking Horse 454 HP brew, in my favourite TORONTO Starbucks mug. All made by my 8-year old daughter. She loves to cook.
That was followed up by a little gardening, one of my favourite things to do. You can find me in the garden pretty much every morning. We have a couple of vegetable gardens, a herb garden and lots of other stuff. I move plants around like people move furniture inside the house. I keep moving stuff around until I find a spot that they like and it looks good.
As a family we aspire to grow as much of what we eat as possible with the property and time we have spend on it. This beauty here we bought at the Langford Farmer’s market 2-weeks ago, ate most of it, stuck the roots in the ground, e voila, almost another full head of lettuce already.
Then it was off to James Bay for H’s summer violin recital. She was playing Vivaldi’s Concerto #5 First Movement. I just love watching her play. Sorry, no pics of the kids, Maki’s rules - I have to abide.
After the concert we went exploring. Someone mentioned ice cream so off we went. We ended up down at fisherman’s wharf. As we were getting out of the car the scent of deep fried haddock wafted over the bridge and suddenly we all got very hungry.
After a short wait in line we got our pager (yeah it was that busy) and took the opportunity to tour the neighborhood houseboats. Some pretty interesting and well-decorated houses floating around down there. This one is the home of Fortune Teller Bella Sera.
The pager paged and back to Barb’s we scurried to get our four 1-piece dinners; 1 piece of haddock, fries and coleslaw. We huddled into a warm corner of the tent out of the wind and tucked into our dinners. The batter was just light enough to keep the fish fresh and warm - not thick as an orange peel like you get at some places. Even the coleslaw was good which was completely unexpected. N ate all his coleslaw first. I’ve never known a kid that likes salad (any kind of salad) as much as he does. Hence all the lettuce we planted.
We finished up with the fish and headed over to the ice cream joint for some soft creams, even though we were all pretty much stuffed to the gills. Heading home on the TCH everyone, including the driver, was feeling a tad drowsy. After putting around the house a while I decided to take advantage of the longest day of the year to go for a 9:00 run. The wind was howling and the sky was a spectacular mix of blue and pinkish/red. It was 7 KMs of bliss. I had the runners high from beginning to end. And now I’m up far too late trying to finish this post before going to bed. I didn’t take any running pics so I’ll finish with this one I took of a letter taped to the inside of a window on one of the houseboats.
It’s called “A Village of 100 People”. I don’t know how accurate it is but it was just one more in a day of reminders, of how blessed and fortunate we all are. So I think I’ll have a good sleep, wake up tomorrow and do what I can to pay it back/forward/onward.
Tags: Fisherman's Wharf
Kudos to Team West Coast for putting on just a magnificent event on Sunday.
This was the first youth triathlon we attended and the first our daughter participated in and we all had a wonderful time.The weather was perfect, the facilities (uVic) were top notch, and the event was supported by a very large team (about 30) of generous volunteers, without whom I’m sure the event could not have happened.
H has been training 3 to 4 times a week with Team X since August 2008. All that training seems to have paid off as she came in fifth place in her age group. We were pleasantly surprised to say the least. We were simply thrilled that she was having so much fun training, making some great friends and was going to participate in a real triathlon. We knew she was a strong swimmer and cyclist, but weren’t really thinking about her placing in the top five.
The training has been so good for H in terms of building discipline and perseverance as she worked towards achieving her goals. I could tell she felt proud of herself for competing and doing so well. But if you asked her I’m sure she’d say the best part of it all is hanging out with her friends.
If you are thinking about getting your children involved in triathlons we would recommend giving it a try. Coach Travis and TeamX would be a great place to start and can be contacted here.
Or feel free to contact us if you have any questions or would like to talk about youth triathlons and training. We also offer packages for out-of-town athletes and their families that want to register for and participate in triathlons in the Victoria BC area.
Tags: Fatherhood, triathlon
On April 26th our family of four will run the Times Colonist 10K in beautiful Victoria BC. Actual runners will be myself, my wife and our 8-year old daughter. Our 4-year old son will be enjoying the race from the comfort of the jogging stroller, which we will take turns pushing.
Kudos to Charriot for making a sturdy, lightweight stroller. We have definitely gotten our money’s worth.
We have rigged up the stroller with a special pocket for the Blackberry which will be used to livestream the entire event.
Yesterday we tested the video equipment we will use to livestream our run by driving the course in the car and streaming to our Qik account. It worked, but wasn’t as clear as we would have liked.
We’re studying both the Blackberry and Qik.com websites to see if there’s anything we can do to optimize the video quality and battery (to ensure it doesn’t die before we finish). If you have any advice please leave a comment below.
Next we need to test the equipment on the jogging stroller to make sure it doesn’t vibrate too much and get the right line of site. The course is all road so it should be fine.
The main reason for broadcasting the race is so family and friends in Japan and Ontario can see it live. I know there are many runners that would love to come to Victoria to participate in the race but for obvious reasons weren’t able to make it. We hope to enable them to at least see the course and the race and we would love to get them over here next year.
If you are thinking of coming to Victoria for the TC10K, or any other race, marathon or triathlon, please contact us, we will be happy to help make arrangements.
Hana and I ran the Metchosin 5K race recently. It was her first official race.
She ran it in under 35 minutes and we came in 79th and 80th respectively. Not bad for an 8-year old.
79 8/12 F0112 34:36 735 Hana B.
80 1/3 M3039 34:36 732 Chris B.
