Mather

July is the best time to go canoeing. Most of the bugs are gone, and the crowds of people have not yet descended onto the land.

With the annual Garlic Festival coming up Aug. 29, I thought I'd pass on to you what I have learned about growing this wonderful herb. If I can grow garlic, anybody can.

What's for dinner? Kate wants to know. Having grown up with two parents who love to dine on weeds as much as the lettuces in the garden, Kate is delighted when I tell her we're having milkweed for dinner. Milkweed, you ask? Yuck.

BY Viki mather Last year when we took Vesta off to her summer camp, we took a few days to explore the countryside around Wawashkesh Lake, northeast of Parry Sound.

What does politics have to do with me, here in the middle of the wilderness? Why should I care about an election of people who are just going to hide away in the big cities? How can anything they do affect my life? Politics has everything to do with

You donÂ't have to live in the wilderness to see the wonders and beauty of nature. The morning I wrote this IÂ'm seated on a bit of bedrock just a hundred meters from the south end of Regent Street.

What are we doing for our kids to give them winter survival skills? No, I'm not talking about teaching them how to live off the land in the dead of winter. I'm talking about teaching kids to love the outdoors all through the year.

Despite the miserable, cold and rainy weather over the Victoria Day holiday long weekend, it didn't stop me from getting out there and tucking seeds in to the warming soil, and dreaming of a summer full of beans, broccoli and squash.

Ah, the weather report. We love it, and we hate it. We listen avidly to the five-day forecast, then grumble when it's wrong. And it often is, you know.

December is nigh.The countdown is on. What will we get the kids for Christmas? Walking through the stores, I see plastic and more plastic. Coming from a life in the forest, plastic holds little appeal for me.