What to do this week The unseasonably cold weather lately doesn’t encourage planting, but soon the days will warm enough that gardeners will engage in their annual game of frost roulette. We all want to get a jump on the season but as we found last June, it can beRead...

Dear Spectator Readers, Mayday! Mayday! I send up this distress call from the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey (a Celtic-knot of history, myth, magic and legend; a place of long-lost glory) in a ‘United’ Kingdom rapidly losing structural and social integrity. In much of the world, today — May Day —Read More

What to do this week Although last week I cautioned against working the soil too soon, one task that should be accomplished just as soon as the soil is dry enough is the planting of young trees and shrubs. I have been busy with that myself the last few days.Read More

Celtic Serenade Donnie Campbell — or “Sydney River musician,” as the online edition of the Cape Breton Post identified him — has been awarded a 2019 Stompin’ Tom Award by the East Coast Music Association (ECMA). (Full disclosure: Donnie is my first cousin once removed on my mother’s side. FullerRead More

As part of my coverage of the ructions in Ben Eoin, I submitted an access to information request to the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) for a copy of the contract between Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation (ECBC) and Ben Eoin Golf Club Limited. I also asked for any correspondence concerningRead More

Since writing last week about the delayed development of Cossitt Heights — a 350-unit, site-sensitive, sustainable housing development proposed seven years ago for a former Sydney industrial park — I’ve gotten my grubby little hands on a copy of the Power Point Presentation shown to council in 2012 as partRead More

The hook for this edition of “A Word from Your Planet” is not just weak, it’s downright imaginary — I’m hanging it on Sydney Harbour Investment Partners (SHIP)’s grand plans for our port, which I referenced this week in the Cossitt Heights article. In fact, I’m hanging it on aRead More

What to do this week Michelle Smith is away this week, but don’t worry, she’s got your back as far as early-May gardening is concerned. Back on 3 May 2017, she was urging you to get off your couch and plant some trees: The old saying about it being betterRead More

Coverage of “developer” Jim Kehoe’s Cossitt Heights Park has made my eyes cross so firmly that typing has become a challenge, but I will persevere. It all started (the story, not the Kehoe coverage) in 1991 (pre-amalgamation) when the Cossitt Heights Industrial Park was established on Upper Prince Street inRead More

What to do this week If you are thinking about reducing the area of lawn you have to mow, or any other sort of larger landscaping project, you might want to do your bit to encourage biodiversity and incorporate native plants in your design. I am doing this myself thisRead...