Budget This week, I’m going to focus on the federal budget tabled Tuesday by Liberal Finance Minister Bill Morneau and discuss a couple of points of particular interest to Cape Bretoners. The first is the government’s decision to double (for one year only) the gas-tax revenue available for infrastructure spendingRead...

What to do this week The snow is melting slowly but surely during these sunny days. Many of my small fruit bushes and beds are almost completely uncovered. Small fruit is a term for any fruit not growing on a tree – strawberries, raspberries and the like. Now is theRead...

What to do this week With the prolonged cold weather, there was some serious pouting going on in my house. I wasn’t sure there even should be a column this week and maybe I’m still not certain. But if, like me, you are greatly cheered by a few days ofRead More

What to do this week Right about now is when I finally get tired of frozen and winter root vegetables and start to crave a bite of some tender, fresh greens. Even diligent sprouting of lentils and cress do not assuage the appetite for leafy greens, though they are wellRead...

Lord of the Dance The Cape Breton Post devoted three pages — including the entire front page — to the late John Allan Cameron on Tuesday, inadvertently giving new meaning to the phrase “slow news day.” The hook for the multi-page extravaganza? It’s been 50 years since Cameron’s first albumRead More

The CBRM has asked the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal to overturn the UARB’s decision in the case of a proposed Big Pond RV park. The papers were filed on February 21 but CBRM regional solicitor Demetri Kachafanas told the CBC it could be “months” before the case goes toRead More

I’m writing today about what Parks Canada has said about the moose cull on North Mountain in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park (CBHNP) and what it hasn’t said. The cull, we are told, is intended to preserve the park’s endangered boreal forest, which suffered severe damage from the spruceRead More

What to do this week These days, I mark time, waiting for my leeks and onions to sprout and it’s time to start my early spring greens next month. It is a good time to pay attention to the indoor garden and other small tasks. Houseplants, particularly those that spendRead More

What to do this week Most of the vegetables we grow from seed in our gardens are annuals. These seeds are programmed to grow quickly and set seed themselves in a single season. Generally speaking, this means they are easy to germinate, since their reproductive strategy is to hit theRead More

What to do this week Back in the day, when I got ready to start my transplants, it meant rummaging through my collection of old flower pots, cell packs and cut-down milk cartons. Like all good gardeners I tried to recycle and my Scotch soul hated to buy new plasticRead More