Atlantic Chapter

One small step for community gardens, one giant leap for Halifax at large.

There are 11 community gardens in the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), public spaces in which people can grow their own food, to lower the grocery bill, to satisfy their need for local produce or to put their insatiable green thumbs to work. Thanks to a progressive move by municipal council, these soil enthusiasts can now sell their hard earned fruits and veggies to the public.

Moneys earned from these sales are not pocketed by the growers, however. According to the new municipal law, all earnings must be used for the benefit of the municipality or the community gardens themselves.

"This is a major change for the city," said David Foster, program coordinator with Halifax Diverse, an initiative aiming to connect the public with urban nature. "It adds legitimacy to urban orchards and gardens...and makes them the urban equivalent to a real farm."

Did you know that Saturday, June 21st is National Aboriginal Day? Halifax is going to be the site of some fantastic opportunities to learn about indigenous traditions, culture, and knowledge! You can learn more about the day's events on the Aboriginal Day Live website.

By Zack Metcalfe

zack.metcalfe@gmail.com

Even now, after several reviews of fracking in this country, we aren't certain what it's doing to our air and water. 

One such review, conducted by the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA), discovered the body of research into hydraulic fracturing was incomplete - there were no reliable studies on the environmental impacts.

There were reports of people lighting their tap water on fire and gas wells leaking methane into the atmosphere, but for all the panel's efforts, they couldn't deliver anything conclusive. The research simply hasn't been done.

In their conclusion they say, "authoritative data about potential [environmental] impacts are currently neither sufficient, nor conclusive."

Mark Butler of the Ecology Action Centre discusses how individuals and cities can make yards and urban areas more friendly for birds. Specifically, we must eliminate risks to birds such as cats, but we also must stop eliminating important habitat. What constitutes important habitat might surprise you however...

In the lead-up to our June 1st bird walk led by Kate Steele of the Nova Scotia Bird Society, fellow birder and photographer extraordinaire Russel Crosby writes about how he got into birding, and gives novices a few tips. Join us on June 1st on the Shearwater Flyer Trail to put your learning into practice!

As a long time birder I occasionally get asked about how I initially got into bird watching as a hobby, but I don’t remember any one specific event that led to a lifetime love of birds. My first interactions with birds were through my older brothers who were serious duck hunters before I was even old enough to fire a gun. Although I did go on a few of their early hunting trips where I witnessed ducks being killed, I opted instead to observe birds rather than to try to shoot them. My father supported my burgeoning hobby and bought me books he thought would interest me. They did!

After much delay and with great excitement, we're happy to announce the 2014 summer walk schedule for Halifax Diverse Walks. We have a wide range of experts who will be leading walks this year from birding to the history of McNabs Island! Updates will be posted on the facebook page (and corresponding events), and on this blog as well. On this page you can find more information about individual events by selecting individual events under the "Get Involved" menu above.