We Are the World Blogfest # 20: Nourish Cowichan …

Nourish Cowichan is brilliant local food programme which will let every child in the Valley have a healthier life …

… this has been started by the chef, Fatima, from Vinoteca (see my previous post) who had been alerted that the children in the area were falling asleep, becoming ill and generally not able to cope – these were the kids who were nutritiously deprived.

There are five other programs or programmes!

Fatima leases the kitchens and runs a restaurant at the Zanatta vineyard … and realised she could help … 

... so with other volunteers – in a tiny kitchen – they have been making up rolls with various fillings, offering muffins and fresh fruit in a pilot breakfast programme.

Nourish Cowichan logo

Within six months they were provisioning three other schools, and now they supply 13 locations: 3 daycare, 1 maternity centre and 9 schools …

Fatima on her phone in
the tiny kitchen

Fundraising started and now they have an 1,800 sq ft facility being finished as we speak … which should be up and running by Christmas … the aim is to provide 500 meals as soon as possible …

Fatima said it will be bliss to be able to have the space to work in – rather than the cramped kitchen they presently operate from …

The start of breakfast rolls -
variety for the different needs

… mind you her food is fantastic … but I can quite see getting 500 meals out (with variety) from their present location is difficult.

Talk about ambition … Nourish Cowichan is in negotiations with various appropriate authorities – schools, health units and social services – while working independently under its own auspices as a British Columbian Society – a charity status.

There are six initiative programmes:  Breakfast; Weekend take home snacks; Give Back Art – encouraging the children to do something for others; Nutrition Education; Universal Inclusion; Food Save Programme …

See more attheir site … I am so pleased I was able to spend a very short time with Fatima – she was getting some breakfast meals ready to be sent out … 

There are art works available at the vineyard

... and also fending off queries re the huge fundraising event she’s just put on – for the new facility: it was a huge success, I understand – though was unable to go.

It’s an amazing project for the Cowichan Valley – there’s a lot of deprivation here – yet there’s an awful lot of generosity … 

We Are The World – In Darkness Be Light

Thank you for reading … please visit other entries … and now it is getting towards Christmas - give generously to all food programmes ... 

Could you please note I will be away from a computer - so will get to answer when I can ... see my next post ... early December 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Vinoteca – a restaurant with a difference …

Vinoteca … delicious food served at a delightful, traditional Italian-Cowichan Valley vineyard …

Vinoteca's patio set for an outside lunch

 I was lucky enough to be able to go on a wine tour … and we visited four vineyards – more about those later on …

Fairly obvious this - just good
I wasn't driving that day - though
bought a bottle home

… but for now – this ties in with the We are the World Blogfest (sign up here) month end post many of us do – highlighting positivity around us …

Believe it or not … I had not been to a vineyard since I arrived – so I just had to make a plan … and promptly visited four in one go – such is life! 

Bringing home the grapes ... the farms in the Valley
are all small-holdings and help each other out

One before lunch, then lunch here at Vinoteca, then two more … all different and with interesting takes on the growth in the Cowichan Valley area from those pioneering days …

Yam and Ginger soup,
with coconut milk

So a few pictures of my meals and views … as well as introducing you to Fatima of Vinoteca – who will feature as my positive human story this month … amazing lady.

Here’s some of her food though … and when I explain her background you’ll understand how interesting her dishes and flavours are …

Roasted beet salad, caramelised apples, crispy prosciutto,
candied pumpkin seeds, goat cheese, Italian parsley
with a ginger truffle vinaigrette

She came over from Mozambique – settled first in Quebec, before moving over to the west of Canada … learnt her range of tastes … catering to the multi-cultural peoples of Canada … from her mother.

At Vinoteca she’s mixed her ideas into the Cowichan Bay way of life and brought in the Italian tradition of the Zanatta family, who own the vineyard.

Seared local sole with tomato, caper, dill and olive oil
dressing; potato wedges and a fresh salad

It was a pleasure meeting her and learning more about the opportunities she is giving families in the Duncan area … and how much she is doing for the under-privileged children in the Valley.

Please enjoy with me … when the post comes along at month end ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Cowichan Valley ... the settling and opening up: Railways, Roads, the local Ferry and the Ice ... part 5

Fog, Ice and Snow are very much a part of this area … we need transport to get around ... ships, trails, roads, rail and now air ...

Sorry - I've enlarged it ... so out of focus ...
... but you can see some of the ferry routes -
Mill Bay to Brentwood is bottom middle
(this is zone 1 map - see Wiki BC Ferries)

... the weather could be much more extreme … mostly it’s tolerable – occasionally it becomes severe, which can upset a few applecarts …

Travel used to be by sloop, steamer, ox wagon, horse ride, or just two feet to get to and fro from the capital Victoria … 

Bringing struts across Kinsol Trestle for repairs

... the railway, that mixed blessing bastion, was built by Robert Dunsmuir – the coal baron – from Nanaimo to Esquimalt Harbour, Victoria in 1888 - before being sold after his death in 1905 … the service of which has been a hallmark of inconsistency … 

Repairs are needed ... but they're starting on the
northern section

It has just been announced, to be ratified next month, that repairs to the line will be made … and all things being equal the railway will re-open from Spring onwards … eventually reaching Victoria late next year.

Malahat - unmetalled road in 1917

But back to 1911 when the Malahat easterly crossing was built … the motor car arriving from Germany in 1899, or the USA in 1908 … ‘luxury transport’ was available for those who could afford it …

Main routes now from Victoria out to Cowichan Valley and
back; some ferry routes shown - but the Saanich
Peninsula is clearly shown.  The thickened blue line was the
old main route through along the coast - before the
Trans Canada Highway was built ...

Freighters supplied the coastal communities with grain, hay, fish, livestock … the SS Cascade was one of those - being built in 1906 – it plied its route for 13 years.

1928 SS Cascade coming into Brentwood Bay Dock

After WW1 it was sold and changed into a coal transporter travelling between Union Bay, Nanaimo and down to Seattle.  Occasionally also supplying

Very early steam ship

Two Royal Navy officers, after WW1, saw an opening for a ferry service, which began in 1924.   They adapted the SS Cascade … advertised the savings in mileage for intrepid road tourists …

The intention was to bring the railway to the Bute inlet -
it runs through Kamloops now, then south to Vancouver

The west coast of Canada, and Vancouver Islands – were new lands to explore and find out about … Victoria the capital was well known … but to promote the rest of the Island … potential investors, settlers, tourists … needed to see as much as they could …

Closer view of Bute inlet and the intricacies of the
British Columbian coastline adjacent to
Vancouver Island

… this place of beauty, the climate, ideal weather, wildlife to see, fishing, camping and hiking opportunities, let alone the tiny inlets and bays for the sailing fraternity …

The Sunken Garden

… new places too – Mr Butchart’s Garden, which I’ve yet to write up about, or the Observatory which has escaped my wanderings, the Saanich peninsula … 




... the airport, or any form of airfield, only arrived in 1939 … so the peninsula was another area to explore when motoring was becoming ubiquitous … using the ferry saved a second road journey over the Malahat … not tarmacked until 1940 …

The old advert shown today on the ferry
- dated 1930s

… thus taking the 3 mile ferry trip would save one of the Malahat trips – at times not pleasant even in this day and age (and the road has improved considerably!).

Most of the time all was well … but in 1926 … it was so cold there were mini ice floes around … the ferry continued to run – to get passengers over to the Valley … as the Malahat would have been impenetrable …

Tug boat pushing log raft off
Vancouver, 2012

The Bamberton tug pushed ahead of the ferry, which ploughed on through six inches of ice … but … a huge chunk must have struck the ship’s bow tearing a hole in her hull.

SS Cascade awaiting a refit 1933

Fortunately a man on watch discovered that water was coming up the ship’s well … the captain immediately turned back, safely disgorged his passengers and cars …

… but nothing could be done for the ferry – she sank alongside the wharf – was repaired and restored back into service …

Ferry Terminal in Victoria in the 1920s

… it’s a delightful journey … a maximum of 22 cars (no lorries) – depending on the size can be carried …   200 vehicles a day compared to the 25,000 vehicles that daily ply the Malahat in 2018.

Cowichan Bay November 2018 - which can be frozen over ...
salt water does not freeze so quickly ... there's a lot of fresh
water here - hence the salmon boats.

As was advertised back in the 1920s … two lovely scenic drives of the Island are linked together … so the same road need not be travelled twice in order to see Victoria and its hinterland – returning home in time for supper or dinner.

At times the weather defeats us all … Cowichan Bay can get frozen … with farm vehicles taking the ice across to Genoa Bay avoiding the road home …

Fog, snow and ice prevail to make life very difficult – that any alternative help is much appreciated … ie not taking the Malahat – which now has a ‘by-law’ recommending that winter tyres are used, and that vehicles should carry chains …

I’m not quite sure where this series is taking me – there will be one more … as I want to note a few things of interest that interact with this series and correct a few minor inconsistencies …

Cowichan Valley looking south

It’s not the easiest place to explain how it worked, might have worked, or did work … or how it all happened to be the wonderful place we know today …

So for now … what will winter this year hold in store for present day Islanders ... but I will continue to enjoy its seafood!

Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Cowichan Valley … the settling and opening up: Blessings be to the Major … part 4

That man, Major JFL MacFarlane from Victoria bought his Mill Bay farm in the Cowichan Valley sight unseen: which perhaps was a buyer beware mistake … but he was another of those intrepid explorers …

Major JFL MacFarlane

… MacFarlane understandably wanted to see the farm … what he hadn’t realised was … there was no easy easterly route to Mill Bay over or around the monstrous Malahat mountain … there was an 1861 trail, adequate for driving livestock, but useless for wagons …

Some of the sort of granite to be surveyed

… the government had undertaken to build a wagon road in 1877, but within a year had abandoned it.  

The dizzy views available on a clear day ... 

A road with steep grades and tortuous curves, was eventually completed in 1884, which still made it undesirable for heavy traffic … as the Major found out …

Here - the car had arrived ... must have been in the
early 1910s ...

… he and seller toiled off towards the summit (the road today is over 1,150 feet) but had to resort to walking as soon as the ground started to rise …

Red River ox cart - used in mid Canada:
the Red River area

… at the top finally - now for a rest – well no! … it was much too steep … having no brake on the wagon – the wheels were tied together, the men held on and “by degrees” descended towards the Valley (the way they say that the lawyers get to heaven).

An iphone photo from the blurb
at the rest site at the top of the
Malahat.  The easterly route is the
one we use today, skirting the
Saanich Peninsula.  The dotted line
depicts the original 1861 trail;
the railway and westerly routes
are shown too

MacFarlane at this point was informed there was no other route if he wanted to use his wagons … he had been in India, so this self-taught surveyor armed with a hand-compass and an aneroid barometer mapped out a route from the Cowichan Valley to the Goldstream lowlands on the outskirts of what is now Victoria …

… he’d had to do something … he was fed up with taking the three-day westerly wagon trip to get his produce to market …  so down on his hands and knees, crawling through the undergrowth … searching every nook and cranny … he went …

Overlooking the Saanich Peninsula and right across to
Mount Baker in the US - its sun capped top shining through

… at times he had revised his view-point by sailing his sloop up and down the Saanich inlet, and, where logical, taking the railway tricycle to determine a viable route.  The railway in 1886 went inland through to the valley …

iphone photo of Kinsol Trestle
part of the railway route

… this took three summers, without payment, locating a new route … Frank Verdier, a respected local woodsman, supported his venture, which ultimately swayed the government …

Those government men were wrong – and they were going to be proved to be wrong – a more coastal route could be built up and over the Malahat … connecting Victoria with the sheltered fertile eastern side of Vancouver Island and his farm …

A narrow, mostly single lane, road was built – precipitously clinging to the sides of the mountainous heap … no guard rails … was hacked through and opened just before Christmas 1911 … guess who hanseled it …

Apologies for the vandalised photo - but shows
the precipitous route

… that Major with a bottle of his favourite Burke’s whisky to hand and the road gang … had found a way through, where the Government surveyors and engineers had for decades dismissed the possibility of a road …

I want to call him the galloping major – but can’t … he must be something else – the Blessed Major … opening up the trading route linking the capital, Victoria, to the very fertile Cowichan Valley.

From what was that original route ... transformed into a
view point and/or rest area - where my other photos
were taken from ... 

We are indebted to him and the persistent efforts of succeeding generations in achieving a route through, and in the present improvements that are being made to the road … not easy, even today, blasting through that exceedingly difficult granite terraine …

… which leads us to six inches of ice … part 5

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Remembrance Day … 100 years after WW1 ended …

A lot has and will be written about the 100^th anniversary of that dreadful time in our history … I am going along the same route with a slightly different emphasis …

On Victoria’s harbour front are moving memorials to Canada’s War Veterans … while we also find a Peace Garden …

The Homecoming Statue ...
Inspired by Gratitude

In honour of all veterans, all peoples damaged by war, their families … the women, children, elderly, newborns … us – their futures … we will care for all in this world wherever we will find them. 

We should remember mother earth … the environment and all that inhabits it – also often severely damaged or destroyed by war … 

I am wondering, as I never asked – funny how these questions come to us too late – why my mother went into caring in the latter half of her life (as it happens for the elderly – she was highly respected) … and whether it was because of the loss she experienced as a child, in WW2 and the subsequent overwhelming grief.

Remembrance - may we never forget

Let PEACE be amongst us … and be their memorial to our future …

Should you want a succinct post on the Armistice 1918 - please read Mike's A Bit About Britain article ...

and another very appropriate post by Sarah Zama on 'The War to End all Wars' - the 1920s period ... where the Great War began to colour so many things in Europe ... 


Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories