This reveals much about what blueberries, cranberries and other acid-loving species want in life: moisture at the top of their feet and free-draining below. The soil is moisture-retentive and, where the water table doesn’t rise, free-draining on account of the sandy layer below. View image in fullscreen The cones of the jack pine, another key feature in Harris’s Chelsea garden. Mesengeeshik told us that when the wispy, smoke-like seed heads pop open, the moose hunting season begins: much more accurate than any calendar for telling you when the moose start migrating for winter, she explained. After these fires, fireweed ( Epilobium angustifolium) springs up. The cones persist on the branches for many years and open up to release their seeds only after fire, usually sparked by lightning, has melted the resin that coats them. This is known as climax community, an endless 200-year cycle between nitrogen-depleting spruce and fir and nitrogen-accumulating aspen, with the whole system dependent on recurring disturbances: storms, fires or insect infestations.Ī key feature in Harris’s Chelsea garden will be the beautiful jack pine, Pinus banksiana, which we found at the edges of the lakes, growing out of the thinnest soils or seemingly from cracks in the rock. Strangely, the forest does not look that old, partly because many of the trees are slow-growing species that can grow in thin, waterlogged soils, and partly because the forest is constantly renewing itself. View image in fullscreen Fireweed springs up in the wake of forest fires. Carpeting the forest floor is a deceptively deep layer of sphagnum moss, in which you often sink to your knees. That top layer of rotting material means the ground is often permanently wet, and this peaty, organic soil supports acid-loving shrubs, blueberries, wintergreens ( Gaultheria procumbens), Labrador tea and spring ephemerals – all plants Harris is using in her Chelsea garden. Tannins and other acids keep the soil very acidic, and the shade of the evergreen trees keeps evaporation to a minimum. The needles of the dominant species decompose very slowly, creating a mat over the soil. There are four main types of evergreen here (spruce, fir, pine and tamarack), and a smattering of deciduous trees, such as alder, birch and aspen. From on high, the landscape is like a mossy carpet that goes on and on and on, sprinkled with the brilliant blues of lakes and ribbons of rivers. For a European, the sight of the vast forest is at first almost unfathomable. To get to Whitewater Lake, you must take a tiny float plane. We were led through this extraordinary landscape first by a First Nations guide, Evelyn Mesengeeshik, from Wilderness North to Whitewater Lake and Wabakimi provincial park and then by Michelle Savoie, from the Voyageur Wilderness Programme, at Nym Lake in Quetico provincial park. He has written dozens of magazine articles, essays and several books, including the best-selling memoir Writing Out The Notes.View image in fullscreen Bunchberry and wintergreen are abundant in Northern Ontario. Before joining Terra Bruce Productions, Bob worked at the Stratford Festival as a Composer & Music Director, and works with the producers of the Tony & Olivier award winning Broadway musical Come From Away as a Music Consultant. He has played thousands of concerts, made countless appearances on television and radio, managed bands, produced records, created radio specials, and promoted many live concerts. A musician steeped in traditional styles, Bob can play a dozen instruments, and has written many songs, including the classic Old Black Rum, which has been recorded by dozens of acts around the world. The band had twelve gold and multi-platinum albums, and several number one albums in Canada. John’s, in 1993 he and three friends started Great Big Sea, a band which went onto sell over a million and half records over a twenty-year career.
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