Spot Prawns - Gabriola Island

There are seven commercial species of shrimp found in Canada's west coast waters.  All cold water shrimp are fast growing, short lived and have a high reproductivity capacity.  The spotted prawn is the largest and the only shrimp caught in netted traps, the rest of the shrimp are caught with beam trawlers.  The wild BC spot prawn is a real treasure in our West Coast waters.

Spot prawns start their life off as males and then transform into females halfway through their lives.  They usually live for about four years.  Females carry between 2,000 to 4,000 eggs for about 5 months.  They hatch in March and April.

Spot prawning off of Gabriola Island can produce some delicious prawns.  A fisherman never discloses his exact location, but just take a look around for the buoys out on the water and talk to the other fisherman and you will get your clues for where you should set your traps.

Secure the traps by 400+ feet of rope to a buoy.  First bait the prawn traps with tuna cat food to attract the prawns. Then drop the traps over the side of your boat into 300 to 400 feet of water. Leave traps on the ocean floor for 3 to 4 hours while the prawns enter the trap and then pull out using a trap puller.  As the traps are pulled the line is coiled into a plastic tub.  Quickly sort out the traps contents, throwing back the small ones and the females with eggs. 

B.C. Spot Prawns are bottom dwellers and have white spots on their reddish -orange colored bodies.  They are sweet and delicately flavoured.  These delicious fresh prawns are not fed any growth hormones or antibiotics and are not farmed!  They are fresh, wild and caught from the cold ocean water.

 

Spot prawns release an enzyme when they die that will turn their flesh soft.   Okay, so we decapitate them while they are still alive and twitching by gripping either side of their neck joint and twisting.  Wash them amd de-vein them under running water, then use scissors to cut down thru their backs.  Cook them right away in the shell.  They are easier to peel if they have been frozen first.  Freeze in ziplock bags.

Keep it simple when cooking these prawns  Cook in fry pan with some olive oil, butter, fresh chopped garlic, salt and pepper.  Toss over heat for a few minutes.  Meat is sweet, tender and is not fishy.  They are delicious lobster like morsels!

In B.C. there are some 250 commercial fishing licences in the spot prawn industry.  It seems really weird that the spot prawn industry from BC waters is currently centred on export and that the majority of the prawns caught in BC waters end up in Japan. At the same time, the imported, unsustainably harvested and less tasty prawns from Asia are readily available on the Canadian market. It seems counter-intuitive to ship out our good fresh prawns and replace them with substandard ones from shrimp farms from Asia.

Propogating Jade Plants

Jade plants are extremely easy to propogate.  Jade plants can be propogated from stem or leaf cuttings any time of the year. 

Propogating Stem Pieces of Jade Plant:
When your parent jade plant gets leggy it is time to trim it and propogate the pieces you cut off.  A jade plant cutting will root from the leaf joints all along the stem.  When you are trimming back your jade plant save these cuttings to root.   Save the pieces that are at least a couple of inches long so there is enough stem to form roots on.   Allow the cuttings to dry and cure for a couple of days to prevent them from rotting. 
Dip the cuttings into rooting hormone to get them to root faster.  Jade plants will root best in a light sandy soil such as a mix of sand, peat and perlite.  You can use a commercial succulent soil mix, too.  Use small size pots.  Make a hole in the soil for the cutting.  Place jade into hole and lightly pack the soil around the base so the cutting stands in place.  Drizzle a few spoonfulls of water aroung the base of it and then only water the jade cutting sparingly until it has roots.  Once you start to see new growth on the top of the cutting, that's a sign that it has started to grow roots.  Once roots have formed (3 to 4 weeks), water it like you would normally.

The jade plant will grow new shoots from the spots where you have pinched off leaves or stems to propogate.

Propogating from Leaf:
Pinch of snip of the leaf from the jade plant.  Lay the jade leaf onto the top of potting mixture.  Water gently.  Water sparingly.

Spring Blooms January 30, 2016

Heavenly harbingers of spring ... the hellebores "niger", commonly known as the "Christmas Rose" is forming it's blossoms in our yard now.  Beautiful!

Cabin Fever and Island Time

Living on an island creates a peculiar psychology that can affect you mentally and emotionally.  "Island fever" or "cabin fever" is well known , but another interesting effect on you is "Island Time" which can screw with you, too.  Over time you become wired differently in a way that you never were before. You can actually loose track  and loose touch with civilized reality before you realize it.  There is a profound shift in your perception and mental state.

The water surrounding the island that you loved when you first arrived can become your prison if you let it and over time you can feel a desperate need to "get off the island".  You just need to go to the mainland to escape for a day and you will be glad to return to your island.

The pace of life on Gabriola is as you make it.  There are many social opportunities and there is an awesome sense of community on this island.  This results in happier people and a ton of island pride and loyalty.

Gulf Island life is great but it is not a tropical paradise and it is not for everyone.  It is an excellent place to soothe a worn soul and to nourish ones spirit.  Nature and the ocean will soothe you if you let it.

Garlic

It is recommended to plant garlic 2-3 weeks before the ground freezes.  So today I am planting the rest of our local garlic that I had saved for seed cloves. November 15, 2015.

Fall planted garlic sometimes shows green shoots before winter.  It is not uncommon for garlic to sprout prematurely a little before winter.  The tops will die back off with the winter and grow again in the spring.  Garlic is extremely hardy in our climate on Gabriola and can handle this cycle.

To help protect the young sprouts I have decided to cover them with 5-6" of composted organic matter.  A combination of leaves, straw and grass clippings works good for this.  In the spring the shoots will continue to grow right up through this blanket of organic material.

November 20, 2015  I have added a layer of rug underlay over my raised garlic bed as we have been have so much rain and colder weather.  The garlic had started to sprout but I was afraid it would drown and rot in all the moisture.

Garlic is suppose to "easily withstand the winter temperatures in BC Coastal areas".  You supposedly don't need to worry about frost as garlic tolerates the cold.

In the early spring spray the garlic foliage with diluted liquid fish emulsion.

Garlic does not like lots of water.  Mulching is a way of maintaining moisture.  Not enough moisture and the garlic will not develop a full size bulb.  Over-watering results in burst skins, mold, and poor keeping qualities.  Stop watering a few weeks prior to harvesting.

Hard-neck garlic produces a central stalk that goes straight up and then usually makes one or two loops.  If you want the plants energy to go into producing a large bulb, cut the scape off after it has made 2 loops.