Consolidating

This blog is being consolidated with others into our Web site www.prudent-ventures.com. Please go there to follow our future posts.

Thanks for your past attention.

Ruth and Al 

Jarring Tuna

OK, so it’s really canning.

For some people the days right after Thanksgiving are for getting up early to rush out to shop for bargains.

A few others in the Bellingham area get up slowly to process fresh tuna. “Slowly” is something of a pun. On Saturday and Sunday, November 24th and 25th, members of the Fourth Corner Slow Food Movement and friends meet at the Rome Grange on Mt. Baker HIghway to trim and can tuna. This year we processed three thousand pounds of tuna.

Jeremy Brown is the organizer of this event. A native of a farm in England, Brown traveled to the U.S., where he met his wife on the East Coast and eventually found his way to Bellingham where he began fishing for salmon and tuna. He eventually bought and out-fitted his own boat. 

Prior to the canning event, Brown and a friend sliced frozen tuna with a buzzsaw to sizes that were easily handled. Seven ounces of trimmed chunks were put in small jars with oil and some carrot, then pressure cooked. Grow Northwest Magazine's November 2012 issue has a feature article on Jeremy and a previous event. 

Volunteers who worked in two-hour shifts were entitled to buy a case of 12 jars for $62.50 this year (the price varies with the market). We bought two cases and can’t exaggerate how much better this tuna tastes better than Chicken of the Sea or any other commercially canned tuna we have tried. 

The Slow Food Movement was started in the 1980s in protest when a fast food restaurant opened on the Steps of Rome. There are now a hundred thousand members world wide in 150 countries. There are 13 chapters in Washington. By-words are, “good, clean and fair--good for our palates, clean for humans and fair for producers.” Membership is a one-time, tax-deductible contribution of $25.

Google and other search sites provide details. Local contact is Maria Bronstein at Mariaken19@aol.com. 

Chasing Ice

We saw this film at the Pickford last night and we're passing this along as a MUST SEE!

http://www.chasingice.com/see-the-film/trailer/.

Apart from the breathtaking photography, there is a heartbreaking tragedy portrayed.

Please also note that the Pickford is in the midst of a fund-raising campaign to underwrite their transition to the digital age. If they don't make their goal, the lights will go out. We believe the Pickford is one of the things that make Bellingham desirable and unique.  Do you?

NEWS FLASH!

SALMON SPOTTED IN TERRELL CREEK

Coho carcasses found in Terrell Creek November 16, 2012
                                                    Photo by Ryan Vasak

 Rachel Vasak,executive director of the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association, reported on November 16, 2012 that about 12 coho have been spotted in Terrell Creek recently. She has also received reports from a landowner on the creek that he has seen "a lot of chum in the creek by his house" over the past three years.

Anyone living in the Terrell Creek watershed, or interested in enhancing the creek to restore the salmon run, please contact us at ChumsofTerrellCreek@hotmail.com and become a Chum.

NSEA's Terrell Creek Work Party

Nearly 100 volunteers of all ages turned out on Saturday, November 17, 2012, for the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association’s fall Terrell Creek tree planting. The largest contingent hailed from Western Washington University.

Olivia Sittauer (left), a  junior Communictions major at Western from Seattle, and
Brandon Osterlund, a senior Environmental Science major at Western from Kalama,
put the finishing touches on the tree they planted.

Naio McCush, a Western junior from Silver City,
New Mexico in the
Vehicle Research Institute,
attaches stakes to a protective blue tube.

Justine Mims, who came from Portland,
Oregon and is a freshman in
 Behavorial Sciences,
prepares a new home for her tree.

Alana DiMarco, from Mukilteo, a Western Environmental Education volunteer with NSEA, welcomed and registered volunteers as they reported in.

Alana DiMarco, who is a senior at Western, volunteers
nearly every day with NSEA.

Ken Johnson’s sixth grade class from Blaine Middle School made a significant contribution to reforestation of the Terrell Creek watershed. Although he offers extra credit for participation, he says most of the kids who turn out are already A students.


Ken Johnson's sixth grade class get extra credit for their tree planting work.

Stu Currier, who says he is old enough to collect Medicare, has participated in tree plantings for 14 years, including several trips to Terrell Creek, Whatcom Creek and other sites.

Stu Currier, a Bellingham resident, has been
planting NSEA trees for 14 years. 

The fall and spring work party schedules are posted on NSEA’s Web site www.n-sea.org

Saturday, November 17 Work Party

Volunteers eager to contribute to the work on Terrell Creek are invited to the work party this Saturday, November 17. Park at the former Birch Bay Community Church property and walk to the location, marked by the NSEA canopy. Come and help make the creek even more hospitable to hatching and spawning Chums.

Work party group photo from NSEA's Web site

Work parties are from 9am - 12pm. Tools and gloves will be provided. Please wear sturdy shoes and weather appropriate clothing. Refreshments will be provided by the Bagelry, the Community Food Co-op, Starbucks, and Tony's Coffee. These work parties are free and open to everyone. Bring your enthusiasm, your friends and family, and anyone else that can hold a shovel See you at the creek!

Terrell Dam and RSI

Three thousand tons of fill carried in by 80 dump trucks reconfigured Terrell Dam in a cooperative effort among the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association, the Conservation District and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Rachel Vasak, executive director of N-SEA and Frank Corey of the Conservation District explained the project to the group signing up for a tour on October 20.




Tour group listening to Rachel Vasak (2nd from right) and Frank Corey (right)
explain the Terrell Dam Project

Water flow in the creek will be sufficient for the survival of  fry hatched from the remote site incubator (RSI) installed near the new bridge downstream from the dam.



New bridge and RSI almost visible below the left end.

Eggs from native Chum will be placed in the RSI soon and will hatch sometime in February or March. Volunteers monitor the site to report any interruption to the water flow that would threaten the well-being of those babies. The Chum species of salmon is best suited to this creek envirnoment because they spend the least time in fresh water on their journey to a salt water habitate.