Prince Edward Island

I loved spending the last week of my trip on PEI. It is a gorgeous, small island and I knew I would love it before I got there. There was a great mix of farm life with touring around the island.

Sunday when I arrived at Weedy Gardens, which is a farm just outside of the small town of Breadalbane, the house was full of the friends and family of Angel, Hans and their kids Zora and Fidel.

I wasn't sure until Monday who actually lived at the house, which is a hexagon tower, with a tv room in the basement, a kitchen/living room on the main floor, then the bathroom and two bedrooms on the next floor and a bedroom where wwoofers usually sleep on the top (I spent the week sleeping in Black Beauty, just because). They also have a large shed where they hang garlic and onions to dry with a living area above it. And Hans' dad Konrad has a small cabin on the property, as well as their friend who lives in a camper along the path on the way down to their house. Always a busy, full of people house, but I got to meet some great people.

Monday I got right into farming - weeding lettuce beds for compost, and spraying tomatoes to protect them from blight. At first when Angel hauled out this sprayer I wasn't sure what I would be spraying on the tomatoes, but a mixture of 2 cups of non-fat/skim milk, with 1 teaspoon of baking soda, and the rest of the quart filled with water, is an easy organic-friendly way to protect from blight. Although you do have to spray lightly and flick the leaves so the mixture doesn't form around the tip because it will burn the leaves.

Tuesdays and Fridays are harvest days for the Wednesday and Saturday Farmer's Markets in Charlottetown, so I spent Tuesday helping with picking, washing, and bagging arugula, (it is delicious!) as well as picking basil and green beans. I also drove into Charlottetown for the first time, because I was sadly selling Black Beauty, so I could fly home in time for work this week. I wanted to make it all the way to the East Coast and the thought of driving over 60 hours back to Victoria was not really possible and not at all appealing. In the end the guy that checked the van out Tuesday did end up buying it, but not before I showed it to a bunch of other people, realized my time was running out and shipping it home would be an expensive hassle, and lowered the price by a lot. Definitely sold it for less than I paid for it, and I put work into it, but rumours that you can sell a vehicle, especially a vw van, for more on the East Coast are not accurate.

Wednesday was the market, which turns out to be a busy day for Hans and Angel, who go into town and run it, but they have their system, so I got Wednesday and Saturday off. I caught a ride into town with Mike (the guy that lives in the tent trailer) and wondered around the city and sat by the water.

Garlic and onions hanging in shed 

Thursday I picked beans again, (a vegetable that is harvested almost everyday) put straw around some kale, (so that part of the plant might survive the winter) and made some beds for lettuce. To make the beds I first moved the straw to the kale, then Mike forked over it, then I shoveled compost into a huge wheelbarrow and raked it over the bed, and Hans transplanted the baby lettuces that had been happily growing in the warm house into the garden.

Friday was a very long day, as the Saturday market is pretty intense, so I picked green and purple beans again, as well as dill, mint, arugula, kale, etc. Then we washed it, and bagged it. The kale is a really interesting plant to wash. We put it in big tubs of water to clean it, and the bottoms of the leaves glisten and look like silver, the way the sunlight hits the water. It's beautiful. A bunch of friends of Hans and Angel also came over and we had a potluck of fava beans, and various fresh salads and cooked vegetables. Angel made pickles with small cucumbers they grow specifically for this and I learned that if everything you are using to can is really hot, you don't necessarily need to boil the cans after. She puts the glass jars in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes and boils the lids and vinegar mixture and leaves them overnight. I think the next day only one hadn't sealed.

Saturday was another day off so I drove to the famous Green Gables, located in Cavendish, and saw the house that the book is based off of. It was neat to see, but nothing too exciting. Another few people looked at the van, and that night was Art in the Open.




Art in the Open is a yearly event that happens in a bunch of squares and parks in Charlottetown, with lots of performance art throughout the evening. It was great! Konrad had this large wooden pole and his piece was to get audience participation to decide when it was straight up and down before planting it in the ground. Hans' sister had a piece in the woods of the park, with a girl in a bedroom moving around, and his neice was in one at the Art Gallery that had music and people doing different dances in the windows, while the audience stood outside and moved around the building to each of the different windows. There was also a giant spiderweb, a carousel of plastic horses, a march of the crows, and more.

Sunday everyone was tired from the night before, and Angel and Hans were probably tired from the week, (they are always doing something - farming, canning, building a deck, etc.) so we only did a little bit of farming (watering lettuce, picking beans of course) and then went to this beach they call Cliff Beach. It had beautiful red rocks and sandy shores, and I swam happily until a little lobster or something bit my foot. It wasn't hard and maybe it just walked over it, but it felt like it clamped on and then I was out! That night family and friends came over again and we had fresh artichoke with garlic butter and pasta and other delicious things.

It was also my last night with Black Beauty, and then the couple came and took the van away Monday afternoon. Bit of a tearful goodbye, but I took pictures of every part of the van to remember it... We had a great, successful trip across the country!

Monday, with my massive bags all packed with pillows and sleeping bags and other camping stuff, (one of which ended up being overweight, probably because of all my books - $75 extra!) I left with some friends of Hans and Angel and went to Basin Head on the east end of the island. It's right on the ocean but also has this basin area where the current pulls water in and there's docks on either side and a little bridge going over. People jump off the sides of the bridge and then get pulled down this giant salt-water slide to the sandy shore inside, although apparently the water is sometimes also flowing out towards the ocean. Then I went back into Charlottetown and spent the night at Hans' brother's house with his family because my flight left before 6am yesterday! I woke up at 4, but didn't sleep very well, and then waited in Toronto because the flight to Vancouver was delayed for about 3 hours. Gave me time to write my last blog!

So my trip has come to an end. Almost 2 and a half months, definitely over $1000 in gas, and 6078 miles (9781.59 kilometers) according to the pictures I took of my odometer when I left Victoria and after I drove Black Beauty for the last time! What a trip. Until the next time I travel somewhere exciting around the world I'm signing off...

Rough Route of my Cross-Canada Journey!