Snugly settled on the upper north-west corner of Calvert Island, in the heart of BC’s rainforest coast. stands a unique coastal observation and research enterprise: the Hakai Institute.
Within a few months of discovering this ideal location in 2010, Hakai co-founders Christina Munck and partner Eric Peterson began establishing a workable environment. As a botanical and landscape artist herself, Christina hosted a marvellous week of painting for me and seven other artists, comfortably housed in Hakai’s recently-acquired fishing lodge.
We set up our easels on breathtaking open-ocean beaches, sketched wave-scoured cliffs, examined trailside wildflowers, and studied tidal pools.
Encouraged to explore, we ambled sheltered trails through dense yellow cedar and western hemlock, amid previously logged and regenerating old-growth red cedar and Sitka spruce. We discovered salal, huckleberries, dwarf dogwood, fragile shooting stars rising in a myriad of ferns, medicinal plants, and fungi.
A special treat: a guided hike to the precious, never logged, bonsai-like bog forests of stunted shore pines on the exposed rocky uplands. This amazing environment also provides nesting sites for the iconic sandhill crane, and supports a surprising number of insectivorous plants.
Fifteen years on, the Hakai Institute has become an internationally recognized coastal research and observation centre, hosting and supporting dozens of projects, partner scientists, educational groups, and support staff; accommodating and feeding twenty to forty-five crew members at a time; and occasionally hosting much larger community groups.
Hakai is a vibrant exhibition of Christina and Eric’s commitment to sustainable and restorative operations. A large solar array now provides the bulk of energy for site operations, and, via a water-treatment plant, sparkling fresh water from a natural aquifer. No plastic water bottles here!
Despite these sustainability upgrades, transporting supplies weekly from Campbell River by boat or plane meant fresh produce often arrived in poor condition or not at all. Thoughts of garden-to-table freshness began to percolate. But creating a garden in an isolated, rugged location presented major hurdles. Damp, wet weather with cool-ish garden-season temperatures has been the norm. The physical landscape and climate changes presented even bigger challenges. As Christina notes, “We’re situated on a sand base, a tombolo in effect, built up by repeated additions of sand washed in over thousands of years by extreme tides and tsunamis.”
“A real back-to-the-lander, [site staffer] Peter just started building piles of sand, recycling kitchen compost and natural debris into the piles. I was surprised how quickly it became recognizable, usable soil,” Christina remembers. Sand does contain micro-nutrients like carbon and contributes to good soil drainage.
In the following season, the piles were enclosed and ground cloth added underneath. When alders had to be removed, alder chips and leaves were added to the sandy mix. “Alder waste on ground cloth has reduced weeds on the pathways, too,” she says.
With confidence in their garden base, Christina began experimenting. The kitchen basics thrived, though lettuce was a big disappointment: “the dampness just turned the lettuce moldy.” Bok choy, Chinese Napa cabbage, and Guylan, a Chinese broccoli, were also tried with varying degrees of success.
Other experiments have been more successful, with a little help. Christina explains, “We do bring in potting soil and fish fertilizer for starts in March. And lettuce does much better in pots outdoors or in a greenhouse environment.”
Despite the excellent compost value of seaweed, “We didn’t want to disturb natural beach activities, so we’ve never harvested seaweed for the garden. But we do use the chopped kelp our seaweed researchers have collected for their projects! We’re not fully organic but I’d say somewhere in the neighbourhood of 75 to 80 per cent,” Christina says.
Surprisingly, birds have been the biggest pests. Ravens and large flocks of golden-crowned sparrows have descended on open garden beds and ripped spinach and kale down, “leaving nothing but ribs!” Christina grimaces. Solution: a cover for outdoor garden beds. Insect pests have been negligible, though warming temperatures brought an increase in their numbers and variety.
Adding a substantial greenhouse in 2020 meant plants could be started earlier, and peppers, eggplant and tomatoes did well until “temperatures rose and stressed them out. That was disappointing, but we’re now putting them outside again,” Christina says.
Potatoes and garlic have always been a big success. “And we can always count on a good harvest of the basics like carrots, peas and beans,” she adds. A range of herbs are generous providers, along with foraged salal berries and huckleberries.
Today this burgeoning garden is another Hakai achievement and remains Christina’s passion project, as evidenced by a productive series of raised garden plots and two greenhouses. In 2021, the addition of garden and manager-trainee Paige Opie assured ongoing expertise.
Paige loves the work and Hakai. “Working alongside Christina has really ignited my passion for gardening. I’ve learned so much, from not only Christina but the elders and the land itself. I feel extremely lucky to be able to work in this unique and beautiful part of BC.”
Best of all, this productive garden has established itself as another sustainable Hakai undertaking. “Boaters are stopping in all summer, from all up and down the coast, even world sailors,” Paige says. “They’re fascinated by the garden and our restorative approach to our environment.”
Local folks too appreciate that the sandy tombolos of BC’s coastal islands can be gardened – with care for the natural setting, imaginative hard work, and a successful example at hand.
Dianne Bersea has been a professional artist for more than 35 years. She lives in Penticton, BC. www.diannebersea.com
