Salt Spring Exchange

Ferries Fixed, Webcams, Newsletters, Fall Fair & Apples Absolutely Everywhere

Summer Was Full. Now Comes the Harvest.

Well, that went quickly.

At the beginning of summer we announced that the tomatoes needed us more than your inbox did, paused the Saturday newsletter for a few months, and headed outside to try to keep up with the garden.

We’re not entirely sure we succeeded with the tomatoes, but somehow it’s September anyway.

Salt Spring did what Salt Spring does in summer: filled right up, got hot, got busy, put on approximately seventeen things at the same time every weekend, and made us all develop very strong opinions about ferries.

And now, almost overnight, we’ve moved into harvest season.

Apparently, the apples have taken over

For the second year in a row, Salt Spring is having a bumper apple crop. Trees are loaded, apples are dropping, and if you have an old tree in your yard you may currently be wondering what exactly you’re supposed to do with 400 pounds of fruit.

Fortunately…

Salt Spring RCMP Seek Owners After Suspected Stolen Boat Motors Found in Ganges Harbour

Salt Spring Island RCMP are looking for the owners of several boat motors believed to have been stolen after a collection of motors was discovered on a floating structure in Ganges Harbour earlier this month.

The unusual discovery appears to have first come to public attention through a post shared on social media, after a local boater went searching for his own missing dinghy.

Ben Barter wrote that he had returned to Salt Spring after several weeks away for work to find that his dinghy was missing from his boat.

After searching around Ganges Harbour and the area he referred to as Squalor Bay, Barter said he spotted his own motor mounted on a makeshift floating structure alongside as many as nine other motors.

Barter said members of the Harbour Authority of Salt Spring Island (HASSI), Salt Spring RCMP and several friends helped him return to the site, identify his motor and recover it.

His dinghy itself had not been recovered…

Astrology by Danielle Blackwood: Full Moon AUGUST 2026 (PISCES)

Happy Full Moon in Pisces!

This month’s Full Moon at 4° Pisces (August 27th at 9:18 pm) is accompanied by a near total lunar eclipse that can deliver accelerated change as well as an interweaving of endings and new beginnings. The Moon will turn a reddish hue, known as a ‘Blood Moon’, so be sure to go outside if the skies are clear.

This is the last in a series of Pisces eclipses that began in September 2024. Take a moment to reflect on what’s shifted since then. What feels like it’s wrapping up? Where do you feel…

Astrology by Danielle Blackwood: Full Moon JULY 2026 (AQUARIUS)

Each Full Moon brings its own wisdom, teachings, and medicine through the lens of a particular archetype. The Full Moon often brings something to fruition and illuminates what has been hidden. Each month we experience a subtle shift as the Full Moon highlights specific themes, emotions, and feelings. For many, the Full Moon amplifies the way we interpret and experience both our inner world and the world around us. Happy Full Moon in Aquarius! The Full Moon at 6° Aquarius on July 29th at 7:36 am (PT) is the biggest Full Moon of 2026. Not only is it conjunct Pluto (the planet of death and rebirth) bringing themes of power, control, and deep psychological transformation (as well as the emergence of Shadow material) it also coincides with Jupiter cazimi, an Arabic word meaning ‘in the heart of the sun’. The archetypal signature of the so called ‘Barbault’s Basket’ is still very much with us and will be for some time to come. This Full Moon taps into that once in a lifeti…

Astrology by Danielle Blackwood: Full Moon MAY 2026 (CAPRICORN)

This Full Moon is a contemplative one, occurring at 8° Capricorn at 4:57 pm PT within hours of two other significant astrological transits, as Mercury stations retrograde and Jupiter moves into Leo. With Saturn as the ruler of this Full Moon, it’s time for a reality check. Saturn in Aries also makes a square to this lunation. Look before you leap, prioritize, and create healthier boundaries. Neptune also squares this Full Moon which can distort reality. Be aware of projection (seeing someone or something through rose colored glasses). Because Mercury also stations direct on the day of this Full Moon, we’re called to re-evaluate the path we’re on. We may experience setbacks in some of our long-term goals and need to revise something. Fortunately, Jupiter moves into Leo which can provide needed optimism, support, and unexpected blessings. The 29th could be a multifaceted day! The medicine of Capricorn teaches us the wisdom of inhabiting a physical body in the earthly…

Community People Profile: Ethan Wilding

Tell us a bit about your background: I was born and raised in the Yukon, the son of small-business owners. The North gave me two things that stuck: a deep respect for the land, and the habit of finishing what I start. That respect led me to a Ph.D. in Environmental Ethics, which I went on to teach for years, and later to building and running multiple cutting-edge companies. After a few chapters in other cities, I have happily called Salt Spring home since 2020. These days, most people know me as "the FabLab guy." Through the Wilding Foundation, I've fully funded the FabLab for the past five years and pitched in to help plenty of other local programs along the way. Since moving to the island, I met the love of my life, Bahareh. We were recently married here at the maker space where we hold shoe making workshops and host events for local organizations. Fun fact: I made Bahareh’s wedding shoes. And that’s the thing about Salt Spring: it encourages you to be the…

Some Places Still Remember How to Gather

It's easy to forget what community actually feels like. We talk about it all the time. We say we want more of it. We worry that we've lost it. But then, every so often, you wander into a place where community gathers, shares, and enjoys itself a little like "old times." Salon Sundays at Stonewell Farm feels a little like that. If you've never been, it's difficult to describe without making it sound like a festival, because technically it is. There are musicians and workshops and local food and drinks, farm animals wandering about, children with room to be children, shady places to sit, conversations that stretch longer than expected, and enough corners to discover that no two visits feel quite the same. And yet somehow the feeling of the day isn't one of entertainment. It's one of ease. People arrive with blankets and picnic baskets. Kids pulling parents into their adventures. Someone you vaguely know introduces you to someone they've just met. Music uplifts w…

Astrology by Danielle Blackwood: Full Moon MAY 2026 (SAGITTARIUS)

Each Full Moon brings its own wisdom, teachings, and medicine through the lens of a particular archetype. The Full Moon often brings something to fruition and illuminates what has been hidden. Each month we experience a subtle shift as the Full Moon highlights specific themes, emotions and feelings. For many, the Full Moon amplifies the way we interpret and experience both our inner world and the world around us. Happy Full Moon in Sagittarius! The Full Moon at 9° Sagittarius on May 31st (1:45 am PT) is a Blue Moon, meaning that it is the second Full Moon in a calendar month. This is a rare Full Moon in that it’s free and clear of any hard aspects to other planets. It’s a time to celebrate, kick up our heels and choose our own adventure. It may mark a significant turning point on our journey, lighting a path that leads the way to a new and meaningful quest that rekindles our spark and renews our faith. We may feel a tangible shift, a noticeable quickening. So many o…

Astrology by Danielle Blackwood: Full Moon MAY 2026 (SCORPIO)

Each Full Moon brings its own wisdom, teachings, and medicine through the lens of a particular archetype. The Full Moon will often bring something to fruition and illuminate things that have been hidden. Each month we experience a subtle shift as the Full Moon highlights specific archetypal themes, emotions, and feelings. For many, the Full Moon amplifies the way we interpret and experience both our inner world and the world around us. Happy Full Moon in Scorpio! This year, the month of May is bookended by Full Moons. The first Full Moon coincides with the Gaelic agricultural festival of Beltane, on May 1st at 11° Scorpio (10:23 am). The second lunation of the month lights up the sky on May 31st, and because it is the second Full Moon in a calendar month, is known as a “Blue Moon”. Beltane is a Tairseach Naofa, or “sacred threshold”, signaling a liminal betwixt and between time that heralds the return of summer. Beltane marks the midpoint between spring equinox and …

Astrology by Danielle Blackwood: Full Moon APRIL 2026 (LIBRA)

Each Full Moon brings its own wisdom, teachings, and medicine through the lens of a particular archetype. The Full Moon will often bring something to fruition and illuminate things that have been hidden. Each month we experience a subtle shift as the Full Moon highlights specific archetypal themes, emotions, and feelings. For many, the Full Moon amplifies the way we interpret and experience both our inner world and the world around us. Happy Full Moon in Libra! The first Full Moon of the astrological year lights up the skies at 12° Libra (7:12 pm PT) on April 1st. We’ve just moved through a particularly trying Mercury retrograde and eclipse season and stepped across the seasonal threshold with Spring Equinox and the beginning of Aries. Because this is the beginning of a new Solar year, we can allow this Full Moon to clarify our direction before we hit the ground running. There are currently no retrogrades holding us back, and the energy of April will be full steam ahead.…

Astrology by Danielle Blackwood: Full Moon MARCH 2026 (VIRGO)

Each Full Moon brings its own wisdom, teachings, and medicine through the lens of a particular archetype. The Full Moon will often bring something to fruition and illuminate things that have been hidden. Each month we experience a subtle shift as the Full Moon highlights specific archetypal themes, emotions, and feelings. For many, the Full Moon amplifies the way we interpret and experience both our inner world and the world around us. Happy Full Moon and Eclipse in Virgo! The Full Moon at 12° Virgo (3:38 am PT) is accompanied by a total lunar eclipse, in this case a “Blood Moon”, due to its reddish hue as sunlight is refracted through the earth’s atmosphere. Depending on clear skies, this eclipse will be visible from most of North America. On Salt Spring we can see the eclipse starting at 12:44 am with the total eclipse starting around 3:04 am. This Lunar South Node eclipse is the third in a series of Virgo eclipses (the first was in March 2025, the second in Septem…

Obituary: Michel Jutras

Michel Louis Jutras September 10, 1946–December 10, 2025 Michel Louis Jutras passed away on Dec. 10, 2025, at his home in Qualicum Beach, B.C. He was born Sept. 10, 1946, to Cyrille Jutras and Bernadette Lepage in Saint-Cyrille-de-Wendover, Que. After attending seminary as a teenager, Michel ventured across Canada and discovered a taste for life out west. He later explored central Canada, the east coast and Central America, finding adventure both on land and at sea, before returning to B.C. in the late 1960s. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in anthropology and French literature from The University of British Columbia. Initially on track for an academic career, the call of the ocean proved irresistible. Michel spent the next 40 years fishing B.C. coastal waters while living in West Vancouver, Tsawwassen, Victoria and Salt Spring Island, where he settled in 1979. He moved to Qualicum Beach in early 2025. Michel was happiest on his boats — Blue…

Astrology by Danielle Blackwood: Full Moon FEBRUARY 2026 (LEO)

Each Full Moon brings its own wisdom, teachings, and medicine through the lens of a particular archetype. The Full Moon will often bring something to fruition and illuminate things that have been hidden. Each month we experience a subtle shift as the Full Moon highlights specific archetypal themes, emotions, and feelings. For many, the Full Moon amplifies the way we interpret and experience both our inner world and the world around us. Happy Full Moon in Leo! Like a lantern in the dark illuminating a winter’s night, the Full Moon at 13° Leo shines light on our next steps on February 1st at 2:09 pm. Falling on Imbolc, the Snow Moon marks the midpoint between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. Imbolc is the Gaelic cross quarter festival sacred to the saint and goddess Brigid that has long been considered a time of inspiration and hope, the harbinger of spring. The days are now growing visibly longer, as we consider the future and contemplate the seeds we’d like to pla…

Astrology by Danielle Blackwood: FIRST Full Moon January 2026 (CANCER)

The first Full Moon of the year lights up the sky at 2:03 am (PT) on January 3rd at 13° Cancer. It reminds us of the importance of tending to our deepest roots and asking what truly nourishes us. We can use this first Full Moon of 2026 as a touchstone, a sanctuary that calls us back to what we belong to, so no matter how accelerated the next few years, we remember the way home. For those who have been wandering for a long time, this can be a homecoming - balm for the soul that nurtures and protects, that softens the rough edges and welcomes us back into the embrace of belonging. Welcome home, dear traveller. Cancer symbolism is intimately connected to the ocean, the waxing and waning of the tides moving from receptivity to emotional fullness and introspective retreat. The shifting internal ebbs and flows of our unconscious, as well as our connection to our greater human inheritance. Unfathomably deep, connected to ancestral memory, and the roots of the subconscious,…

2026 in a Nutshell from Danielle Blackwood

This year gives us reason for hope. Although every year brings its blessings and challenges, many wisdom traditions are heralding 2026 as a definitive step across an optimistic new threshold. Below you’ll find some of the highlights for the year ahead. In numerology, 2025 was a Universal Year 9 which brought completion, culmination, and closure. As a Universal Year 1, 2026 initiates a whole new nine-year cycle, indicating new beginnings and fresh starts. And while 2025 was also a deeply reflective Hermit Year, 2026 signals a Wheel of Fortune Year, auguring a turn of the tide and a time to embrace change, evolution, and movement. And if all of this isn’t enough, on February 17th the Lunar New Year ushers us out of the Year of the Wood Snake and into the Year of the Fire Horse for the first time in 60 years. Fire Horse Years are said to awaken passion, enthusiasm, energy and self-determination. In other words, Wood Snake to Fire Horse marks a momentous change from hid…

Astrology by Danielle Blackwood: This Full Moon December 2025 (GEMINI)

Each Full Moon brings its own wisdom, teachings, and medicine through the lens of a particular archetype. The Full Moon will often bring something to fruition and illuminate things that have been hidden. Each month we experience a subtle shift as the Full Moon highlights specific archetypal themes, emotions, and feelings. For many, the Full Moon amplifies the way we interpret and experience both our inner world and the world around us. Happy Full Moon in Gemini! The last Full Moon of the year is a Supermoon arriving at 13° Gemini, shining across the cosmos on Thursday, December 4th at 3:14 pm. 2025 is a Universal Year 9 in numerology, bringing completion, culmination, healing, and closure, as we prepare the ground for a whole new cycle in 2026, which is a Universal 1 year. Universal 1 years indicate new beginnings, fresh starts, and initiation. So, approach this Full Moon with an eye to letting go of the past and beginning a whole new 10-year chapter with a clean slate.…

Astrology by Danielle Blackwood: This Full Moon November 2025 (TAURUS)

Each Full Moon brings its own wisdom, teachings, and medicine through the lens of a particular archetype. The Full Moon will often bring something to fruition and illuminate things that have been hidden. Each month we experience a subtle shift as the Full Moon highlights specific archetypal themes, emotions, and feelings. For many, the Full Moon amplifies the way we interpret and experience both our inner world and the world around us. Happy Full Moon in Taurus! This month the Full Moon arrives at 13° Taurus, illuminating the sky on Wednesday November 5th at 5:19 am. As with every Full Moon, the Sun is in the opposite sign, highlighting a sacred polarity that plays out in the collective as well as in our personal lives. Astronomical or ‘true’ Samhain occurs within the engagement range of this Full Moon - November 6th at 8:04 pm - this is the exact mathematical midpoint between autumn equinox and the winter solstice, and a powerful moment for magic. During this time…

Astrology by Danielle Blackwood: This Full Moon September 2025 (ARIES)

Each Full Moon brings its own wisdom, teachings, and medicine through the lens of a particular archetype. The Full Moon will often bring something to fruition and illuminate things that have been hidden. Each month we experience a subtle shift as the Full Moon highlights specific archetypal themes, emotions, and feelings. For many, the Full Moon amplifies the way we interpret and experience both our inner world and the world around us. Happy Full Moon in Aries! This month the Moon is full at 14° Aries, lighting up the sky on October 6 th at 8:48 pm. This lunation brings an official end to a particularly eventful eclipse season. Many of us have come to a crossroad in some area of our life, depending on where these recent eclipses landed in our chart. Some have reached turning points that have offered more questions than answers. As Aries is the first sign of the zodiac, this Full Moon is an invitation to begin again. To wrap up an old chapter and prepare to write a new story…

Community Invitation: Honouring National Day for Truth and Reconciliation at Fernwood Dock

Tomorrow (Tuesday, September 30) from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Fernwood Dock, the community of Salt Spring Island is invited to gather with Elders and members of the Spune’luxutth (Penelakut) Tribe to honour the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Penelakut Chief Ch uh’ keen n uh’kwaut Jack and her husband Guy have already raised their hands to thank the children who took part in a walk on Monday, expressing appreciation for their remembering. Chief Jack said she looks forward to seeing everyone at the dock for Tuesday’s gathering.

Organizer Kurt Irwin, Councilor of the Penelakut Tribe, together with the Coastal Blood Singers, will host the event. Kurt has confirmed that the Penálaxeth’ boat will arrive carrying up to 20 Elders, and that there will be multiple speakers throughout the afternoon. Jason Roy Allen, Chamber of Commerce President and owner of Feast restaurant, has been involve…

Waterfront Gift Brings Opportunity — 1.5 Acres Donated for Salt Spring Community Park

Salt Spring will soon welcome a new community park thanks to the donation of about 1.5 acres of waterfront land near Fulford. The property includes open viewpoints, a pocket of beach, and rare direct ocean access — exactly the kind of shoreline connection identified as a priority in the island’s 2019 Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan. The land comes as a gift from the family of the late Ruth Baldwin, who lived on the property until her passing in 2009. Her family shared that she cared deeply for the place and would have been delighted to know it will now be enjoyed as a public park. A covenant will be added to the title to ensure the land remains protected for community use into the future. Local representatives with the Capital Regional District (CRD) described the donation as a rare chance to protect shoreline for public benefit at a time when waterfront properties are increasingly scarce. They noted that the new park will safeguard both access and natural beauty for …

Birds Spared for Now — What the Ostrich Cull Pause Means for Our Community

Why Salt Spring should be paying attention. Canada's Supreme Court issued a temporary stay on September 24, 2025, halting a federal order to cull more than 400 ostriches at a Kootenay farm after an H5N1 avian influenza outbreak. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) insists that depopulation is essential to stop the virus, while the farm argues that no birds have died since January and that survivors should be retested. The ruling brought a wave of relief to many across the province. Supporters who had camped outside the farm for weeks felt hope that the ostriches might be spared, and the pause also drew attention to the enormous emotional strain placed on families working day and night to protect their animals. For Salt Spring, the story feels closer than it might seem. Avian influenza has already been detected in the region, including a backyard flock in Saanichton last year, and the lessons of the ostrich case speak directly to our island’s small farms and hous…

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