Diane Rogers

After a hard day working in the fields, the farm families of the 1920s had no time or money to drive to the nearest town to seek entertainment. They would make their own fun. Gathering around the piano or the radio, the leisure activities were often a family occasion. Sometimes the children played board games […] Read more

The spillover effect of four years of garden contests has been noticed in Hamiota, Man. “Our town is definitely changing our looks,” said Gwen Snell, recreation director for the town and a volunteer on the local Communities in Bloom committee. “It’s a greener, friendlier place,” she said. “It’s so much more welcoming to see a […] Read more

As jam and pickling season approaches, prairie preservers are looking for lids for their older gem line of jars. They are having trouble finding them. Last year there were none for sale because the manufacturer stopped making them. It declared that it wasn’t making money on the older line. However, this summer was supposed to […] Read more

ESTON, Sask. – On a hot, windy weekend, the freshly cut wheat field served as a parking lot for hundreds of cars. Licence plates, heavy with dust and grasshopper bits, showed Saskatchewan, Alberta and Ontario owners, with a sprinkling from American states – Kentucky, Arizona, Montana, Oklahoma. The Schneider farm outside of Eston was hosting […] Read more

All four western provinces have now named their candidates for Canada’s outstanding young farmer of 2003. The national winner will be chosen in December at a competition in Vancouver. On Aug. 2, British Columbia chose Ron and Jessie Brar of Surrey. They had been finalists in the provincial competition for the past two years. They […] Read more

When a Montreal packager was ready to reject a load of peas, Saskatchewan processor Ron Gaudet travelled to that city, took all 1,200 bags apart, cleaned out the glass fragments and sewed the now-acceptable peas back into the bags. He was not afraid of hard work, said his son Tony, whose father will be posthumously […] Read more

Taste was important but visual appeal probably helped the Saskatoon Delta Bessborough Hotel chef win a saskatoon berry dessert contest July 19. Carrie Funk’s recipe, called Swans on the Saskatchewan, featured a caramelized sugar bridge with chocolate stones and a swan floating on a pond of saskatoon fruit and liquor sorbet. The other entries included […] Read more

ALLAN, Sask. – On this central Saskatchewan farm that is older than the province, the sweet pea flowers are lush, the 74-year-old barn is a sharp red and the driveway freshly graded. All was tidied for the July 26 party that was to celebrate the farm’s 100 years. A neighbour made and erected the century […] Read more

In his first year, the Canadian manufacturer of gem jar lids is finding he can’t keep his products on the shelf. “I thought I’d be making five million lids and we’ve shipped 10 million,” said Gordon Tirebuck, president of the Toronto-based Canadian Home Canning Inc. “I hope everybody realizes we’re going to be around for […] Read more

CRAVEN, Sask. – Midway through a tour to familiarize Saskatchewan teachers with animal agriculture, they sounded like old farmers as they debated the tastiness of different sheep breeds. A tour of Richard Strauss’ Katahdin sheep farm, followed by Leitch’s Livestock sheep feedlot, contrasted the merits of wool and meat sheep for them. The straw poll […] Read more