The water-powered mill still cuts lumber and grinds flour, but tarts and doughnuts are the main attractions now
TYRONE, Ont. — Like the prairie grain elevators in Western Canada, the grist mill was a main centre of economic interest in the early days of settlement in rural central Ontario. Grist mills or flour mills were situated on or near waterways in the mid-1800s because there was no electricity. On this waterway a dam […] Read moreAuthor Archives
Alberta farm eager to dish out asparagus
The Edgar family grows 50 acres of asparagus on their farm and opens up to the public three weekends every spring
INNISFAIL, Alta. — It takes courage to be the first and largest asparagus grower in Alberta, but that’s what Doug and Elna Edgar, their daughter, Keri, and her husband, Randy Graham, have done on their sixth generation family farm west of Innsifail. Their farm of 11 quarters raised beef cattle and grain since 1907. “In […] Read more
Irrigation crucial to farming in southern Spain
Rice is grown in the south while corn is grown in the north as a major fodder; barley and winter wheat are major cereals
The song in the famous musical drama My Fair Lady suggests, “the rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.” That would be why this region of southern Spain has developed into a vast area for agriculture production. The mostly treeless plains are wide open fields stretching to the horizon. Spain’s climate is similar to […] Read more
Harvesting cork a long-term investment
Portugal is the world’s largest producer of cork with 7,000 sq. kilometres under cultivation and 30 million corks made a day
Imagine having to wait 25 years to harvest your first crop. That’s what growers in southern Portugal do when harvesting cork. Cork has many uses from sealing champagne bottles to garment-making to use in the aerospace industry. In the 1700s, Dom Perignon, a wine-making monk, revived the use of cork as a tasteless odorless seal […] Read more
Farm equipment dealership takes its name seriously
LACOMBE, Alta. — Possibly one of the world’s largest equipment centres, the Pentagon Farm Centre in Lacombe, began in 1982 with five people sitting around a kitchen table trying to figure out what to call their new venture. The five decided to call the new company Pentagon. Today, Brian Williams, owner of Pentagon, said he […] Read more
Sask.’s connection to the road to nowhere
Former Saskatchewan residents learn to live with the challenges that come with moving to remote Nunavut
IQALUIT, Nunavut — Ever try ordering something on Amazon when your address is The Road to nowhere? That’s the sort of challenge people living in Iqaluit, on Frobisher Bay in Nunavut’s Baffin Island, have when they try ordering something from the “outside world,” said Karren McCartney. “There are no roads leading out of towns up […] Read more
Nordegg: the Alta. ghost town that came alive
Tourists can tour the remains of the coal processing plant and loading facilities as well as historical buildings
NORDEGG, Alta. — Deep in the heavily forested hillsides of the foothills of the Canadian Rockies lie the remains of the old coal mining site of Nordegg, an hour’s drive west of Rocky Mountain House, Alta. Martin Nordegg, a German businessperson started to develop a coal mine around 1901. With German, British and Belgian investors, […] Read more
B.C.’s historic K2 Ranch has colourful history
The ranch, which was founded in 1898, still custom grazes 300 cattle on its meadowlands during the summer
INVERMERE, B.C. — In a meadow on a long laneway off the Westbank road south of Invermere sits British Columbia’s historic K2 Ranch. Founded in 1898 by rancher and Paradise Mine prospector Tom “Blanket” Jones, the early ranch consisted of 640 acres of forests and meadow lands. The original name of the ranch was named […] Read more
Old church comes alive with candle light service
MIRROR, Alta. — A congregation breathed life into an abandoned northeastern Alberta church by holding a candlelight Christmas service this month. St. Monica’s Anglican log cabin church was built in Mirror and shut down 32 years ago but this summer area residents finished refurbishing it. In the 1990s, Mirror museum members took on the restoration […] Read more
Little remains of rural community
JACKFISH, Sask. — The road sign on Highway 26, the church with the historic bell and Rev. Father Leon Bondoux’s log cabin are all that remain of the once thriving Saskatchewan community of Jackfish. The first missionaries in the area were Oblates of Mary Immaculate, with Bondoux forming the first mission in 1890-92. Roman Catholic […] Read more
