Sugar is no longer king in this Caribbean Island country and the government has initiated a plan to enhance food security
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados — The agricultural history of Barbados, an island in the eastern Caribbean about 900 kilometres off the coast of Venezuela, can be traced to the early days of the 16th century. British settlers saw the agricultural potential. Prior to their arrival, the Spanish and Portuguese had driven away the indigenous people and deforested […] Read moreStories by Duane McCartney
Salmon canning once big business in B.C. port
Visitors to Prince Rupert can get a slice of history at the nearby North Pacific Cannery National Historic Site of Canada
Prince Rupert in northern British Columbia is noted for its big grain terminal but the region also has a significant history as a major salmon canning industry. Just south of Prince Rupert is Port Edwards, home of the North Pacific Cannery National Historic Site of Canada at the mouth of the Skeena River, the oldest […] Read more
Sask. farm lights up for the holidays
The most popular feature is a working electronic and mechanical candy cane machine, which the family built from scratch
ELFROS, SASK. — For 26 years, Gary Folster, wife Heather and son Quenton have brought Christmas merriment to hundreds of people visiting their Christmas light display at their home in Elfros. Visitors from all across Western Canada and even England have signed their guest book and made donations in their gift box for the Wadena […] Read more
Saturday in Rowley, Alta? Must be pizza night
The ghost town comes alive on the last Saturday night of the month as part of an effort to keep the community relevant
Sam’s Saloon is packed with party goers who came for pizza night in Rowley, Alta. The last Saturday night of each month is set aside for pizza night and people from all over the area travel to Rowley to attend. The rest of the time it is basically uninhabited because Rowley is a historical ghost […] Read more
Sask. village shows no signs of slowing down
A thriving community hall keep Gronlid hopping, and the promise of a diamond mine is making things interesting
GRONLID, Sask. — At the end of the abandoned Canadian Pacific Railway line north of Melfort, Sask., sits Gronlid. The village was established in 1925 with the building of a store, lunch counter and barber shop. The community is named after Pastor H. O. Gronlid, who established the Beaver Creek Lutheran congregation in the district […] Read more
Historical water mill still at work in Ontario
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 more
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
