A British Columbia man wants to learn more about the origins of a toy he received as a gift in Saskatchewan in the 1940s
CAMROSE, Alta. — Reg Alspach has a toy story he wants to bring to life. Growing up in Regina, Alspach often visited his farming relatives in the Edgeley, Qu’Appelle and Indian Head areas of Saskatchewan and he learned quickly that his grandfather, Bill Kinvig, was a Massey Harris man. In about 1948, the young boy […] Read moreAuthor Archives
Alta. elevator receives historical designation
The elevator is also home to municipal archives, a farmers market, community garden and large machinery and farm tool display
SPRUCE GROVE, Alta. — The local agriculture society saved Spruce Grove’s elevator from the wrecking ball in 1995. Earlier this month, the provincial government gave it an extra layer of protection with a Provincial Historic Resource designation. The former Alberta Wheat Pool grain elevator, built in 1958, was decommissioned in 1995 and was ready to […] Read more
Project digs deep to understand soil health
Research and forage associations will follow specific protocols to take samples from 20 locations a year for five years
CAMROSE, Alta. — A small laboratory in central Alberta, cobbled together through donations and determination, may help farmers improve crop yields through soil samples. Yamily Zavala, soil health and crop management specialist with the Chinook Applied Research Association in Oyen, is leading a study to understand and improve soil health across Alberta. “Our goal is […] Read more
Young family turns old barn into new home
The ambitious project required years of planning, designing, permits, cleaning and work on weekends between day jobs
ONOWAY, Alta. — If Katie Hartfeil and Adam Turnbull’s three children are ever asked the etiquette question, “were you raised in a barn,” they can truthfully answer, yes. For almost 10 years, the family transformed the eight-stall hip-roofed horse barn, built in 1928, on the family farm, into their home. “They were wandering around here […] Read more
U-pick market garden focuses on education
On the Farm: Customers learn how to pick a cucumber and receive favourite recipes and tutorials in preserving food
Bawlf, Alta. — If children, parents and customers leave Lil Ryley Farms knowing a bit more about agriculture and food, that’s a win, says owner Kerri Giesbrecht. “We are about education,” Giesbrecht said about her family’s U-pick market garden, farm store and event farm. “When we made the move, we made it public about our […] Read more
Supporters hold rally for Alta. campus
Advocates for the University of Alberta’s Augustana campus in Camrose worry about what funding pressures mean for school
CAMROSE, Alta. — Joelle Skinner met her husband at Augustana, found herself at Augustana and learned to understand rural communities at Augustana. “I think of Augustana as my love story,” said Skinner, during a Friends of Augustana rally across the road from the 110-year-old university. “Augustana has absolutely shaped who I am,” said Skinner, who […] Read more
Chem-free weeding between rows
Austrian-made inter-row cultivator keeps the steel between the crop with camera guidance and hydraulic hitching
CAMROSE, Alta. — Cultivating barley in July is a farmer’s nightmare. Markus Reyerding has cultivated his barley once, harrowed it a couple times this year and hopes to cultivate some of the parts he missed once more. Reyerding has transitioned 520 acres of their roughly 7,000 acre farm to organic and the interrow cultivator and […] Read more
Burgeoning beavers build bulky barricades
CAMROSE, Alta. — Kevin MacDonald wouldn’t give a plugged nickel for the Canadian icon featured on the real nickel. This year, beavers have plugged culverts and flooded roads, fields and farmyards. “This year, it’s bonkers,” said MacDonald, manager of Camrose County’s Agricultural Service Board. The county has ripped apart roads to let the water drain […] Read more
Poly pockets for corn
CAMROSE, Alta. — The old adage that corn should be waist high by the fourth of July may be reality in the United States Midwest, but in central Alberta it’s just a saying. Except at Vermeer’s Dairy in Camrose where much of the 600 acres of corn seeded under a biodegradable film is growing quickly […] Read more
Self-isolation helps clean out greenhouses
Operators in Alberta hope the increased interest in gardening will create a greater urban appreciation for agriculture
BAWLF, Alta. — The thought of being confined to home for the summer has turned Albertans into gardeners, racing to greenhouses and snapping up flowers and vegetables to fill the summer hours. Across Alberta greenhouse owners were taken by surprise at the intense interest. It’s Rosa Wipf’s seventh year as a greenhouse owner and her […] Read more
