This time of year brings with it new risks on the farm, especially for children, and families are urged to play it safe
Keeping kids safe on the farm is a key consideration during the winter, whether it’s snow-submerged fence posts, hidden barbed wire on snowmobile trails, snow removal that reduces yard visibility or the exhaustion that comes with winter calving,. Snow sports, shifting weather, extreme cold and chores can add to safety risks. Trish Henderson and her […] Read moreStories by Tara Klager
Restored Alta. barn put to new use
The historical landmark has been turned into an event centre, but it has become much more than just a wedding venue
It was a tumble-down barn built in 1904. A historical landmark, maybe, but the property had been vacant for years. It was collapsing and the roof line resembled an old saddle. It was full of pigeon poop. But to Debora Rice-Salomons, it was a thing of beauty. Now the property boasts not just a restored […] Read more
Hosting bees – photo essay
Providence Lane Homestead near Cochrane, Alta., allowed Fallentimber Meadery of Water Valley, Alta., to keep bee hives on the farm this summer. Here’s a look at how it went. | Tara Klager photos
Farm sitters allow families to take a vacation
Making the expense of a quality, trustworthy farm sitter part of the vacation budget can lead to a more peaceful holiday
Whether it’s applying Vaseline to chicken combs in -30 C temperatures to prevent frostbite, wrangling horses out of fields they’re not supposed to be in, feeding the inside dogs and cats or hunkering down for a one-on-one session with a needy sheep, Gwen Mann has done it all for her various farm-sitting clients. “Horses, alpacas, […] Read more
Old-school solution found to new tree trouble
Sheep put to work keeping grass under control in recently harvested timber stands as an alternative to herbicides
Tyler Niles never thought he’d see sheep helping to manage tree regrowth after timber harvesting. The silviculture forester with Weyerhaeuser in Grande Prairie, Alta., said the sheep are proving useful in helping new trees gain a better foothold in cutblocks. Cutblocks are areas with clear boundaries that have been approved for harvest. Companies like Weyerhaeuser […] Read more
Preserving Mother Nature’s bounty
Canning is the most common way to store the fall garden haul, but fermentation and dehydration are other options
In many places across the Prairies, gardeners are wrapping up another season. Shining tomatoes, jewel-coloured carrots and beets, beautiful beans, sharp-tasting onions, earthy potatoes are coming out of the ground, pulled off the plants and lined up on kitchen counters. But how best to preserve the summer’s bounty? What are some tried-and-tested ways of keeping […] Read more
Alta. city acquires a taste for urban agriculture
Cochrane residents build mobile greenhouse and have plans for larger facility with workshops and rentable garden beds
Grounded in vision and rooted in values is how Jackie Skrypnek describes Cultivate Cochrane, a grassroots organization promoting urban agriculture in one of Alberta’s fastest-growing municipalities. According to its website, Cultivate Cochrane is “a non-profit society dedicated to growing a resilient and connected community through food, innovation and lifestyle empowerment centred around a community greenhouse […] Read more
Postcards draw attention to Canadian wool
Organizers of the campaign hope to increase industry’s profile and attract government funding for the domestic sector
The federal government has released its policy framework designed to “strengthen and grow” Canada’s agriculture sector and some Canadian shepherds and processors think they know where some of those funds should go. They are carrying out a postcard campaign that includes letters to federal and provincial government officials to attract more attention to the wool […] Read more
Barn pickers discover gold in the old
The stories are as valuable for salvage specialists as are the items they find in abandoned homesteads across the Prairies
“Rust is my favourite colour,” says Todd Cunningham, veteran picker and owner of Cunning Mantiques and Rusty Rose Pickins in Didsbury, Alta. “Rust tells a story; a story of adventure and finding things.” Anyone spending time on side-roads has seen them — barns and homesteads, farmhouses and granaries — standing out in the middle of […] Read more
Consolidation trend reaches vet sector
Private equity makes inroads as more rural veterinarians sell to large companies seeking to capitalize on profit potential
Gone are the days of veterinarians hanging out their shingle on a store front in the small, rural towns that dot Alberta as they run mixed animal practices and function like any other independent, locally owned small business. The James Herriot-style vet trundling around to farms and ranches has become a thing of the past, […] Read more
