Heavy rains can quickly overload sanitary sewer systems, causing raw sewage to back up into your home. This can damage the interior of your home, your belongings and also introduce health hazards like mould and harmful bacteria. These tips can help protect your home from sewer backup when heavy rainstorms hit unexpectedly: Extend all rainwater […] Read more
Farm Living
Storms &sewer backups
Stop Leaks Early
Here are tips to prevent water damage in your home: Investigate new water stains immediately to determine the damage it has caused. Make sure everyone knows where the main water shutoff valve is and how to open and close it. Shut the water off at the main valve whenever you will be away from home […] Read more
Family sells natural world
QUESNEL, B.C. – Surrounded by forest and sprawling ranches, Moose Meadows Farm sells agriculture as entertainment. Owners Ted Traer and his wife, Heloise Dixon-Warren, operate the 65 acre farm west of Quesnel. “We’re trying to put people back in touch with farms and where things come from,” said Traer. It is the first certified agri-tourism […] Read more
Chefs feature creme de la creme of local products
Canada’s top chefs served up high class grub at a gourmet breakfast at the Calgary Stampede, an event better known for its pancakes, beer and fried midway foods. Chefs from across the country cooked Canadian foods with help from farmers and federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz. Each chef emphasized local foods that are healthy and […] Read more
Morning sickness woes
Q:It should be an exciting time for my husband and me. I found out that I am pregnant with our first child. We have been married for eight years so you can imagine how important the baby is for us. But I don’t feel excited. I have been hit with morning sickness and no matter […] Read more
Canadians’ dairy consumption in decline
HALIFAX – Canadians, the only significant market for Canada’s dairy farmers, are becoming a tougher market for dairy products. And as Canada’s demographics change, the market will become tougher, Canadian pollster Darrell Bricker told the Dairy Farmers of Canada annual general meeting in Halifax July 14. There are two reasons, said the chief executive officer […] Read more
Landowner finds satisfaction in metal and trees
MONT NEBO, Sask. – A bronze tree limb cast in Jim Jansen’s homemade foundry cools while he plants trees on his quarter section farm near Mont Nebo, Sask. Jansen likes the long-term satisfaction he gets out of planting trees and pouring bronze sculptures. “Not that I want to be known 10,000 years from now as […] Read more
Bison ideal for grass farm
VALHALLA CENTRE, Alta. – Five years ago, Glenn and Eldine Kjemhus were asked to take over a retail spot at the Grande Prairie Farmers’ Market. They had just returned from a farm direct marketing course and thought they’d try selling their bison to customers at the market. Now they wouldn’t give it up. “I enjoy […] Read more
Legal decisions that will leave you scratching your head
I have provided columns in the past about actual legal cases that could be described as crazy, bizarre or outrageous. I’ve collected another batch for your summertime enjoyment. In 1997, a poor man from Nepal was hired to take a suitcase to the United States for $6,000. He didn’t know that the frame of the […] Read more
Honouring Canada’s lead man on pulses
My friend, Roberta, accompanied her father, Al Slinkard, to Rideau Hall in June, where he received the Governor General’s Nation’s Table award for creativity and innovation. He was recognized for his pulse research and promotion at the Crop Development Centre of the University of Saskatchewan. In Slinkard’s acceptance speech, he said he was promoting and […] Read more
