Farm girl. Farmer's daughter. Ag marketer. Ag volunteer. Outdoor enthusiast. Fitness lover.
Last week I escaped the concrete jungle of Calgary and explored a new part of the province. I ventured about 3.5 hours northwest to the Drayton Valley area for the two-day Alberta Farm Writers Association (AFWA) annual farm tour. For those of you who are familiar with the province of Alberta, I'm sure the first... Continue Reading →
This past weekend I had the privilege of volunteering at the Calgary Stampede Aggie Days. And a couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog post leading up to Aggie Days called Bees, Beets, Beans and More. If you missed it, check it out here. Aggie Days, a free agricultural adventure for all ages, brings... Continue Reading →
Calving is in full swing on my family farm in southern Manitoba. My young farmer brother was kind enough to snap the following photos of some of our cute baby calves to share with you all. My family says that the unseasonably mild winter across the Prairies has made calving easier. I've always loved animals,... Continue Reading →
During last week's International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) 2011 Congress I participated in the two-day Lake Ontario agriculture tour. The tour took us east of Toronto to visit a bison farm and a maple syrup business. From there we drove to Prince Edward County, a piece of fertile land jutting into Lake Ontario, where... Continue Reading →
Last week I joined my fellow farm writers and communicators for the annual Manitoba Farm Writers and Broadcasters Association (MFWBA) tour. We visited the National Centre for Livestock and the Environment (NCLE) near Glenlea, Man. We went on a field tour where we learned about Whole-systems field-based research and the Watershed systems research program. This was followed... Continue Reading →
This past December I boarded a plane and flew around the world to New Zealand and Australia. I spent most of my time on an organized tour in New Zealand. As I travelled across both the north and south islands, I was able to take in some of the country's agriculture. In January I shared my observations... Continue Reading →
I just finished reading the book, Skinny Bitch, by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. Now I'm going to admit that I was fuming through most of the short book. In places I couldn't believe what I was reading. On a few occasions I was tempted to take a match to the book or at least hurl... Continue Reading →
People and animals have been tied together for thousands of years. There's an "ancient contract" between the two, according to Dr. Henry Janzen, research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. But there are strains in that ancient contract. Do we need to rethink this ancient contract in order to minimize our footprint on the environment? asks... Continue Reading →
Rural Route Ramblings 