Canada's national organic week concludes today. Organic week is the largest annual celebration of organic food, farming and products across the country. Recently a friend shared with me an Australian video she came across on organic agriculture and I thought I'd share it with all of you to cap off organic week. This video makes some great points... Continue Reading →
#harvest14 begins
Harvest has begun on the Canadian Prairies. If you're on Twitter follow #harvest14 or #westcdnag to see all the harvest tweets from our farmers. I travelled to Manitoba recently and captured these photos on my family farm of the wheat harvest.
#stampede2014 picture wrap up
The Calgary Stampede has come and gone for another year. Once again I volunteered with the Ag Media committee and was on park for several of the 10 days. We also took in the afternoon rodeo, and evening chuckwagon races and grandstand show. It was a busy and fun time. This year I captured lots... Continue Reading →
Vintage Tractor Pull Returns to the Calgary Stampede
As a volunteer on the Calgary Stampede Agriculture Media committee, this year I have the privilege of assisting the Stampede Farm Equipment committee with its social and traditional media needs. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with this committee over the past few months. I feel that the Stampede has a tendency to focus on animal agriculture while other aspects... Continue Reading →
#plant14 is in full swing
It was a long, cold winter across much of Canada, including the Prairies. At times it seemed like spring would never arrive. But it always does. For urban dwellers, spring's delayed arrival is more of an annoyance than anything. But to the farmers who are anxiously waiting to plant the seeds that will grow into... Continue Reading →
Rolling on the Paint
I've been swamped at work lately due to some personnel changes, but I wasn't about to miss the annual Habitat for Humanity build day. I love getting out of the office; I love volunteering; and I love getting dirty. So the Habitat build is perfect for me. I first participated in the Habitat build through... Continue Reading →
Advancing Women in Agriculture: Key Takeaways
80% of life is showing up. As an introvert I sometimes struggle with this. I'll admit there are times when I'd rather just stay home. But I force myself to go (show up) and I never regret it. Last week I had the privilege of attending the first Advancing Women: Life Skills for Leadership -... Continue Reading →
Protecting Our Crops
As someone who grew up on a conventional family farm that uses pesticides and someone who works in the crop protection business, it bothers me when people assume that farmers douse their crops with all kinds of chemicals just for the heck of it. This is simply not true. First of all, the term chemicals... Continue Reading →
Gluten is Under Attack: Ceasefire!
The G word is almost as bad as the F word these days. In recent years, gluten has been getting a bad rap due to the mass media, celebrities who are so-called gluten experts and books such as Wheat Belly and Grain Brain. For those who don't know, gluten is a protein found in grains... Continue Reading →
Ultimate Foods Grown in Our Own Backyard
At a recent agricultural conference I decided to take in a session with speaker Mairlyn Smith. Some of you may recognize her name. Mairlyn is a professional home economist who makes regular appearances on CityLine and Breakfast Television in Canada. She peppers her healthy cooking talks with a side of comedy. Check out her website. During... Continue Reading →
Rural Route Ramblings 