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Potatoes

This is a closeup of superb Valentine bleeding heart flowers. The plant likes soil to be evenly moist but not constantly wet. Allow surface soil to become dry to an inch deep or more between waterings. An eastern exposure is ideal and filtered light or mostly shade is preferred much of the day. Avoid scorching the plant from too much direct sunlight and excess heat. As soon as the first crop of blooms begins to show signs of exhaustion, cut back the entire plant once flowering is done. Sprinkle a complete fertilizer on the surrounding soil, moisten in and wait. If autumn frost doesn’t arrive too early, you’ve a good chance to enjoy a second flowering of bleeding heart during fall.
Columns, Farm Life

Odes to purple potatoes and to horticultural hearts

Also: an Alberta reader is on the hunt for a Bird of paradise

By
What’s it going to be this Valentine’s Day? Red roses, a box of chocolates and a corsage along with a singing card are standard. Or maybe you’ve created a one-of-a-kind, original Valentine’s Day card of your own? Perhaps a night out in town with a reservation for two at Mr. Mikes Steakhouse hits the spot. […] Read more
The shape of the instrument has changed, but the air fryer uses old cooking methods.
Columns, Farm Life

Cooking with hot air

By
I am a purist. I like classic methods and techniques with proven results. And I love knowing that what I am doing in my Prairie farm kitchen has been done for centuries by others in kitchens far different from mine. There are only so many ways of transforming raw food into a meal. Regardless of […] Read more
Photo: Thinkstock
Crops, Fruit/Vegetables, Potatoes

Canadian potato output rises in 2023 

Alberta vaults to first place in provincial potato production

By
At 32.063 million hundredweight of potatoes this year, Alberta vaulted from third to first place as it improved on the previous year’s crop of 26.813 million. Manitoba moved into second spot from third with its harvest of 29.760 million cwt. following last year’s 26.139 million. Prince Edward Island saw its output reduced in 2023 to 25.813 million cwt. from 27.789 million. In 2023, the trio combined for 68 per cent of Canada’s total potato harvest of 128,801 million cwt. 
A “little potato” crop at six to nine tons an acre in central Alberta does not need the same extra moisture as seed potatoes and can be planted directly into standing canola stubble in the spring.
Columns, Crops

‘Sustainable’ ag systems for Prairie croplands need clearer definition

By
The word “sustainable” has become one of the most misused words in agricultural information systems. What we have to realize on Canada’s Prairies is that “sustainable” really means farmers maintain the status quo for good, achievable, economic agricultural practices on their cropland. What may be sustainable agricultural systems for Eastern Canada or the north-central United […] Read more
Under sunny skies, neighbour Ken Reiniger loads some slough hay bales, that will make good winter feed, onto the trailer.
Cattleman’s Corner, Livestock

Weather co-operates for fall projects

Digging potatoes and hauling feed all completed under fairly warm dry conditions

By
The weather this fall has been very nice. The wind has been cold at times, but we really couldn’t complain about the temperatures. I gave the foals a few days to settle down after weaning and then started refreshing their halter training. We try to work with them to introduce the halter a few days […] Read more
photo:
Columns

Prairie farm gardens

Growing vegetable and fruit crops in Canada: Part 1 of a series

By
Garden crops from beans to apples have been a passion of mine from my childhood in Wales. On our small 17-acre Welsh farm in southwest Wales, we grew or raised most of the vegetable food that we ate from potatoes to apples as well as milk, eggs, pork and chickens. The mild climate allowed us […] Read more
McCain foods has launched Presia Ag Insights, a firm that will use artificial intelligence to advise growers. Photo: McCain Foods
Markets, Potatoes

McCain launches new predictive ag firm

By ,
McCain Foods has formed a new digital agriculture subsidiary, Presia Ag Insights. The move builds on McCain’s 2022 acquisition of a “predictive crop portfolio” from Resson, a Fredricton, New Brunswick firm that uses artificial intelligence to advise farmers on crop management decisions. McCain, in a media release, said the Presia launch is “the result of […] Read more
Jason Cardinal talks market gardens and tech to attendees of the Indigenous Ag Summit at Canadian Western Agribition in Regina. (Lisa Guenther photo)
General

At Agribition: Northern community integrates tech, education into market garden

Flying Dust working to improve operation's food distribution

By ,
Riverside Market Garden, operated by Flying Dust First Nation, started in 2009 with two people and an old alfalfa field. Today it employs about 20 people, plus summer students; provides food for the community and some wholesalers; and gives youth a chance to learn about agriculture. Over the years the First Nation, just north of […] Read more

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