Many farm owners may avoid making wills because they want to avoid family conflict. Having a third party facilitate this discussion can help you get harmony through understanding.

Froese: Do you have a will?

If you’re a younger farmer, there’s a good chance you don’t. Here are some tips to help you get started

An Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada report, “Succession Planning on Canadian Farms,” refers to a 2019 Farm Financial Survey by Statistics Canada that showed most of the surveyed farm owners (81 per cent) had a will in place. However, the percentage was much smaller (58 per cent) for farmer owners under 40 years of age. Why […] Read more

Whole star anise, cinnamon sticks and cloves are common ingredients in spice blends.

Spice it up

First We Eat: Curries come in a rich assortment of flavours and rely on many spices

I’ve been lucky in love. Along the way, I worked hard to learn from good relationships that ended as well as from more difficult ones. Last month, my husband, Dave, and I celebrated 15 years together. They have been happy and loving years, filled with joy and the wonder of living life together as an […] Read more


Bishop’s Flower is an easy-to-grow annual that likes full sun to light shade exposure, blooms from mid- to late summer and beckons pollinators by the hundreds.

Bishop’s Flower a boon to beneficial insects

Singing Gardener: Plus a recipe for pickled carrots

Some proverbs! “It is a wise father that knows his own child.” I don’t often hear that one anymore, but it was a common expression when I was a kid. Conversely there’s a proverb that says, “It’s a wise child that knows its own father.” There’s this one for a young man seeking a mate: “He […] Read more

Be a better listener

Be a better listener

Feelings of not being heard can fuel frustration in farm families. Here are some tips that can help

In January, I had the delight of watching a group of 20 farm employees and managers racing against the clock to change race car tires in Bob Parker’s Pit Crew Challenge. Parker is a longtime friend and motivational speaker. His Pit Crew Challenge, which features real NASCAR-type race cars and former race car drivers, challenges […] Read more


Take a breath

Take a breath

How 'coherent breathing' can help people with chronic digestive complaints

It may sound wild, but how we breathe can have a big effect on chronic digestive complaints. Our digestive system is largely controlled by a portion of our nervous system known as the enteric nervous system and a cranial nerve called the vagus nerve. These parts of our neurology are what receive and give information […] Read more

Here are just a few of the fats you can use for cooking. Pictured are (left to right) coconut oil, butter, olive oil in a carafe, pork fat, a jar of toasted sesame oil and schmaltz.


Don’t fear fat in your food

First We Eat: Fats are a prime nutrient source and serve more than one role in the kitchen

“What do you think of when you hear the word schmaltz?” I ask my husband Dave. He hesitates for half a heartbeat. “Soppy, sentimental writing or music,” he says. Dave’s a retired journalist, a card-carrying lover of edgy jazz and R&B, fan of hardbitten detective and police procedural TV shows and writer of lean short […] Read more


A day’s harvest from Sue Kraft’s garden in 2021. It’s a labour of love when it’s veggie-picking time for carrots, corn, cukes, lettuce, peas and tomatoes.

Pick of the crop

Singing Gardener: When it comes to carrots, Scarlet Nantes is hard to beat

Hello young people, hello senior citizens and welcome to everyone in-between who is trying hard to make ends meet and keep afloat on the river of economic problems — in particular, the high cost of food. We’re glad to be gardeners and keepers of the soil. Cost-wise, it’s hard to eat healthy if you’re eating […] Read more

Exacting cooks know it’s important to choose the right tool for the task.

The mettle of metal cooking pots

First We Eat: It matters what your kitchen pot is made of

Metal matters, as surely with knives and kitchen pots as any other farm tool. As we speak, a pot of split pea soup burbles on my gas range in a pot of enamelled cast iron. I feel safe about leaving it on its own. Much safer, say, than leaving our new kitten, Hercule, on her […] Read more


Having personal wealth spreads your wealth across the farm assets as well as on the personal side.

Froese: Build your personal wealth bubble

Smart investing can reduce your dependence on farm business assets

Why is it important to have personal investments? I found a good answer to this question online: “Investing is an effective way to put your money to work and potentially build wealth. Smart investing may allow your money to outpace inflation and increase in value. The greater growth potential of investing is primarily due to […] Read more

Mortgage Lifter is a classic organic heirloom beefsteak tomato originating in the 1930s. Its seeds are still in demand.

Want to grow a huge tomato? Mortgage Lifters can do the trick

Singing Gardener: Plus more from Ted’s treasury of tomato tips

Hey there gardeners! Let’s meet in the tomato patch where, with a bit of imagination, a whole bunch of us can gather together to sing “O I’m lovin’ my tomatoes in the good old summertime, my tomatoes, in the garden, in the row, my tomatoes where they grow.” Now back to reality. Today’s page is […] Read more