Raspberries in the patch are a thorny affair, so wear protection to minimize scratches.

Harvest, Part 2: Cherries and peaches and berries, oh my

First We Eat: In the sudden absence of B.C. fruits, our own local produce is even more precious

We live a long way from peach country, the wine-and-fruit-specialist Okanagan and Similkameen valleys in B.C.’s deep south. Those two B.C. valleys are home to twice as many fruit growers as Ontario and Quebec combined, and StatCan sets the province’s fruit production at over $450 million annually. Each summer, one fruit grower, Little Quail Orchard […] Read more

For each long harvest day ahead, your language and behaviour set the tone.

How to clean up your conflict filter

Seeds of Encouragement: Shift out of an avoidance mindset and face conflicts for what they are

When the dust of harvest rolls and clogs up the efficiency of your combine filters, you don’t keep going — you stop and clean or replace the filter. If you spread your fingers open across your face, you are creating body language for the conflict filter clogging up the communication for your farm team. It’s […] Read more


To be clear, practices such as the ones outlined in this space are not meant to replace appropriate rest and recovery.

To avoid fatigue, breathe

Fit to Farm: Deliberate breath can help influence energy levels, focus and level of alertness

As a new season approaches, so too do long hours of driving for many farmers. One problem that presents when we deal with prolonged periods of driving, whether in the field or on the highway, is fatigue. The agriculture industries are rife with long hours at various tasks and fatigue is common, posing a dangerous […] Read more

Fresh basil still in the garden.

Harvest, part 1: Garnishing summer greens

First We Eat: In the dog days of summer, salads with protein can help dial down the heat needed for food prep

We’ve been in deep summer heat for weeks now after a rainy spring, and every plant in my yard — including the quack grass and chickweed — is consumed with the green fuse of growth. The result is a cornucopia of everything. The scarlet runner beans and snow peas twining around their bamboo stakes tower […] Read more


The bull in the middle of the room is the opposite of that old saying about the weather: no one wants to talk about it, but everyone wants to do something about it.

How to ‘discuss the undiscussabull’ ™

Seeds of Encouragement: If you feel you should have permission to ask for what you need, here it is

Twenty years ago, at coaching school, I embraced a Beanie Baby bull as the metaphor for the “bull in the middle of the farm kitchen” which no one wants to talk about. My “tools for talking about tough issues” can help you navigate the hot days of August on the combine, grain cart, pasture or […] Read more

carpal tunnel exercises

How to treat carpal tunnel at home

Fit to Farm: Symptoms begin when connective tissue compresses tendons and nerves in an already-busy area

Carpal tunnel is a condition that can affect anyone, anytime, though it’s especially common in those who work with their hands and do manual labour. The carpal tunnel is an anatomical term for the path the tendons in the forearm and wrist take underneath a bridge of connective tissue in the wrist moving into the […] Read more


skipper otto fish

B.C. fish for Prairie plates

First We Eat: A co-operative aims to sustain the sea for fishing families’ future

Wild fish was part of my childhood on Vancouver Island. We picked oysters and mussels, dug clams, scooped up spawning grunions, and cast hooks for salmon. But these days, as fish prices skyrocket and issues over whether to eat farmed or wild fish become ever more complex, my consumption of fish has plummeted, relying on […] Read more

Our questions and thoughts can create great conversations — if we let them.

Watch your words

Seeds of Encouragement: Self-defeating language can kill transition conversations and affect your mental health

Recently in one of our amazing membership coaching calls a farmer sighed loudly about his transition frustration and said, “It is what it is.” This sparked a lively conversation about how we handle our mental well-being, which is often bathed in waves of frustration as we try to navigate the needs and wants of founders […] Read more


back pain

Easing the strain of sitting

Fit to Farm: Joints in the spine can get compressed when you have to sit for long periods

A common complaint that comes along with the farm lifestyle and career is back pain. Non-specific low back pain — meaning the pain has begun with no clear incidence and doesn’t have one clear cause — makes up over 80 per cent of back pain complaints. In my line of work, often it isn’t as […] Read more

farm family

Great questions to uncover inheritance expectations

Seeds of Encouragement: Keeping a farm intact can complicate the process, but not insurmountably so

One of the key fears of aging farm founders is the conflict they anticipate when the farming heir has access to millions of dollars of land, and the siblings who are off to other careers do not have the same net worth opportunity in their future. Or do they? Firstly, where it is written that […] Read more