Carol Schroeder with her artworks.

Preserving farm memories

Home Quarter: Woman uses art and autobiography to do just that

What began as two different hobbies for Carol Schroeder have both developed into successful ventures. Her first endeavour involves using pressed flowers to make items like decorative cards. Schroeder grew up on a farm northwest of Wolseley, Saskatchewan. Inspired by her grandmothers, she loved arts and crafts, including knitting, weaving, painting, sewing and embroidery. “I […] Read more

Increase your fun factor this Christmas

Play, people connections, and photo memories can all increase the fun on your farm

Christmas Eve is eight weeks away as I write this note to you and possibly mere days away as you read this! I am curious if that statement strikes panic into your heart or soothes your soul. Strong farm families celebrate together. I wonder what kinds of intentional moves you could make this year for the […] Read more


Do you have a collection of empty ice-cream pails?

Do you have a collection of empty ice-cream pails?

If you do, you probably use some to fill with Christmas goodies to have on hand in the freezer

My parents never threw out anything that might be used for something else. This was never more evident than in the stack of plastic ice-cream pails leaning like the Tower of Pisa in a corner of the laundry room. No kidding, it’s taller than I am. Growing up, we ate a lot of ice cream. […] Read more

Farm women… love yourself more than your cows!

Home Quarter: Are you tired of being last? Decide what to hang on to and what to let go of

The cartoon featured a man and wife sitting upright in their bed with the man holding a pitchfork and a Holstein cow between them. The caption reads: “Honey you love your cows more than me!” Some dairy folks don’t find this funny, because they see a grain of truth in the humour. The cows often […] Read more


Is there still a farm wife out there?

Is there still a farm wife out there?

Lee Hart treads into dangerous territory, daring to take on the issue of the term “farm wife”

Since religion and politics are always safe subjects, I thought I would really kick over the can of worms and talk about gender equality on the farm. I am not even sure where this topic is going, I just know the term “farm wife” raised a few hackles at a recent Canadian Farm Writers Federation […] Read more

Bigos (Polish stew)

Bigos — a Polish stew made for sharing

Perfect for a cold winter meal and gets better as it’s reheated

Nouvelle cuisine has its place, but I prefer food with a long and storied history, especially when the recipe and story come from a dear friend. But this recipe does not begin in her kitchen. It begins on a winter road trip along the Crowsnest Highway between Alberta and British Columbia. After a long day […] Read more


Lisa Guenther reading from Friendly Fire.

Debut novel for Grainews writer explores serious subject

Friendly Fire delves into small-town family secrets and violence and why some speak out and others don’t

When Darby Swank finds her beloved aunt floating dead in the water of Brightsand Lake, it sets in motion a hunt for the killer and shatters the tranquil facade of the rural community Darby calls home. If it sounds like a murder mystery, it is. But Grainews writer Lisa Guenther’s debut novel, Friendly Fire, is […] Read more

Julie-Anne Walllewein working on one of the gourds.

Farm Life: From garden to gallery

Saskatchewan artist transforms gourds into works of art

What transforms an object from the plant world into an exquisite work of art? Gourd artist Julie-Anne Wallewein will tell you it requires a great deal of time, hard work, and attention to detail. She takes great pride and satisfaction in the entire process that begins with a seed package and ends with a piece […] Read more


cake

Prairie Palate: Getting tired of zucchini yet?

Make some cakes with them – perfect from the freezer or eating warm from the oven

When my husband and I got married 20 years ago, we had one pre-nuptial agreement, at his insistence: that I would never plant more than six zucchini at a time. Talk about tough love. Zucchini is my favourite summer vegetable, for a number of reasons. It grows quickly, it’s lush and attractive, the flowers are […] Read more

We find the taste of dehydrated tomatoes batter than canned ones.

Storing food for the winter — here’s what works for us

Our preferred methods are dehydrating the tomatoes and freezing the spaghetti squash

This past summer was definitely busy. We had the pleasure of hosting a seven-year-old and a nine-year-old boy from Alberta, and they helped watch our year-old grandson while his mom ran the post office. As I don’t like to use the water canner with young children underfoot, I used our dehydrator for the tomatoes. Really […] Read more