Sweet cherries are one of summer’s most cherished fruits.

Summer brings a cherry jubilee

First We Eat: Direct off the tree or baked into desserts, the fruit is rich in both flavour and nutrients

Seeing this year’s fresh Okanagan cherries being unpacked at the local farmers’ market, in the wake of a disastrous 2024 growing season in that region of British Columbia, was a magical moment.

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


What’s now known as the Evans cherry likely had ancestry in Siberia and was brought to Alaska by Russian immigrants.

Fruit growing on Prairie farms

Part 5 of a series on Prairie farm gardens

Fruit growing on the Canadian Prairies is much easier and more rewarding than most people ever imagine. I am an avid fruit grower on my Alberta acreage, growing everything from plums, pears, grapes, apples and cherries to currants and raspberries. You name it, I am growing it. I am familiar with backyard Prairie gardens all […] Read more

File photo of fresh cherries purchased from an orchard’s roadside stand at Penticton, B.C. (Amy Mitchell/iStock/Getty Images)

B.C. cherries cleared for export to Korea

Canada-Korea free trade pact a step ahead on lower tariffs

Canada’s seven-year-old free trade pact with South Korea already provides for reduced tariffs on cherries from British Columbia — a commodity that’s just been approved for export to Korea for the first time starting this month. Canadian agriculture and food safety officials announced Aug. 10 that talks with Seoul on import rules and certifications had […] Read more





(Photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

Neonic-treated canola not an ‘unacceptable risk’ for pollinators

Already facing federally mandated phase-outs from many major on-farm uses in Canada over risks to aquatic insects, neonicotinoids aren’t expected to pose “unacceptable risks” to pollinators when used on canola seed or hothouse vegetables in the meantime. Health Canada said as much Thursday as it released its final re-evaluation decisions for three neonic pesticides — […] Read more



(Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Canada preparing shorter list of tariff targets in COOL fight

Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada is whittling down its list of U.S. products that it may hit with steep tariffs in retaliation against contentious meat-labeling laws, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said on Tuesday. The Canadian government is likely to target beef, pork, California wines, mattresses, cherries and office furniture, possibly along with other goods, from […] Read more