Sad on Christmas. Unhappy, lonely or tired man with stress, grief or depression. Family fight, loneliness, frustration or money problem on Xmas. Sick person with flu, pain and headache on holiday. Tero Vesalainen/iStock/Getty Images

In times of mandatory joy, try to find contentment

Farm Family Coach: We can’t force it to be the most wonderful time of the year for everyone

If we’re not feeling the joy at a time of year that seems to insist on over-the-top moments of happiness, we can allow ourselves to just try for fulfilled or content, farm family coach Kalynn Spain suggests.

Young women from across Ontario kept food production going during the war under the farmerette program. Photo: We Lend a Hand.

Women who fed a nation

More than 40,000 young women supported the war effort between the 1940s and early 1950s, helping grow and harvest crops amid labour shortages. They were called Farmerettes.





Close-up of a mature woman farmer sitting in combine harvester talking on a cb radio in farm field. Photo: AJ_Watt/E+/Getty Images

Run the farm with its people in mind

Farm Family Coach: Developing skills in HR management is especially valuable on farms with employees or a multi-generational workforce

Learning the human resources side of management and leadership is particularly helpful if your farm business has employees or a multi-generational workforce, farm family coach Lydia Carpenter writes.