Columns

When I was young, I liked to go back to the woodlot because it was a machinery graveyard. Rusted and nearly unrecognizable, as a mower or swather, trees had grown up through them. My siblings and I picked through old bottles, boards and bones...

I laughed out loud (more than once) watching The Farm Show: Then and Now on the Harvest stage in Blyth.
I didn't see the original Farm Show play but director Gil Garratt and cast incorporated its history ...

Looking out the kitchen window at a field that's planted in soybeans for almost as far as the eye can see, I got thinking of a book I read recently on early pioneer life ...

One of the things I have always loved about spring is the infinite number of shades of green. From the first timid hint as you run your eyes over the edges of the bush, to the lushness we see now, shades of green tell the story of the seasons...

Anyone experienced in research -- historians, journalists and the like -- go to source materials as a means to distinguish truth from perspective. If a source originates from an earlier time period...

"Good morning gents," greeted Molly Whiteside when she delivered the menus at Mabel's Grill the other morning, "Can I start you off with a coffee?"
"Of course," mumbled George Mackenzie...

I am not a prophet. I don't know what will happen tomorrow, much less next year or beyond that.
However, as a scientist, I read scientific literature and books about ecology, agriculture and dynamic systems...

Over the years, I've had farm women seek me out for advice on getting divorced. These are hard conversations. So emotional. Decisions need to be made but fear, shame, hurt and anger quickly make things dark and twisty...

I'm going to show my age here, but when I read an article that showed the latest values for farmland in Ontario, I nearly flipped out.
According to the article the value of neighbouring farms...

One of my on-going life lessons is that most headaches are caused by the things you don't know that you don't know. One of those things for me lately has been about sorting out the role of executor...

I had the opportunity to meet the Ontario Liberal Party's leader recently. Bonnie Crombie served as the federal MP for Mississauga-Streetsville from 2008 to 2011 and with an endorsement ...

"Hey, how's everybody this morning?" Molly Whiteside said the other morning as she delivered the menus to the table at Mabel's Grill.
"Don't remind me," George Mackenzie said sourly ...

I was so inspired in writing the article about land access this month and, once you read it later in this issue, you'll understand why. So much of what Amy Stein said about her farmland investments ...

Fifty years ago, on a moonless night in the Fraser Canyon, B.C., I was trudging back to camp. Cautiously crossing a railroad bridge, I heard the wail of a train whistle ricocheting through canyons behind me. I couldn't judge the distance between ...

I see they're talking about expanding the Bruce Power nuclear station near Tiverton.
In February the federal government announced it will provide $50 million for preliminary work for an expansion of the Bruce Power nuclear plant...

As you drive around the countryside, you may notice blue and red signs posted in fields. Small and humble, they are easy to miss. But they are an indication of the long-term dedication of many farmers, agriculture supply companies, individual ...

Attached to many of our garden plants are memories of people and places.
We will have already been harvesting rhubarb by the time this column is published, which brings to mind former neighbours, Charlie and Mariel. The original root they gave us came...

"So what have you guys been up to lately," asked Molly Whiteside one Monday morning recently as she passed out menus at Mabel's Grill.
"I watched a hockey game yesterday," Dave Winston said, "but...

While it's somewhat incongruous that the majestic Bald Eagle is a dedicated carrion eater, I am thankful for it and the chicken farmers that make viewing of these stunning birds so accessible in Huron County....

The other night, in the midst of a startlingly beautiful sunset, my wife called me to see a couple of dozen wild turkeys in the corn field to the west of our house, as seen through the large windows of the rear addition of our country home....

"We limit the possibilities whenever we think we know the answer." I can't tell you how much I love this quote from Peter Johnson, also known as Wheat Pete. I have had the opportunity to hear him speak at a couple of meetings this winter...

Over the years, I've covered many stories about the response of communities to unwanted developments. Now the proverbial shoe is on the other foot.
York1, a company with millions upon millions in assets, has come to Dresden in the Municipality of ...

Molly Whiteside stopped as she delivered the menus at Mabel's Grill the other morning and sniffed as she passed behind George Mackenzie's and Cliff Murray's chairs.
"What's that for," wondered Dave Winston, as he opened his menu.
"We've had so many...