Reading Time: 4 minutes The truck was empty so Jeff shut the auger off just as his wife Elaine came his way. It was late winter and she had her cross-country skis on, dodging the loose gravel that showed through the snow. Flora, the German shepherd puppy, ran alongside. “Finally finished cleaning the Thompson’s lentil seed,” Jeff said. “Great,” […] Read more
Hanson Acres: Feed the world, sure, but these three too?
Sometimes life on the farm invites all stragglers to stay and stay…
Hanson Acres: New friends, great food, and then a long road home
No matter your age, sometimes there’s a twist at every turn
Reading Time: 5 minutes “Good game!” Dale said as he and Donna and their new friends Phil and Marlene took seats around the plastic table next to the pickleball court. Dale and Donna’s first three weeks in Yuma had been a bust. Trouble with the furnace back home. Good friends not returning for the winter. They found out their […] Read more
Are you ready for this?
Columnist Leeann Minogue learns that if you don’t get on board with how these young women think, you’ll get left behind
Reading Time: 8 minutes What do young women think about the male-dominated ag industry that they are about to enter? I had been asking myself this question, and I wanted to find out, so I talked to a selection of female ag students. What did I hear? Without exception, these young women all wanted to know why I was […] Read more
Hanson Acres: Standing in line, waiting, waiting, waiting…
Worrying about spring long before it arrives
Reading Time: 4 minutes When he went inside to change into some “going to town” jeans, Jeff heard his eight-year-old daughter Jenny complaining. “This Rice Krispie cake doesn’t taste right,” Jenny was telling her mother. “Did you use the wrong recipe?” Jenny wasn’t usually whiny, but she’d had a lonely week at home. She didn’t have symptoms, but her […] Read more
Hanson Acres: Looking south with stars glittering in their eyes
“I’m not missing another year,” Donna said, and for good measure Dale added. “Don’t worry about us.”
Reading Time: 4 minutes When Dale and Donna Hanson drove home from their winter holiday in Yuma in January 2020, the biggest challenge they’d faced was finding a hotel room along the highway during a sudden blizzard. “Good thing we came back to Canada before COVID-19 hit,” they’d both said many times since then. After spending the rest of […] Read more
Hanson Acres: There’s always more room in a farmer’s schedule
If only farming was as simple as everyone seems to think
Reading Time: 4 minutes Jeff Hanson was next in line at the Co-op grocery store cash register when he ran into his old friend Shawn. “That’s a full cart,” Shawn commented. Jeff had loaded his shopping cart with a week’s worth of food for himself and his two kids. Shawn, still single, didn’t need a grocery basket, let alone […] Read more
Hanson Acres: Make them forget all about that other time you tried it
It can’t happen twice, Jeff said. Elaine wasn’t convinced
Reading Time: 5 minutes Finally, Elaine thought, life is back to “normal.” Well, almost. She realized she was still wearing her face mask as she drove alone in her SUV, halfway between Prairieland Park and her hotel. She pulled the mask off and tossed it onto the passenger seat. She didn’t love wearing masks, but as long as a […] Read more
Hanson Acres: Here’s the joy of Christmas secrets
When his sister called, Jeff knew his Mom would be surprised. But not this much
Reading Time: 5 minutes “Donna Hanson was beyond disappointed. “I understand,” she told her daughter Trina over the phone. “These COVID travel rules keep changing. Of course you can’t risk having to quarantine.” Trina and her husband Tom had taken job transfers from North Carolina to Germany last year, both working for ag chemical companies. Between the move, and […] Read more
Hanson Acres: Putting it out in the open for all to see
Sometimes, you know it instantly. No one will ever forget what you've just done.
Reading Time: 4 minutes Jenny and Connor were ready and waiting, backpacks on over light fall jackets. Outside, Flora, their grandfather’s dog, started barking. It was an urgent, loud bark, as if she was alerting the Hansons to an emergency. “Bus is here!” Connor shouted, grabbing the door handle. “Bye!” his little sister Jenny called, running after him. Their […] Read more
Hanson Acres: It never rains but it pours somewhere
What can you say when a truckload of 4-H’ers catch you in the act?
Reading Time: 5 minutes “We never should’ve gone to the lake,” Jeff grumbled. Way back in August, the Hansons thought they would be finished harvest in record time. After a long stretch of hot, dry days with no breakdowns, they surprised even themselves by shutting down early one day to spend an afternoon and evening at the lake. But […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
