Reading Time: 5 minutes It shouldn’t take a global pandemic to remind us of what’s important in our lives, but, over the past months, that’s exactly what’s been happening in homes and communities around the world. Even on farms, which after all have more experience dealing with these issues, some are feeling the loneliness and boredom of isolation from […] Read more
Humming, strumming along with song
Few things cheer a farmer’s heart like music, so let’s hear more of it
Social (un)distancing
Canada’s young farm grads have learned how to capture the benefits of social networking despite living in a kind of isolation the rest of Canada is experiencing for the first time
Reading Time: 7 minutes When Blair Cummins left the farm where he grew up to go to the University of Saskatchewan and get his bachelor of science in agriculture in the 1970s, he could count on one hand the number of people he knew who were pursuing higher education. “Out of my generation, I only know two others that […] Read more
Guide Health: Antiseptics and disinfectants
Always let your hand sanitizer evaporate on your skin. That’s how it works!
Reading Time: 2 minutes Antiseptics and disinfectants both slow or stop the growth of micro-organisms such as bacteria, viruses and fungi, but with one difference. Antiseptics are intended for human use, while disinfectants are used to clean inanimate objects like table tops, counters and sinks. Sometimes the same product can be used for both, but the disinfectant may be […] Read more
Make self-care your priority
Actually, you do have time to take care of yourself, especially with these incentives
Reading Time: 5 minutes Grain farmers Jennifer and Michael Doelman are making self-care a priority in 2020. Years of hard work, sleepless nights caring for young children, and a stressful farm succession process have left the Renfrew, Ont. couple suffering from burnout. The couple love their work but have been stretched too thin giving to farm, family and community. […] Read more
In search of new employees for the farm
If it seems you’ve looked everywhere for new employees, maybe it’s time to try a new way of hiring
Reading Time: 7 minutes We keep hearing the numbers. The farm employment crisis is real, and it is getting worse with over 100,000 farm workers expected to retire in the 2020s, and a dwindling number of candidates from traditional sources to replace them. So, why not go to non-traditional sources? Or maybe there are better ways to let potential […] Read more
Guide Health: Dealing with migraines
Migraines often have a trigger, whether it be environmental or lifestyle
Reading Time: 2 minutes The excruciatingly painful headaches classed as migraines are considered to be the most common type of headache. About 25 per cent of women and nine per cent of men are affected with between four and six work days lost per year for each sufferer. Migraines are thought to involve a nervous system dysfunction which results […] Read more
Guide Health: Drug contamination
As drug standards get stricter, recalls will become more common
Reading Time: 2 minutes Whether it’s a prescription drug or nonprescription remedy, when you take a medication, you would like to think that it will be effective and not cause you more problems. While adverse effects or even interactions with other drugs or foods are by far the most common reason for problems, drug contamination has recently been mentioned […] Read more
Adulting 101
Got a teenager who will soon be off to school? Do them a favour with these life lessons
Reading Time: 5 minutes While farm kids learn many things that their urban counterparts never get to experience, it’s also possible that in the busy-ness of life on the farm, some skills needed for independent living can get overlooked. It’s just easier to keep getting their meals for them, doing their laundry for them, helping them sort their money […] Read more
Alone on the farm, or lonely?
Farm life can be more isolating and more challenging than ever, making it even more important to ask yourself these questions
Reading Time: 5 minutes Christi Friesen has learned to recognize signs that she’s heading into a spiral of negative thinking — and it usually happens when she’s pulling 18-hour days on the tractor on her Peace River farm in Alberta. “When you’re out in the boondocks, your closest neighbour is a half-mile away and you’re working alone and you’re […] Read more
Tips for better emailing
These apps can make your business and family communications more efficient, but you still need to write clearly
Reading Time: 5 minutes The irony is that even though we have more ways to communicate than ever before, somehow we seem to be always be getting worse at the job. We are inundated with emails and distracted by text messages, and it feels like we’re always trying to puzzle out what some sender meant to say, or whether […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
