Category Archives: Farming

Lessons from farming, revisited

I’m going in for shoulder replacement surgery on my right shoulder tomorrow morning, which means my right hand and arm will be out of commission for a few weeks. When I lamented that I wouldn’t be able to blog for … Continue reading

Posted in Farming, Life stories | Tagged , , , , | 68 Comments

Metaphors for life: instead of Oprah’s running, let’s try farming!

“Life is just a bowl of cherries” proclaims one song. And that’s just one example of a metaphor for life. You can find plenty of other suggestions, from a box of chocolates to running (especially that it’s a marathon, not … Continue reading

Posted in Farming, Just wondering | Tagged , , , , , | 28 Comments

Looking at what the world eats using world maps

I had hoped to share maps exploring fun topics related to what people eat around the world, but that was tougher than I had expected. It turns out there’s not much serious research around important questions like favourite desserts around … Continue reading

Posted in Farming, Map Monday | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 27 Comments

What the Bushmen of the Kalahari can teach us

Who would have thought that the longest “serving” hunter-gatherers on our planet, the San people of southern Africa, more commonly referred to as Bushmen, would have some important reminders for the rest of us. But a Christmas book I just … Continue reading

Posted in Farming, History and Politics, Just wondering | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Lessons learned from watching our bird families

We have been blessed the past few summers. Bird parents of nearly every persuasion have selected our backyard for their nurseries and our feeders as their restaurant of choice. The result has been a “bird’s eye” view of bird parenting … Continue reading

Posted in Farming, Life stories, Robby Robin | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Lessons learned from farming in winter: snow fences work, eventually

After a pleasantly mild fall and then a lovely warm week on a beach over Christmas, reality has set in.  There is no longer any doubt about what season this is; the instant piles of snow and very cold temps and wind (-20C/-4F) … Continue reading

Posted in Farming, Life stories | Tagged , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

How do we know what we’re eating?

I do understand that we are better off being able to buy food that comes from farther away than 100 miles.  A 100-mile diet in my neck of the woods could get pretty monotonous in the winter, depending on how … Continue reading

Posted in Entrepreneurship & Business, Farming | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The fable of the porcupine and the cows

Communication is important; nobody disputes that.  Miscommunication can be as a result of differences in use of language, imprecise use of language, contextual or cultural misunderstandings, interpretation based on false information, hearing impairments, or simply not listening.  Interpretation based on … Continue reading

Posted in Fables, Farming | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments