Category Archives: Uncategorized

     Mr. Chitambi’s enthusiasm was contagious. “If farmers want to make money, please grow rice.” – In particular, Nerica (New Rice for Africa). That was a year ago at the ZARI (Zambian Agriculture Research Institute) Mufulira field day. So I … Continue reading →

     Thunk! Without the slightest hesitation the coveted stamp is pounded into our extended work permit booklets and we are officially in Zambia again. It’s a beautiful sunny morning. The air is moist and already warm; the cassia trees sport … Continue reading →

     I wish we’d had a Moringa tree beside our dugout while growing up on the farm in northern Canada. I think Mom would have been the first to crush a couple of seeds for clean water. – Because it’s … Continue reading →

     At first I wouldn’t believe it – only 40 years since Switzerland allowed women a vote in federal politics! But it’s true. After fighting for over 100 years, Swiss women finally achieved the right to vote on February 7, … Continue reading →

     The narrow switchback road winding up the steep Swiss mountainside doesn’t leave much room for error, especially in the winter. How can people safely navigate these roads, let alone farm on these slopes? But they do. My cousin Susanne … Continue reading →

     One of the things I love about Switzerland is its close proximity to other worlds. In half an hour we’re in the Black Forest of Germany, in three hours in Italian Switzerland or Austria, or as this last weekend … Continue reading →

     The cows stand outside with their calves, soaking up the sun of an unusually warm January afternoon. One cow is bawling insistently. She just lost her calf an hour ago. It’s her own fault really – Markus tells me … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Greetings from Switzerland!      The view hasn’t changed – fields of winter canola and wheat, behind them the dark outlines of the Black Forest across the border in Germany.      But otherwise little has stayed the same for the Emmerhof, … Continue reading →

     The Western Producer just published a special edition “The Dirt on Soil”; highlighting what a precious commodity our soil is, to be treated with the utmost respect.      I see it clearly in my mind – my father stands … Continue reading →

Families have been coming home for Christmas ever since that first Christmas, when they were sent to their home town for the census (or, as the old King James Version of the Bible puts it, to tax the people). This … Continue reading →