Category Archives: Uncategorized

I’m sitting in my mom’s hospital room, and the place smells of sweet clover and alfalfa. I hadn’t seen Mom smile for some time like she did when I brought her the bouquet. A true farm woman, Mom loves the … Continue reading →

Instead of writing stories and canning pears and prunes in Switzerland, I am chasing my brother across a Canadian pea field. I’m operating the John Deere 9600 combine and Fred is on the swather ahead of me. The first born, … Continue reading →

Over drinks at the Schleitheim swimming pool on Sunday – it was over 30C! – Peter Gasser asked us if we’d heard about the cattle herd that died in northern Germany. “They’re saying it is glyphosate poisoning,” he said. Robert … Continue reading →

Robert’s doing a job for the Vögeli brothers, Hans and Urs, in Gächlingen right now. Hans operates (for Switzerland) a big farm with about 500 head of feeder cattle, and Urs is a busy farm contractor. Last week Robert caught … Continue reading →

“This is the life!” – knees still shaking from the steep hike down from the peak, we relax with a cold apple cider before the alpine hut. Cow bells ring from the meadows. The sun warms our back. Geraniums bloom … Continue reading →

I’m reading in all the bigger newspapers that the World Bank is very concerned about rising grain prices, especially in light of the world’s poor. Since mid June, 2012, wheat prices have risen 50 per cent, corn 45 per cent … Continue reading →

We heard the aliens visited Löhningen the night of July 11/12 and created a new crop circle in Farmer Müller’s field. Robert and I biked there on Sunday to see for ourselves. We found the area fenced off from the … Continue reading →

Both the sign at the edge of Res Müller’s field, and the grain itself catch my eye. The stalks are taller, the heads long, fine and beardless, the stand thinner than wheat. Ur-Dinkel, the sign says, or spelt in English. … Continue reading →

Ah, that feels good! I haven’t sat on a combine for almost two years. “It would feel good if we didn’t have so much stress,” Stephan Schudel, the combine operator, says to me. The barley harvest has begun in Schleitheim, … Continue reading →

It takes camping to a whole new level – Leonardo Cavazzi and Gianni Brovida from Italy are travelling through Europe in a brand new golden Massey Ferguson 7624 tractor, pitching a tent every night. Between June 10 and July 29 … Continue reading →