Tackboard push-pins

Our neighbour is an avid gardener who spends the winter making plans for her garden. To keep track of the best choices, she tacks up seed packets on a garden room tackboard. These push-pins for her tackboard will add a clever and appealing touch. I plan to give them to her in an attractive old

Looking for a wood stove?

If you’re thinking of buying a used wood stove proceed with caution. You should first consult with your fire insurance people who will tell you about the technical requirements and installation, from chimney class to floor covering, placement distances and wall protection. While new installations are best done by professionals (they know fire regulations), simple


Really easy, really useful

Be safe not sorry Are you a quilter or maybe have someone in your life who quilts? Here’s the perfect way to store flat measuring tools. Cut a block of wood 14 inches long, 5 inches wide and 4 inches deep, then slice in a series of grooves lengthwise spaced approximately 5/8 of an inch

Retire redundant regulations rapidly

Too many government farm regulations waste time and do nothing to improve health and safety of consumers, says a report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. Farmers in Canada are hardest hit by regulations, an alphabet soup of rules including land-use restrictions, product labelling, food safety, border inspection, pesticides and data collection, said Virginia


MacDon to manufacture windrowers for John Deere

Staff / Winnipeg-based machinery farm equipment maker MacDon Industries will be the manufacturer for several lines of self-propelled windrowers and mower conditioners to be sold worldwide under John Deere paint. U.S.-based ag and heavy equipment giant Deere and Co. announced a “strategic agreement” Jan. 27 with Winnipeg-based MacDon, allowing Deere to expand its hay and

Make a Pretty Prose Chalkboard

Perfect for quick reminders, this gift will be enjoyed all year long. Never miss another important message from each other as you hurry through your day. Supplies: • Wooden plaque • Protective gloves • Dynamic Chalkboard • Paint (946-ml can — black) —available at paint stores • 3-inch-wide foam brush • Solvents for cleanup (see


Sun’s magnetic field could jinx GPS

Don’t blame the manufacturers — or even the gremlins — if your GPS system goes a little wonky in 2012. It’s likely solar flares will wreak havoc with at least some systems this coming year as the sun flips its magnetic field, says Pam Wilson, a precision agriculture instructor with Assiniboine Community College. “Basically the sun’s

Making connections at Ag Days

It’s a lot quieter at the Ag Days office these days, thanks in large part to technology. “We don’t have as many people paging the office,” says Ag Days webmaster Tom Tolton. “We used to have message boards up and lots of people paging, but today they all have cellphones to communicate with each other.”


New Big Iron is more efficient and environmentally friendly

Ag Days is a signature venue for agricultural equipment manufacturers and is the place where Prairie farmers often get a first peek at new products. A lot of the Big Iron on display for 2012 will be showcasing not just equipment, but some new, factory-installed technology to help make farmers more efficient and environmentally friendly.

Giving clean energy an affordable makeover

Political will to tackle climate change by curbing greenhouse gas emissions, never very strong, has all but disappeared across much of North America and Western Europe in the last 12 months. Climate concerns have fallen victim to the recession, with fears about jobs, growth and the cost of switching to clean energy undermining support for