Portfolio

Seen as the flag ship species of endangered insects, particularly pollinators, monarch butterfly populations have been dwindling to depressing levels due to damage to their over winter sights. My article about this development and what everyone can do to help restore this migratory butterfly to more stable numbers appeared in the November 9, 2023 issue of The Western Producer.

Listening to comments at a local agricultural trade show, the owners of Rose Point Farm decide to get creative with a side business. Beautiful, yet functional wooden frames, buckle boards and more started to come out of the idea of incorporating leather accents into the pieces, with distressed wood as the foundation. My article about this successful side business appeared in the October 19, 2023 issue of The Western Producer.

Exploring my inner emotional landscape when on a visit with my family, I learn about my social limits and what I truly need to be content. This personal essay was written to help other introverts see that they can have a voice in a society that tends to praise extroverts as the norm. My essay about living as an introvert appeared on October 18, 2023 on the CBC First Person Blog.

A tense semi autobiographical memoir of her turbulent teens, the author touched on some difficult subjects about sex and acceptance in her book Skid Dogs. Approached by Literary Review of  Canada to write a review for their newsletter Bookworm, I was positively affected by the honesty of the author when recounting a time in her life that she was less then proud of. This review appeared in the 13th issue of the Bookworm newsletter, Oct. 17, 2023. 

Long term storage food items can be pricey. What is available is often from south of the boarder.  A new local source for many of your freeze dried needs is now available at Wild Country Garden in Alberta. My article about this line of locally grown and processed produce appeared in the October 5, 2023 issue of The Western Producer.

Leaving almost everything behind to escape the Russian invasion, Ukrainian new comers to Saskatchewan have been encouraged by representatives in the Ukrainian Congress of Canada to look to rural communities to find agricultural work experiences. My article about this partnership appeared in the September 14, 2023 issue of The Western Producer.

Home canners where left in a pickle last Fall when canning suppler Benardin discontinued their line of GEM sized lids. A new company ForJars has taken up the slack and are now providing this Canadian special sized jar lid. My article about this new supplier appeared in the September 7, 2023 issue of The Western Producer.

Video games can be an accessible way to expose young adults to experiences that they may not other wise have an opportunity to be exposed to. The development of the Guardians of The Grasslands video game is just such a game, designed to show the player how life on a cattle ranch can be challenging with rotational grazing and wildlife to manage. My article about this new teaching tool appeared in the August 17, 2023 issue of The Western Producer.

Looking for a more natural way to mitigate the damage that flea beetles can cause the most profitable crop on the Canadian Prairies, canola, research into breading a hairy  variety has been in the works for decades. While getting closer to a viable outcome the path to breed a stable hairy trait in this oil seed plant has been a long and twisting affair. My article on this continuing research appeared in the August 17, 2023 issue of The Western Producer.

Interest in probiotics for human gut health as been spreading beyond the health food enthusiasts into main stream consumer culture. Now probiotics and their benefits are being used and studied in honey bee populations to see if they have a role to play in better hive health. My article on this fascinating topic appeared in the July 29, 2023 issue of The Western Producer.

Goji berries are a powerhouse of vitamin C and a source of many other health benefits. Plus, they have been grown in the Edmonton area for several decades. Easy to grow with little maintenance needed, goji plants can be a convenient health supplement for garden growers. My article on these little orange fruits appeared in the July 6, 2023 issue of The Western Producer.

My Granny was a great sewer, knitter and painter. One of the biggest skills that she gently passed on to the next generations of her family was through her example of recycling through her crazy quilts. My personal essay about these amazing works of patch work love in my article that appeared in the Fall 2023 issue of Embroidery Canada.

Agricultural fields can benefit greatly from the use of cover cropping methods. Mixed crops that use  mixes of forbes, legumes, grasses and cereals have been researched, tested and shown to improve soil health, and can have economic benefits for growers. Safflower, with its deep tap root can be an important part of this seed mix. My article on Cover Crops Canada's work appeared in the June 15, 2023 issue of The Western Producer.

Weathering With You is a heart warming romance between two young teenagers. Super natural forces conspire to keep them apart. Yet small touches like Hina growing pea sprouts on her kitchen window sill help to make this story feel real and believable. My review of this anime appeared on page 11 and 12 of the May/June 2023 issue of Moshi Moshi.

Set in quiet unassuming small town Saskatchewan, Snake In The Raspberry Patch by Joanne Jackson, is a new young adult novel that is great introduction to the mystery genre for young readers looking to expand their reading experience.  My review of this novel appeared in the July/August 2023 issue of Alberta Views.

Oats can provide a dimension to a gluten free diet that can other wise be monotonous and chalky. Stoked Oats, a Canadian company has been contracting with Prairie farmers to grow local gluten free varieties of oats to supply their line of oat and granola products. Learning that a local company also sources local raw materials is a great model that helpfully will become the norm, instead of the exception. This article appeared in the June 15 , 2023 issue of The Western Producer.

Fresh flowers can bring light and joy to a dark winter day. Have you ever considered the possibility of dried arrangements however? Floriculture Flower Farms has gained a toe hold in the mainstream grocery market with their dried arrangements. My article that explores the journey of this unique farm's development appeared in the June 15 , 2023 issue of The Western Producer.

Peat is a very popular growing medium in the agriculture and horticulture world. Where it comes form, and how it is harvested and managed may not be questions you ask yourself when purchasing it off the hardware shop shelf. Interested in this product, I spoke with 2 people who work with Canadian Horticulture Peat to learn how Canada is doing with peat management. My article on this subject appeared in the June 15 , 2023 issue of The Western Producer.

Those large glossy black beetles that you see moving along the ground every summer are busy keeping the pest populations in check. What they eat however has been a bit of a mystery. Professor Boyd Mori has been investigating just that through his DNA analysis of beetle gut content. My article in this important ongoing research appeared in the June 8, 2023 issue of The Western Producer.

Blue birds, purple martins, and many other native song and water foal call Ellis Bird Farm home. The history of this wild bird sanctuary has seen the battle against the invasive house sparrow species and the recovery of many beneficial birds like the blue bird.The farm also is the site of various educational programs to spread the word about the importance of biodiversity. My article in this important and lively sanctuary appeared in the May 25, 2023 issue of The Western Producer.

Sugar beet production in Alberta has had a turbulent and politically fueled history. From colonial setters, to displaced Japanese families, to Ukrainian refugees, the sugar beet farms of Southern Alberta have been a few ethnic turn overs of work forces. My article on the history of sugar beet farming appeared in the May 25, 2023 issue of The Western Producer.

Transferable skills like active listening, participating constructively in teem meetings and report writing are some of the areas that current agriculture students can need a focused boost in developing. While talking with Professor Linda Gorim of the University of Alberta, I learned about an internship program that she has developed for these students. My article on this subject appeared in the May 25, 2023 issue of The Western Producer.

Showcasing the public transit history of the City of Edmonton, the Edmonton Radial Railway Society has spent 1000s of volunteer hours restoring Streetcar No. 33. Following the journey from street duty to farm building to tourist destination, I chronicled the details of this story in an article that appeared on the Edmonton City as History Project on May 18, 2023.

Keeping the source of their ingredients as local as possible, Rig Hand Distillery of Leduc, Alberta, has been using local grains, sugar beets and even garlic to from Alberta to manufacture their beverages. Speaking with one of the owners of Rig Hand I learned more about the distillery's products and plans for the future in this article that appeared in the May 11, 2023 issue of The Western Producer.

Bubbly, sweet, yet tart, kombucha can take many forms, colors and flavors. Home brewed, made in commercial stainless steal vats, or in repurposed oat Jack Daniel barrels, kombucha can accommodate the many twists of the brewers imagination. Speaking to one of the owners of Boocha Kombucha, my exploration of how the professionals make kombucha appeared in the May/June 2023 issue of The Tomato.

 Having picked up a package of sorrel seeds, as a impulse buy at the Alberta Council for the Ukrainian Arts, never having tried the herb before, and the package covered in Ukrainian Cyrillic, unintelligible to my mono-linguistic skills, I planted them with faint hope in a planter box. This was the start of a long time love affair with sorrel, a sour plant that matches my bitter soul. My personal essay of this journey appeared in the April 27, 2023 issue of The Western Producer.

 Making a business out of your backyard garden, or your neighbors, is not only possible, but approachable to anyone with an interesting learning how. The SPIN market garden business model is being taught world wide by local Saskatchewan residents. My article which appeared in The Western Producer on March 30. 2023, looks more in depth into this innovative method of urban farming.

Mushrooms are full of flavor and interesting texture. Their usefulness does not just begin and end with culinary applications however. The medicinal applications of mushrooms has been an emerging area of study. While talking with owner of Woodland Mushrooms, Jack Martin, I got to learn about his journey in mushroom farming. My article, which appeared in The Western Producer on March 30, 2023, goes into more detail about the mushroom farming industry.

Micro-greens are highly nutritious, very attractive and can be grown by anyone, in any space. Talking with Riccardo Baldini I got to learn more about his micro-green business while I wrote this article for the The Western Producer, which appeared in the March 22, 2023 issue.

Good hand eye coordination, physical and emotional strength are what Kris McAdam needed to pursue her career as an aircraft maintenance engineer. Writing for Skies Magazine, I talked with Kris about her journey to entering the flight industry, and how she has been encouraging other women to join her in this in-demand career space.

Flying was a dream of hers since her preteen years. Her drive to be in the pilot's seat sustained her while she trained and eventually became a flight instructor herself. In this article, which appeared in the February/March 2023 issue of Skies Magazine I talked to Sophia Wells about her flight career.

Education is the driving goal behind the Prairie Urban Farm. Located near the dairy barns on the U of A's South Campus, this urban farm is the staging ground for many projects that aim to educate the public on how to grow their own food, for a more food secure future. In this article that appeared in The Western Producer on February 23, 2023, I talked with the farm director Debra Davidson about what the Prairie Urban Farm offers.

Edmonton yard fruit more often then not goes to rot under fruit trees and bushes. One local liquor store, partnered with a brewery to help solve this food waste problem. Community Cider is the product of this partnership. In the article that appeared in the February 23, 2023 issue of The Western Producer I talk with the owner of Highland Liquor, Michael Forgie, about how this limited edition of hard cider came to be.

The local lettuce shortage is giving urban growers a boost in business. Vertical Roots Canada has been growing leafy greens in their indoor farm since the COVID lock down. In this article that appeared in The Western Producer on January 26, 2023, I interview the owners of Vertical Roots to see how they operate and how they plan to expand their growing operation nation wide.

All in the name of helping to create more genetic  tree diversity, create more tree canopy and to help reduce the heat island effect in Edmonton, Dustin Bajer has been spread the word and the tree seeds needed to plant fruit bearing trees through out Edmonton. In this article that appeared in The Western Producer on January 19, 2023, Dustin's efforts are explored, as well as his tree propagation education outreach projects.

Memories of buckwheat have been with me for as long as I can remember. Coming from a Ukrainian-Canadian background, buckwheat is a given as an ingredient that would be present in my Mom's kitchen. The Western Producer's December 8, 2022 issue presents my personal essay on those memories, up to the present day where I use buckwheat in my own creations.

Regional delicacies, saskatoon berry perogies are a fusion of traditional Ukrainian cuisine and wild edibles that are found on the North American Prairies. Entered into Gastro Obscura's regional Food Database, this article explains how this dessert perogy came to be and why it continues to be popular today.

Needing some help with creating engaging text for the staff page of the clinic's website, Garneau Chiropractic Health Clinic approached me to write content for their business. Along with a few other spruce ups, I helped make their website go live with relevant information.

The colours of the clothes we wear, and of the textile based accessories that we use every day have a long history of production that we may not give much though to. These things that we take for granted have a very interesting past that reaches back thousands of years. I explored the fascinating world of fabric dyes in this article, on page 4 of the The Edmonton Stitcher's November 2022 issue.

Doing restaurant reviews for 3 Asian cafes in south Edmonton, I wrote this summary article about Fuwa Fuwa Japanese Pancakes, Nhon Hoa Sandwich Bar, and Dream Tea House. This article appeared in the the November/December 2022 issue of the lifestyle magazine Info Edmonton.

Engaged to write a weekly entry on the Ladies Corner website, I choose to focus on urban foraging, to help spread the word about what foods are naturally growing in our green spaces and are free for the taking. Gooseberry Jam is my first contribution to this web magazine who audience is primarily new female new comers to Canada.

Invited to enter the Edmonton Japanese Community Association Spring Haiku Contest, one of my entries won the Critics Prize! At the time of writing this poem, I was moved to write about the passing of my beloved friend Coraline.

Starting a business from the ground up, my client created a line of Hawaiian sauces inspired from his childhood. Selling the at local farmers' markets, he realized that he needed a social media presence in order to reach a wider audience. I was contracted to manage both the Facebook and Instagram channels for Ono Loa as the owner got the sales of his line of sauces and marinades rolling.

Through researching the history of this very common place hobby, I learned that crochet had a very important economic place in Ireland's past. Seeking to fill its' website with relevant content, I studied and wrote this web article for the Edmonton Needlecraft Guild.

Needing articles to fill the pages of the its newsletter, The Edmonton Stitcher, I wrote this article on one of the lesser known uses of decoratively stitched items for the Edmonton Needlecraft Guild. Embroidering messages of protest and injustice has a long and fertile history among crafty folks. This article is on pages 16-17 in the May/June 2022 issue of The Edmonton Stitcher.

Writing in collaboration with Hanji Naty, a cut paper artisan located in Korea, I wrote this blog post on request to showcase the sacred view that Korean culture places on deer. While researching how deer are viewed through Korean Taoist beliefs, I learned some interesting facts about why deer are considered a sacred animal and thus how it has come to be part of the standard set of hanji designs.

Chirimenbunny is a Japanese company which makes and sells the supplies to create tsumami zaiku, the elaborate floral hair clips that women wear with formal kimono. The owner, wanting to expand her market to international audiences has commissioned me to proofread English marketing materials so that a smooth and easy understanding of what tsumami zaiku is can be conveyed to her customers.

Learning patience can be hard for some. I am no exception. Invited to contribute to the blog posts of Piecework magazine, I wrote about how learning how to stitch hitomezashi helped me relearn patience and that perfection is not always the necessary end goal for beautiful embroidery.

The history of needle craft techniques has fascinated the practitioners of those embroidery methods as much as the style of stitching itself. As the content creator of the Art/Craft section of the Edmonton Needlecraft Guild's website, I explored the vibrant past of Otomi embroidery, a material cultural expression of one of Mexico's Indigenous peoples.

Reflecting on how long some sewing projects can carry on for years at a time, I wrote this article about a stamped cross stitch lap quilt that has traveled with me through several moves within Alberta, and how it is slowly but surely coming to completion. The Edmonton Needlecraft Guild seeks out articles from its members in order to fill the pages of its' bimonthly newsletter the Edmonton Stitcher. This article is featured on page 12-13, of the March/April 2022. issue.

Writing in collaboration with Hanji Naty, a cut paper artisan located in Korea, I wrote this blog post on request to highlight the Korean view of the zodiac year of the tiger. While researching the finer points of how Koreans welcome in the Lunar New Year, I learned some interesting facts about why the tiger is considered a sacred animal and thus how it has come to be part of the standard set of hanji designs.

During the process of researching for the book review of This is Normal Japanese Life! by Hiroyuki Eguchi and Stuart Varnam-Atkin I learned about many fascinating, usually unspoken customs, that go along with Japanese social culture. Needing an article about the Edmonton Japanese Cultural Association's library, I was approached to write a book review for one of the items in the collection. It appears in the January/February 2022 issue of Moshi Moshi, on page 8 , the Edmonton Japanese Cultural Association's newsletter.

During the process of researching for the book review of This is Normal Japanese Life! by Hiroyuki Eguchi and Stuart Varnam-Atkin I learned about many subtle yet interesting nuances that go along with Japanese material culture. Needing an article about the Edmonton Japanese Cultural Association's library, I was approached to write a book review for one of the items in the collection. It appears in the January/February 2022 issue of Moshi Moshi, on page 7 , the Edmonton Japanese Cultural Association's newsletter.

While researching for the book review of Japanese-Canadian

stories from Japan, compiled by Nobuko Nakayama and Jean Maeda I learned about the many hardships these individuals faced. Needing an article about the Edmonton Japanese Cultural Association's library, I was approached to write a book review for one of the items in the collection. It appears in the November/December 2021 issue of Moshi Moshi, on pages 14-15, the Edmonton Japanese Cultural Association's newsletter.

Watching a great anime such as Your Name is much more then beautiful art and a plot that makes your heart go doki doki. One of the main themes, kumihimo, is strongly used throughput this movie. This was my first visual exposure to this folk craft and lead me on a journey to learn how to work the treads in order to create my own kumihimo cords. Writing this article for Yatta-
Tachi allowed me to share how others can learn about Japanese folk art through popular mediums like anime.

Vitti Interiors is an interior design business which creates floor plans, deals with contractors, and helps select decor schemes based on their customers' needs. I added SEO keywords and did some light editing of the text of their business website. Submission of their site map to search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo, on top of the SEO keywords helped to make their website more findable for their clients.

Nakagama's Bosch Kitchen Center is the only Canadian service and repair location for Bosch kitchen mixers. They also distribute a select number of the Bosch mixer line of products. I added SEO terms to both the home page and to each product description in their inventory. Submission of their site map to search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo, on top of the SEO keywords helped to make their website more findable for their customers.

Japanese cooking can be complicated, that is if you are thinking of high end restaurant cuisine. Take a step back and think about one pot meals that people make at home, or while out camping. This is what the meals in Laid-Bak Camp are about. Writing for Yatta-Tachi, this article spells our how easy it is to follow recipes that are part of food themed manga. Writing this article gave me a chance to share the joy that can be found in cooking-a-long with the characters in the manga.

Temari string balls are a very beautiful Japanese folk craft. The history behind their development for a simple play thing to the extraordinary works of art that they are today is explored in my article which was featured in the Sept./Oct. 2021 issue of The Edmonton Stitcher, on page 18. The Edmonton Stitcher is the bimonthly newsletter of the Edmonton Needlecraft Guild. It publishes articles and news about the fiber arts and upcoming events. I contribute regular articles on different aspects of Japanese embroidery techniques.

Stitching for holiday occasions is a popular activity for many needle workers. My favorite day of the year is Halloween. This article, which appeared in the Fall 2021 issue of Embroidery Canada, speaks to the Halloween stitching that my family and friends and I have done for this fun spooky day of the year. Embroidery Canada is the biannual publication of the Embroiderer's Association of Canada, whose target audience are members of the needle worker's guilds across Canada. This magazine features instructional project articles as well as themed articles about people's past stitching projects.

This movie review of Babadook looks at the detrimental damage that denying yourself the space to feel grief can have on those you love. Published in Antithesis Journal, a web magazine targeted toward academic film students, uses movies as a launching pad to discuss deeper social issues. The articles published by this journal looks at the deep messages that films convey through their story telling.

This article, featured on page 10 of The Edmonton Stitcher explores the history and evolution of the mending technique sashiko.  The Edmonton Stitcher is the bimonthly newsletter for the Edmonton Needlecraft Guild. This publication is for the guild members and offers news and updated about guild events, along with book reviews and feature articles about stitching techniques. This newsletter is always searching out new content to keep its pages interesting and engaging for its readers.

Featured on page 10 of the March/April issue of The Edmonton Stitcher, this article discusses the origins, functions and modern day uses of boro, a traditional Japanese surface mending method. The Edmonton Stitcher is the bimonthly newsletter of the Edmonton Needlecraft Guild. It publishes articles and news about the fiber arts and upcoming events. I contribute regular articles on different aspects of Japanese embroidery techniques.

This movie review for the film Caveat was featured in Volume 25/Issue 6 of Offscreen. Offscreen is an online publication that focus on the philosophies behind films, the hidden messages that the directors are trying to voice. Their readers are primarily movie enthusiasts that want to dig deeper into the films they love. With a mostly Canadian set of writers, Offscreen offers a unique take on the movie scene. This online publication encourages new Canadian writing talent to approach feature articles from a more academic and scholarly perspective.

Discussing the feeling of social claustrophobia through the lens of Japanese horror manga, this article was featured on Anime News Network on June 16th, 2021. Anime News Network is an online site that features news in the anime industry. One of the biggest anime sites in North America, Anime News Network is read by many otaku fans from around the globe. This publication is one of the longest standing and successful establishments for all things anime and manga. In order to fill their website with insightful anime related content Anime News Network has an open pitch policy for new and seasoned writers.

This section of the Edmonton Needlecraft Guild website features descriptions of various embroidery methods, their histories, influences and modern revivals. The Edmonton Needlecraft guild website is for guild members, and new people who want to learn more about this group. The Art of the Craft section is meant to showcase stitching techniques that both the beginner and experienced embroiderer can learn from. Well researched pieces for this area of the web site are needed to show professionalism and respect for the techniques that guild members practice. I contribute regular well researched content for this section of the guild's website.