Source: Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food
At times, 1978 seems like only yesterday to Terry Dennis.
That's the year he began working as a butcher in the family grocery store his father and uncle opened in Canora in 1947.
It's also the year he began experimenting with a traditional recipe for a marinated lamb dish known as "shishliki." The product quickly became one of the most popular items in the store, and Dennis knew he was onto something.
"It seemed to catch on pretty quickly with our regular customers and people from around town," he said. "Pretty soon, we had people coming into the store from all over asking for it."
Shishliki is a food of Russian origin, referring to marinated meat. Today, "Terry's Shishliki," as the product is marketed, can be found in many parts of Saskatchewan. Dennis estimates roughly 35 to 40 stores across the province have carried the product line over the years.
But its popularity hasn't remained a Saskatchewan secret. "We've had people come into the store to take packs of shishliki back with them to places like Victoria, Detroit, Toronto and all parts in between," he said.
"I've even custom-shipped a few packs out to some far-away destinations. My shishliki has done more traveling than I have," Dennis added with a chuckle.
Shishliki can be cooked like any other meat at any time of year, but by far the most popular method of preparation is on the barbeque. As a result, with numerous lake resorts surrounding Canora, it's the summertime that keeps Dennis the busiest.
The business began taking its shishliki show on the road in 1990, doing custom cookouts for various functions. Since then, Dennis estimates he has served hundreds of family reunions, weddings, staff barbeques, farmer appreciation days and the like.
"This is now one of the busiest parts of our operation," he said. "This summer alone, we're booked for 25 to 30 cookouts."
One of the highlights in Dennis' business career came in the early 1990s, when a shishliki booth he operated at Canadian Western Agribition in Regina was featured as one of the most popular booths at the show.
Today, Dennis and his brother Gerald continue to own and operate the family grocery store. While making a go of a business in a rural community can be challenging at times, Dennis says that finding a niche market with a specialty product has helped them immensely.
"If we didn't do this kind of diversification, we probably wouldn't be here today," he said.
Over the years, Dennis has continued to experiment and add new products to his shishliki line. Pork, chicken and beef shishliki can now be found in addition to lamb. Different flavours of meat, such as honey garlic pork and soya citrus chicken, have also been added.
"It's a value-add for us, and it's a value-add for the farmers who produce the product we use," he said. "Many of them are also our customers, so it's a win-win situation that we like a lot."
For further information, contact:
Terry Dennis
Dennis Foods
Canora, Saskatchewan
(306) 563-5412
Lentils Offer Farmers a Positive Option
Source: Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food
Lentils are a pulse crop with a long history world-wide, and a particularly promising future in Saskatchewan.
A member of the legume family, lentils were first grown in southwest Asia around 7,000 B.C.
Commercial production in Western Canada began in 1970 with just a few acres, but has taken off substantially from there.
Today, Canada is one of the world's leading lentil producing and exporting countries.
Ray McVicar, provincial crop specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food, pointed out that the pulse crop has become increasingly popular with producers in this province. In 2006, 580,000 hectares (1.4 million acres) were seeded to lentils across Saskatchewan.
"Lentils have a number of qualities that make them well-suited to production in Saskatchewan," McVicar said. "They are best adapted to cooler temperate zones, and grow well in brown and dark brown soil types."
He adds, "More importantly for producers, lentils can help to improve their economic returns, diversify and lengthen their crop rotations, and reduce their requirement for nitrogen fertilizer."
Lentil production is particularly successful in rotation with cereal grains, since its rooting depth is much shallower than that of crops like wheat. As a result, moisture found in deeper ranges of the soil remains untapped by the lentil roots, leaving it in place for cereal grains to extract in the following year to boost yields and protein content.
McVicar noted that lentils do have some drawbacks, however. Most notably, they are susceptible to certain types of diseases and are a poor competitor with weeds. Producers must therefore consider these factors when planning their crop rotations and crop protection programs in a given year.
"Research is presently going on to develop improved red and green lentil varieties, and to determine the best agronomic practices for lentil production in Saskatchewan," McVicar said. "More information is becoming available all the time, especially with respect to red lentils, as production shifts to better match world demand."
Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food has prepared a document for farmers interested in learning more about the qualities, benefits and production of the pulse crop. Recent updates include information on lentils with the Clearfield trait and procedures for harvesting red lentils.
The document, entitled Lentil in Saskatchewan, is available electronically on the department's website under the Crops category, or in hard copy by calling the Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food Agriculture Knowledge Centre at 1-866-457-2377.
For further information, contact:
Ray McVicar, Provincial Specialist, Specialized Crops
Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food
Phone: (306) 787-4665
E-mail: rmcvicar@agr.gov.sk.ca
Lentils are a pulse crop with a long history world-wide, and a particularly promising future in Saskatchewan.
A member of the legume family, lentils were first grown in southwest Asia around 7,000 B.C.
Commercial production in Western Canada began in 1970 with just a few acres, but has taken off substantially from there.
Today, Canada is one of the world's leading lentil producing and exporting countries.
Ray McVicar, provincial crop specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food, pointed out that the pulse crop has become increasingly popular with producers in this province. In 2006, 580,000 hectares (1.4 million acres) were seeded to lentils across Saskatchewan.
"Lentils have a number of qualities that make them well-suited to production in Saskatchewan," McVicar said. "They are best adapted to cooler temperate zones, and grow well in brown and dark brown soil types."
He adds, "More importantly for producers, lentils can help to improve their economic returns, diversify and lengthen their crop rotations, and reduce their requirement for nitrogen fertilizer."
Lentil production is particularly successful in rotation with cereal grains, since its rooting depth is much shallower than that of crops like wheat. As a result, moisture found in deeper ranges of the soil remains untapped by the lentil roots, leaving it in place for cereal grains to extract in the following year to boost yields and protein content.
McVicar noted that lentils do have some drawbacks, however. Most notably, they are susceptible to certain types of diseases and are a poor competitor with weeds. Producers must therefore consider these factors when planning their crop rotations and crop protection programs in a given year.
"Research is presently going on to develop improved red and green lentil varieties, and to determine the best agronomic practices for lentil production in Saskatchewan," McVicar said. "More information is becoming available all the time, especially with respect to red lentils, as production shifts to better match world demand."
Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food has prepared a document for farmers interested in learning more about the qualities, benefits and production of the pulse crop. Recent updates include information on lentils with the Clearfield trait and procedures for harvesting red lentils.
The document, entitled Lentil in Saskatchewan, is available electronically on the department's website under the Crops category, or in hard copy by calling the Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food Agriculture Knowledge Centre at 1-866-457-2377.
For further information, contact:
Ray McVicar, Provincial Specialist, Specialized Crops
Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food
Phone: (306) 787-4665
E-mail: rmcvicar@agr.gov.sk.ca
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Family Farm Enterprise a "Spinning" Success
Source: Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food
Approximately 30 kilometres between Biggar and Rosetown is a picturesque farm perched on the top of a hill, surrounded by a beautiful rolling valley dotted with sheep, and a lovely, secluded dam in the middle of the sea of green grass.
Sheila Sperling-Law, her husband Fred, and their family are the owners and operators of this scenic farm. Along with it, they run Prairie Fibre Mill, the only fibre mill in Saskatchewan, as well as a retail shop.
Needless to say, with so much on the go, the entire family is kept extremely busy.
Sheila can normally be found in the barn working with the spinning equipment. This tall, slim woman with her down-to-earth manner and dimpled smile radiates vitality, purpose and determination.
She said, "In '98, Fred and I moved to my home area after living in Alberta for 18 years. Fred had never been in Saskatchewan before the day we arrived with all of our belongings. We purchased a small acreage and bought five bred ewes. Fred, my mother and I started to hand spin."
They started out small, hand spinning and knitting items for trade fairs and craft shows. Most buyers were not interested in the hand spinning as much as the hand knitting, so they had some of their fibre spun at a commercial mill.
After growing tired of waiting months for their fibre to be processed, the Law family decided to look at starting their own mill.
On July 20, 2005, they received their shipment of custom equipment and underwent one week of training. By the end of September, the custom work got going.
They now process wool from sheep, bison, alpaca, llama and rabbit, as well as other fibres. Demand for their skills has proven to be incredible-so much so that they are currently almost three months behind in their custom yarn-making business.
"We advertise by word of mouth, and have customers from B.C. to Ontario," said Sheila. "They will either send their wool to us by bus or deliver it in person. Some people make a vacation out of the trip."
Attached to the barn/workshop is the retail store, a very quaint, homey place that may very well entice you to pick up some needles and start knitting.
The store boasts a variety of products, several of which are homemade by the Law family, as well as items featured for sale by other local artists and artisans.
The Laws own 55 Merino and 65 Shetland sheep, from which they sell wool through their store and meat at the farm gate. Among the goods offered for purchase are yarn, roves, quilt batting and felts. The wool is also available as value-added products, including sweaters, socks, hats and mittens, as well as stuffed toys, saddle blankets, mitten inserts and wall hangings made of felt.
The Law family farm is not connected to the provincial power grid, but generates its own electricity to run the entire operation. A generator is used to drive the mill equipment, and a heat exchanger heats the barn and loft areas in the winter months. The generator also charges huge batteries that are used to power the barn and to store power so that the generator is not running all the time. Solar panels on the house roof and a small windmill provide power for the house, including the hot water heater.
The Prairie Fibre Mill is indeed a special place to visit. "Our store is open from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. every weekday and on Saturday," Sheila said. "If customers are unable to come during those hours, they are welcome to give us a call for other arrangements."
She also noted that the family is very happy to offer individual and group tours of its unique operation.
"We run tours through the lambing barns, and have a hands-on demonstration of different fibre types. Then we demonstrate drop spinning and hand spinning, tour the mill and make a small felt project," she stated.
Tours can be arranged by calling (in advance, please) (306) 882-4542 or e-mailing themill@sasktel.net. There is a small charge of $5 per person.
"We are so pleased to be living here and to offer the services of our mill to fibre producers," Sheila said. "Come for a visit!"
For more information, contact:
Fred Law and Sheila Sperling-Law
Phone: (306) 882-4542
e-mail: themill@sasktel.net
Approximately 30 kilometres between Biggar and Rosetown is a picturesque farm perched on the top of a hill, surrounded by a beautiful rolling valley dotted with sheep, and a lovely, secluded dam in the middle of the sea of green grass.
Sheila Sperling-Law, her husband Fred, and their family are the owners and operators of this scenic farm. Along with it, they run Prairie Fibre Mill, the only fibre mill in Saskatchewan, as well as a retail shop.
Needless to say, with so much on the go, the entire family is kept extremely busy.
Sheila can normally be found in the barn working with the spinning equipment. This tall, slim woman with her down-to-earth manner and dimpled smile radiates vitality, purpose and determination.
She said, "In '98, Fred and I moved to my home area after living in Alberta for 18 years. Fred had never been in Saskatchewan before the day we arrived with all of our belongings. We purchased a small acreage and bought five bred ewes. Fred, my mother and I started to hand spin."
They started out small, hand spinning and knitting items for trade fairs and craft shows. Most buyers were not interested in the hand spinning as much as the hand knitting, so they had some of their fibre spun at a commercial mill.
After growing tired of waiting months for their fibre to be processed, the Law family decided to look at starting their own mill.
On July 20, 2005, they received their shipment of custom equipment and underwent one week of training. By the end of September, the custom work got going.
They now process wool from sheep, bison, alpaca, llama and rabbit, as well as other fibres. Demand for their skills has proven to be incredible-so much so that they are currently almost three months behind in their custom yarn-making business.
"We advertise by word of mouth, and have customers from B.C. to Ontario," said Sheila. "They will either send their wool to us by bus or deliver it in person. Some people make a vacation out of the trip."
Attached to the barn/workshop is the retail store, a very quaint, homey place that may very well entice you to pick up some needles and start knitting.
The store boasts a variety of products, several of which are homemade by the Law family, as well as items featured for sale by other local artists and artisans.
The Laws own 55 Merino and 65 Shetland sheep, from which they sell wool through their store and meat at the farm gate. Among the goods offered for purchase are yarn, roves, quilt batting and felts. The wool is also available as value-added products, including sweaters, socks, hats and mittens, as well as stuffed toys, saddle blankets, mitten inserts and wall hangings made of felt.
The Law family farm is not connected to the provincial power grid, but generates its own electricity to run the entire operation. A generator is used to drive the mill equipment, and a heat exchanger heats the barn and loft areas in the winter months. The generator also charges huge batteries that are used to power the barn and to store power so that the generator is not running all the time. Solar panels on the house roof and a small windmill provide power for the house, including the hot water heater.
The Prairie Fibre Mill is indeed a special place to visit. "Our store is open from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. every weekday and on Saturday," Sheila said. "If customers are unable to come during those hours, they are welcome to give us a call for other arrangements."
She also noted that the family is very happy to offer individual and group tours of its unique operation.
"We run tours through the lambing barns, and have a hands-on demonstration of different fibre types. Then we demonstrate drop spinning and hand spinning, tour the mill and make a small felt project," she stated.
Tours can be arranged by calling (in advance, please) (306) 882-4542 or e-mailing themill@sasktel.net. There is a small charge of $5 per person.
"We are so pleased to be living here and to offer the services of our mill to fibre producers," Sheila said. "Come for a visit!"
For more information, contact:
Fred Law and Sheila Sperling-Law
Phone: (306) 882-4542
e-mail: themill@sasktel.net
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