'Everyday you learn something': Farm wife busy during harvest
Before moving to a farm near Abernethy, Zucel Osiowy was a ‘city girl’ in Regina.
Osiowy was originally a physics teacher from Cuba, so learning the agriculture industry was a bit of a curve ball.
“It’s a learning process, everyday you learn something,” Osiowy said.
Osiowy has been on the farm for 14 years. She has relied on other farm wives to adjust to the new life.
“I have a friend, she told me, ‘don’t learn everything on the farm,’” Osiowy explained.
“I say ‘why’, she says, ‘because then you have to do everything’,” she added.
Osiowy did learn how to harrow and combine. She sat in the buddy seat and watched her husband, until one day, she took the wheel.
“If you know farmers, they just want you to go, go, go,” she explained.
“I just take it easy, and I try do my best, just to help him to get the crop off.”
When she isn’t on a combine, she’s busy cooking meals for the family. The Osiowy family is excited to get the crops off. They farm canola, wheat and flax on 2.5 quarters of land.
When the crops are harvested, the Osiowys will burn the straw left from the flax, so it doesn’t get tangled in equipment during seeding in the next season.
“Even in the summer, I’m thinking about the flax, when it has to be burned,” Osiowy said, “That is one thing, that is very, very scary about the farm, when there’s a fire,” she added.
Safety is a priority on the Osiowy farm. Her husband Bruce Osiowy has learned a few lessons over the years.
“Communicate with each other, so you know where everyone is on a regular basis,” Bruce said.
“Make sure everything is well lit, because you know it gets dark early these days.”
Bruce said the crops look good this season, “We sure had good weather up until now. It’s been really hot and dry, and it’s been wonderful,” he said.
Harvest is often a battle with the weather, and a race against the clock. It’s a busy time and farm wives have to be adaptable, according to Osiowy.
She’s had to face many fears during her time as a farm wife, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“We are fearless,” she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Liberal MP says she's leaving politics over disrespectful dialogue, threats, misogyny
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.