Going green

Classic Scoop founder left lucrative job to start business offering treats on-site for parties, festivals

Days off used to be infrequent for Paul Abdul-Raymond, but now every day’s a sundae.

The Winnipeg entrepreneur is the owner of the Classic Scoop, an ice cream trailer that customers can book events such as birthday parties, corporate functions and community festivals. Abdul-Raymond and his staff show up to serve classic cones with customizable toppings, ice cream sandwiches and seasonal specials.

It’s a lot of work but it’s also a lot of fun for the 39-year-old, who left a lucrative but stressful job at a health-care company to get the Classic Scoop going in spring 2025.

Customers affirmed his career pivot from the start.

August in the kitchen garden

Lynne Hermiston is passionate about growing her own food. Her backyard food garden in south Winnipeg is an amazing example of the abundance and diversity of food that can be grown in a relatively small space. But it’s also a prime example of how a zest for learning innovative methods can make food gardening more fun.

Hermiston’s backyard is approximately 10 metres wide and 15 metres deep. The growing area consisting of raised beds and a couple of in-ground beds between her deck and back fence is about nine metres deep. There is not a single blade of turf grass in sight. The design for this attractive and productive space was created by Classic Landscaping four years ago. A series of raised wooden beds mulched with straw are neatly arranged on a light grey, slate-like surface. An inviting centre arbor acts as a focal point and supports climbing plants. The square-shaped raised-bed area receives eight to nine hours of sun daily. It is flanked on one side by a long, linear-shaped bed, planted with flowering perennials that attract and support pollinators.

The food plants Hermiston is growing this summer include tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, beets, chickpeas, beans, onions, sweet potatoes, horseradish, garlic, peppers, carrots, pumpkin and cauliflower. She is growing Chinese Pink celery, an heirloom variety with bubblegum-pink stems, for the first time, as well as eggplant.

She also grows salad greens and herbs, which have made delicious additions to her summer recipes this year. Only a few harvests remain of the spinach she planted. But, compared to last year’s growing season, some food plants are taking their time, Hermiston says.

Could renewed interest in strategically critical rare earth elements finally make sub-sector profitable?

Rare earth elements are among the most critical of mined resources for modern economies.

They’re essential in manufacturing specialized magnets used in a host of technologies from wind turbines and electric vehicles to hard drives, smartphones, television screens, and fibre optics. Most notably, however, rare earth minerals are increasingly vital to the defence industry.

These 17 elements — closely related chemically and usually found all together in mineral deposits — have indeed been growing in geopolitical importance as the United States, Canada and other Western nations recognize their dependence on production from China.

It is the world’s largest producer and processor of rare earths, including the most in-demand elements neodymium and praseodymium used to manufacture very light and powerful magnets for an array of technologies, including the most advanced weapons of modern warfare.

Revered Broadway rail anchors Winnipeg’s resilient skateboarding scene

The Woodsworth Building at the corner of Broadway and Kennedy Street is an accidental, unofficial mecca of Winnipeg skateboarding.

WRHA directs three care homes to accommodate surge of hospital patients

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority has directed three long-term care centres to make space for hospital patients, citing “exceptionally high demand for care across the health-care system.”