Cantley's 1889 Articles in The Echo of Cantley

Childhood Memories of Our Blackburn Farm

Gary Blackburn

I remember life on our farm from when I was a young lad back in the 1940s. June days began by dawn. Mother (Ann) started the fire in the cook stove to make a full breakfast and heat water for washing. Dad (Russel) was already outdoors herding the cattle to the stable for milking and feeding and watering the horses. My older sister Ruth prepared for her four-kilometre walk to school from our farm on Chemin River to Chemin Ste-Élisabeth. We would soon be spending her summer holidays together doing chores, helping with the farm animals and enjoying the freedom of being outdoors on our farmland.

Milk was the lifeblood of the farm. My parents milked our 15 to 20 cows at the beginning and end of each day. They separated the milk and stored the cream in the cooler near the icehouse ready for Ottawa’s Clark’s dairy to pick it up. Mother kept some cream to churn into butter for us. Some of the skimmed milk was kept for the family and some was fed to the calves. The rest was mixed with provender (powder) to feed the pigs, chickens, geese and other poultry We sometimes mixed ground oats with milk to feed the pigs.

June was a busy month. Every morning, we collected eggs from our henhouse. In summer, Mother sold eggs to cottagers on River Road, including one summer to Maryon Pearson, wife of Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson. Mother’s newly planted vegetable gardens needed a lot of her attention. Father spent his time checking and repairing our fences and taking care of the fields and animals. We were fond of our animals. Our dog Lassie and our horses Prince, Molly and Maud were like members of our family and were essential workers on our farm. Lassie watched over the cows and herded them home for milking.

Our calves and piglets were born by late spring. My parents helped with the births since we had no veterinarian. Dad used his home remedies for the animals when needed. The only family doctor for the region was Dr Geggie, the itinerant doctor from Wakefield. We depended on the help of neighbours for childbirth and during times of illness. For onerous farm work, we held working bees when neighbours came to help us and, in return, we helped them on their farms.

During the summer, we children picked wild berries and helped Mother pick strawberries at Hibb Chamberlin’s farm next to ours. Mother was a wonderful cook, always busy making big meals and baking bread, pies and cakes. She worked in our summer kitchen preserving the berries, fruits and vegetables or preparing them for storage in our root cellar for winter. Each day she also cooked a big noon meal of meat and potatoes with freshly-picked vegetables.

Late in the afternoons, Dad brought the horse team to the barn for food and water and the cows for milking. He fed the pigs, poultry and the calves, bedded them down and closed everything up for the night. After supper, Mother put us to bed and cleaned up. We had no electricity and only hand-pumped water for washing dishes, laundry, and ourselves. On laundry days, Mother washed our clothes using a tub and washboard, then hung the laundry on the clothesline to dry. Our year-round toilet was outside behind the back of the house.

Mother spent evenings by oil lamp knitting scarves, mitts, and socks for the upcoming winter. Dad worked on his own projects, such as repairing broken horse harnesses and making leather mitts. Dad was often away working at the Blackburn Mine, plowing municipal roads, cutting logs of wood and blocks of ice from the river in winter to sell at Ottawa’s Byward Market. That meant Mother was often left alone to do all his daily farm work as well as manage the animals, house and the family.

Each day was the same routine, doing work that was hard but also satisfying. On Saturday nights our parents socialized by playing music or cards with friends. Sunday was our day of rest when we attended St. Andrew’s Church and did only essential chores. It was a good life with many good memories.