Deanholme Farm holds strong for 150 years
It isn’t just Canada celebrating a major milestone this year.
A family farm in Hatley Township, passed down for five generations, is also heading into its 150th year.
In August, family members from across the country will gather on Deanholme Farm to celebrate the accomplishment.
“You used to be able to do exactly as you wanted on a farm,” said Susan Mccomb, who was born and raised on the farm, now owned by her son. A lot has changed since then, she said. The land that would become Deanholme farm was purchased by Mccomb’s great-grandfather John Dean on May 1, 1868.
In July of 1946, Mccomb’s father Kenneth dean purchased an adjacent lot, roughly 50 acres, from neighbours who couldn’t make their farm work and instead packed up and headed west.
Deanholme is a dairy farm on roughly 200 acres, milking around 52 cows.
“When my father was alive, he milked around 20,” Mccomb said. Her husband Howard added that Mccomb’s father also cut wood and had hens to help make ends meet.
“He (Kenneth) said the hens kept the house. He used to peddle eggs every week in North Hatley,” Howard said.
According to Howard, there was a woodlot on the property that Kenneth refused to touch.
“He wanted to leave it there in case there was another depression. That’s the way those old guys thought,” Howard said.
Eventually, Mccomb said the farm had to make the decision to go bigger or get out, which meant a new barn and new manure pit in recent years.
“To go bigger, you have to keep building and buying,” commented Mccomb.
“The equipment you have to buy these days is so expensive,” she added.
Mccomb was an only child. When her father could no longer run Deanholme Farm, it passed through her to her son Neil, who purchased it.
Mccomb and her husband have a house on the farm a few hundred metres from the main house, and still help out.
“I never had to milk cows. I never wanted to learn because I was afraid I would have to do it,” she confessed.
“Neil was able to get the farm for a reasonable price,” Mccomb said.
While it is a rarity for a man in his fifties to own a farm outright, Mccomb pointed out that Neil has continued making substantial investments to keep the farm in good standing.
Offering a snapshot of life on Deanholme Farm today, Mccomb explained that in addition to the land they own, the family rents land on five or six other farms to grow hay, soybean and corn.
“It takes a lot of feed,” Mccomb said, adding that even growing their own instead of purchasing feed has costs associated with drying and processing.
Mccomb’s daughter-in-law Tricia Smith does the milking and insemination. Her son divides his time between working on the farm and driving a truck.
“It’s a busy spot all the time, with lots of late nights. If you get the weather, you go,” Mccomb said.
When asked if there were any pivotal moments in the history of the farm, Mccomb mentioned that her grandfather James Dean lost his arm in a corn cutter in 1912. Four years later, his wife passed away, and James was left with five young children.
There was also the tornado of July 22, 1926, which completely demolished the barn.
There is an account of the storm described by Mccomb’s father Kenneth in the book The Vine and the Branches, by local historian Reginald Connor.
According to Kenneth, the tornado struck at 11 a.m. completely demolishing the barn. Some of the animals ended up pinned under the framework and one horse with a broken back needed to be shot.
Kenneth went on to say that by 1:30 p.m. that same day, friends and neighbours had arrived and helped build a temporary shelter to tie the cows and milk them.
While the major events stick out, Mccomb explained there is a new preoccupation on a farm every day.
“This year it’s too wet. They can’t get the dry hay in,” she said.
“If you’ve got 100 kids, there’s always one sick,” added Howard, saying they lost an animal just the other day.
“I have no idea where this will go from here,” Mccomb said.
Neil has two sons, ages 18 and 20, but whether or not they will decide to continue on the family farm remains to be seen. “It’ll be up to them,” Mccomb said. Rather than worry about the future, Mccomb said this summer will be about celebrating the last 150 years of Deanholme Farm.
Family members will be coming from as far away as Victoria, B.C. for the festivities, scheduled for Sunday, Aug.6.
Mccomb said there will be a meet and greet in the morning, and then a lunch outside at the farm. She is currently hunting down pictures of the farm throughout the years to put on display.
In the afternoon, the guests will head to Minton United Church, which the family helped build, for a service at 3 p.m.
The day will end with dinner at the Piggery in the evening.
“In the meantime, the cows will be milked,” commented Mccomb.
“I’m anxious to see all the cousins from Toronto. There are some I’ve never met,” Mccomb said, adding that she and other family members have been thinking about and planning the reunion and celebration for the past six months.