ROSTHERN, Sask. – Living on an acreage with six children and nearly 2,000 fruit trees isn’t for everyone, but it’s a life Ron and Lavone Derksen wouldn’t give up for the world.
“Earlier in our marriage, we hadn’t thought that we would ever build a house or anything like that,” said Ron, who co-owns an insurance and real estate agency in Rosthern.
But in 2004, the couple found that the small house in which they were home schooling their children just wasn’t big enough.
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They bought land just outside of Rosthern and decided to build a bigger home.
In 2006, Ron, Lavone, and their children, Heidi, 18, Levi, 16, Joshua, 14, Jesse, 11, Micah, 9, and Andrew, 6, started planting their orchard.
“We wanted to have some bona fide work for our children so we could work together – mom and dad and the kids,” Ron said.
The family now works together maintaining a large vegetable garden, 650 apple trees, nearly 1,200 cherry trees and several other fruit trees.
They do the majority of the planting, weeding, and picking themselves.
The children each earn money for the extra work they do, providing them with a little something extra to spend on themselves or invest into the orchard.
“All of them have invested in the orchard, even down to (Andrew),” Lavone said.
She said the amount of money the children invest determines what percentage of the orchard’s income they receive. Income comes mainly from the apples and cherries that the family sells.
The Derksens planted more than 10 types of apple trees and a variety of sour cherry trees. Their cherry trees, most of which are Carmine Jewels, come from the University of Saskatchewan’s Romance Series.
The apples are sold at the local farmers’ market and, when the trees start producing enough, the cherries will be shipped to processing plants.
For personal use, the family grows haskap, rhubarb, raspberries, strawberries, plums, apricots, kiwis and grapes. They have also grown small amounts of wheat, which they grind and use for baking.
Living on the acreage has been a learning experience for the family.
Ron said they weren’t completely ignorant of what to expect, but there are plenty of things that they have learned along the way.
“Many families have a dream of living on an acreage and setting up, but you know, there is a romanticism associated with it. And it is very rewarding,” he said.
“But those who are considering such should always be aware that there’s a lot of things that we come to appreciate and take for granted in the urban communities.”
He said water, sewer and roadways are generally taken care of in the city, but acreage owners have to take care of problems themselves.
“But we’ve enjoyed it, and it’s been a good learning curve for everyone here,” he added.
Musically inclined
Managing the acreage isn’t the only thing the Derksens do as a family. Music also brings them together.
“We had, as a goal for (the children), to pick an instrument when they were around six years of age,” Ron said.
Now, Heidi has learned to play the piano, harp, flute and cello. Levi plays guitar, Joshua has taken on the harp and the trumpet, Jesse and Micah play violin and Andrew has chosen the viola.
All of the boys except Joshua have learned some piano, and all the children sing.
“When the oldest ones were young, we sang somewhere,” Lavone said.
“Someone heard that we sang, and so they asked us to sing somewhere else, and so it kind of just, you know, mushroomed from there.
“I guess we didn’t expect that we would be doing it as much as we do, but we enjoy doing it. It’s fun to do.”
The family performs at more than 25 functions a year, including various banquets and fundraisers.
