Modest farm allows for other activites

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Published: December 6, 2007

SOVEREIGN, Sask. – Ron Lewis and his dad, Doug, are visiting with friends at coffee row in Sovereign as Norma, in her farm kitchen, prepares the pumpkin pies she is known for at the Rosetown Farmers’ Market.

Bags of purple-tinged gladioli bulbs lie in the garage, also destined for the next market.

Regularly through the summer and periodically through the winter, Norma sells these items alongside a host of her handicrafts and homemade preserves.

The money raised has supported household purchases and frequent family getaways.

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Family and community are focal points on the Lewis farm, attested to by the multitude of photos covering the fridge.

Norma’s siblings are scattered as far as the eastern United States but they remain close.

“We’re a very close knit family; we make an effort,” said Norma, who celebrates Thanksgiving with her family in the town hall and travels to places like Palm Springs, California, with her sisters every year.

Norma and her husband, Doug, now in their 70s, grew up in the district and began farming here with a half section of land Norma’s father gave to each of his children.

Ron joined the now 11 quarter section farm in his 20s after working off the farm as a mechanic. Now 47, he has taken on the management of the farm.

The transition was seamless for the easy-going Doug, who said they get along like brothers.

“It never bothered me,” said Doug.

He conceded he had little interest in learning metric conversions and new technologies so was happy to leave that to the next generation and spend more time on his hobbies and volunteer work.

Both men are mechanically inclined and spend time in a large shop and garage repairing equipment rather than buying new.

“It’s not like people on a wage. Here you never know when the next paycheque will be,” said Norma of farming.

The Lewises’ off-farm work, which has ranged from driving the school bus to working at auction houses, has helped with farm costs.

Doug and Norma, who raised a daughter and two sons, produced much of what they ate on their farm. They raised animals for meat and milk and kept a large garden.

Ron is a member of Farmers of North America, an organization that capitalizes on bulk buying.

The family grows red lentils, spring wheat and durum on good heavy clay lands that hold water well. They use two combines to speed the harvest and haul grain to elevators within 16 kilometres of the farm.

A hot summer in 2007 downgraded yields but red lentils remained a good cash crop for the Lewises.

They maintain a handful of horses to allow the family, which includes four grandchildren, to ride and participate in long distance wagon treks and trail rides. They also have a democrat wagon and covered wagons they bring out for rides, community parades and events.

Ron, Doug and Normaare involved in community groups ranging from the Lions to the church to the Masonic Lodge.

Norma and Doug also enjoy curling and dances.

“If you want to get involved, you can get involved. It’s awful easy in a small town,” said Doug.

Maintaining a smaller farm allows the Lewises more time for volunteer work and for recreation like skiing, boating and snowmobiling.

“If you want to take a day off, you can do it,” said Doug.

“It gives you time to spend on your community. You don’t have the pressures,” said Norma, who also keeps tabs on her 97-year-old mother in Rosetown and helps her when called upon.

Sovereign, mirroring other small towns, has few services and businesses left today. The Lewises’ own farm landscape has also changed. Patio doors frame a view of the Sovereign Hutterite colony that settled there a decade ago.

Such large-scale intensive agriculture is not for the Lewis family, who prefer the less hectic lifestyle of a smaller farm.

It may not be a Lewis who farms here after Ron is gone but he remains determined to leave the land in good shape for the future.

He would like to reduce the erosion caused by changing drainage patterns in the region in recent years. Standing water in the fields prevented some seeding this past spring, Ron noted.

Doug and Ron say they maintain a good crop rotation to keep the land from “blowing like sand.”

Norma uses horse manure in the garden and rarely waters it.

Ron sees value in tools like the GPS on his tractor that helps him more accurately apply inputs.

Involved in environmental farm planning, he stressed its importance in sustaining the land.

“I saw it as an opportunity to evaluate how our farm is doing and see if we are environmentally friendly,” said Ron.

About the author

Karen Morrison

Saskatoon newsroom

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