HAMILTON, Ont. – Joan Law is in the minority as a member of the Federated Women’s Institutes of Ontario. She lives on a farm.
Only a third of the present membership still does.
In an interview at the national convention, Law said she went to her first WI meeting in 1960, trailing three children. She was elected secretary and has remained because she enjoys the activities, including teaching for the 4-H club, entertaining at the nursing home and sewing and volunteering for the local museums.
“It’s a great way to get acquainted with your community.”
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It’s an old Macdonald type of farm, said Law of the 140 acres near Guelph in southwestern Ontario.
She and her husband Kenneth raised eight children on the dairy farm that also has seven workhorses, Berkshire pigs, Jersey Giant chickens, ducks, geese, cats and dogs. They bought the land in 1956 for $16,500.
“Everyone said we’d never make it pay, it was too expensive.”
Today, Law said, “we aren’t big farmers but we have no debt.” Part of that is due to Joan’s efforts. She does the books without a computer because “I can add up the figures faster than I can punch them in.” She bakes bread 20 loaves at a time and has a large garden she cans and freezes.
Value-added products
Part of the farm’s success is also due to the Laws’ ability to sell pigs and chickens at the farmgate, grow their own silage and hay, as well as milk 41 Holsteins a day. And a final part is due to the family’s help – two sons farm beside their dad, including one who works part time as a doctor. The girls married nearby dairy farmers and one remains at home doing weaving and picture framing.
“Our kids all come home. They’ll paint and redecorate, not just farming.”
There is no retirement in sight for Joan who is 68 or her 73-year-old husband. They enjoy being part of the three percent of Canada’s population that actively farms. Joan expects the number of farmers to remain constant because “we don’t want to import food from the U.S. that we can grow here.”
