CARCAJOU, Alta. -Jeannette Vos thought she had arrived in paradise when she married her husband Willem (Wim) and moved to his farm along the Peace River in northwestern Alberta.
The 1,150-acre farm was one of the most picturesque areas she had ever seen. Behind the house, the trees on the hills were covered with brightly colored fall leaves. Deer and moose wandered past the front door and less than half a kilometre away, the Peace River meandered north on its journey to the Arctic.
The area is so prolific that tomatoes that self-seed in June ripen by fall because of the river valley’s intense heat. Jeannette’s garden easily grows enough gigantic pumpkins for each child in the nearby school.
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“People are amazed here at how things grow,” she said.
But not everything was perfect. Each night she was reminded of the 1960s television show Green Acres, where star Eddy Arnold climbed a telephone pole to answer the phone.
In Carcajou, each night either Wim or Jeannette had to go outside to turn off the light plant. It wasn’t bad in the summer, but during the winter, Jeannette, cozy in her flannel nightgown, would make a mad dash through the snow.
“It made me want to get power,” she said.
Unlike the rest of the province, there was no power to the farms at Carcajou. Each farm was powered by a generator or propane-operated equipment. The fridge, water heater and clothes dryer ran on propane. It didn’t take long for Jeannette to get tired of her frosty dash through the snow and she lobbied for electricity. In 1986 they got it. The grain dryer still runs on propane because there is no natural gas.
Wim emigrated from Holland in 1957. There, it was traditional to divide the farm among the family, with the oldest son getting the largest piece and ever-smaller parcels allotted for the rest of the siblings. With only 100 acres and four other brothers and a sister, Wim knew he would have to move away to make a living.
“I couldn’t see no way to make a living with such small parcels,” said Wim.
His brother, Johnny, had moved to Canada a few years earlier, and Wim followed suit. They ended up in northern Alberta where each bought a quarter section of land at Carcajou in 1964. Although it was isolated, the pair were attracted to the flat valley because the land was partially cleared of trees.
“It was really good soil on the river banks. I’ve been here over 30 years and it has never let me down,” said Wim.
He eventually bought the quarter section from his brother, who now farms at Keg River. Wim owns seven quarters and rents three quarters on which he grows Argentine canola and wheat.
He has tried to buy more land, but with no success. There are only 3,000 acres of land on the river flat and each family wants to hang on to its valley farm.
“This has been home for 30 years and we just love it,” he said.
Services disappear
But there are drawbacks. Carcajou is isolated. Until a few years ago, Wim could haul grain to the elevator at Keg River, about 40 kilometres away. Now the closest elevator is 150 km away at Manning.
They have been given notice that it too will close in three years and the nearest elevator will be at Rycroft 300 km away.
“It’s very unhandy not having an elevator at Keg River.”
Wim must also travel long distances for parts, fertilizer and fuel. It’s a three-hour round trip to Manning or High Level, where the family also buys its groceries.
Machinery parts for the farm’s New Holland equipment come from Grimshaw 200 km away. Parts for the International equipment come from Grande Prairie 500 km away or Westlock 700 km away.
He keeps a few belts and bearings in the shop, but it’s never guaranteed he will have the right parts.
“You never know what’s going to go wrong.”
Unlike other farmers in the area, Wim chose not to have livestock on the farm.
“My dad had a mixed farm in Holland. Every weekend everyone went to town to have fun. We had to stay home and milk cows and wheelbarrow manure. I promised myself I wouldn’t even look at a cow when I got older.”
Instead, Wim’s off-farm career is the trucking business.
Each winter Wim and Jeannette move north to High Level, where he operates his trucking business and she works in local motels.
“We’re different. We go north and work in the winter,” she said.
But every spring they move south to their home.
“We love it here by the river,” he said.
