- by Susan McIver -
Charlie Duncan, who lives at 395 VLA Road in Cawston, has been involved in local agriculture since the 1940's. "As soon as I saw this area, I fell in love with it," he said, recalling his family's arrival from Winnipeg in 1946 when he was a young boy. His parents had purchased 15 acres in Cawston, sight unseen.
After a rocky start, the Duncan family returned to Winnipeg for three years before coming west again and settling in Cawston permanently. In 1955, Duncan bought his own 10-acres and over the years increased his holdings to 50-acres. In the same year he married his first wife, Una, with whom he had three daughters - Barbara, Donna and Gail.
"It took ten years of improving the land before I made any money farming," Duncan recalled.
The first steps included selling the pine trees on the property and blasting out the stumps. Later, Duncan sold cottonwood trees to Scott Paper Company. Once the land was clear, Duncan started the long process of improving soil fertility. The general plan was to fertilize land intended for use for ground crops with manure produced by cattle kept on the land.
In particular Duncan would buy calves - usually around 200 head of various breeds - in the fall, feed them purchased hay and grain and send them to the stockyards in Okanagan Falls in July and August. "This would give enough time for the pasture grass to regenerate before the next group of calves would arrive," he said.
In due course, acres of potatoes and tomatoes were planted as cash crops. Duncan explained that the profits from the ground crops were used to purchase cattle and feed and, therefore, could be used as a tax write-off. Over the years he rotated crops and pastureland to ensure continuing soil fertility. "All that rotating meant I spent a lot of time in the winter splitting wood for fences," Duncan recalled. He dug all postholes by hand.
Duncan was a founding member of the South Okanagan Organic Producers Association. "I was an organic farmer by accident,' he said. He explained that he didn't like using chemicals, preferring more traditional methods of farming. "I didn't do it to create a market, but it turned out that way," he said. Over the years, Duncan endeavored to run a small and efficient operation.
"That way I could be prepared for any problem", he said.
The Duncan family grew a large vegetable garden for household use and sold the excess. They also had fruit trees and kept chickens and milk cows. Throughout the year, Duncan worked at a variety of off-farm jobs - in mines; at sawmills, building highways, and for a time he ran his own trap line. "I'd do any job as long as I could be home at night," he said.
Due to declining health, Duncan has sold several parcels of land in recent years. On the remaining 15-acres, he continues to keep a large garden and run cattle.
Reflecting on his life, Duncan said," My rewards have been huge - I have peace of mind, I don't owe anyone money and I am my own man." He has also fulfilled his childhood dream. "Charlie told me that in grade 2 he dreamt about being a farmer," said Grace, Duncan's second wife whom he married several years ago following Una's death. |
