ca. 1840

Settlers from Scotland arrived and cleared the original forest to permit farming. All of the trees on the farm property, including all trees along the river, were cut, burned, girdled, or poisoned. One tree must have been left standing as there is a very large, old silver maple beside the farmhouse. Because the property is part of a floodplain, the original forest probably consisted mainly of white ash and silver maple, with lots of elm.
 

ca. 1890 to 1900

Construction of barn and outbuildings; walls made using "stackpole" technique; beams made of solid elm.
 

ca. 1948

Construction of present-day farmhouse (Photo #1). Notice the pig barn, implement shed, and bridge, as well as the size and location of the vegetable garden.
 

1972 (figure 1)

Dad purchases the farm property which consists of 71.5 acres, but does not include the farmhouse. At that time, Mrs. Mary Johnson (75) and Mrs. Agnes Cummings (78) lived in the farmhouse. They were sisters, and had both been school teachers. Their grandparents had immigrated from Scotland and cleared the original forest.
 

During this phase, Dad and I mainly cleaned up the property. Delapidated pig barn and implement shed removed and salvagable materials stored in barn. Old fence rows removed, wood and wire collected. We also did our best to remove fallen trees from the river.
 

1976

Planting of 2000 white spruce, red pine, red oak and Norway spruce seedlings (Figure 2). These were obtained from the OMNR nursery in Midhurst for one cent each. The trees were planted in a block with the intention of gradually transplanting around the farm later on. This never happened, as I began university in 1977 and did not emerge from studying until ten years later. By that time, the trees were too large to move! Mr. McLean had ploughed up this area prior to planting, and as a result the success rate was very high. I spent the summer at the farm, living in the milkhouse. I had my first vegetable garden, and worked night shift at the Dominion store in Barrie. Thanks to Gary Rasiuk, Dean Slinger, Doug Mayhew, Henry Turnowy, and my brother for help with planting.
 

1977

Planting of 5000 conifer and hardwood seedlings around the perimeter of the property. Trees purchased from OMNR. Planting done with the help of sixteen high school friends during the Victoria Day long weekend; we were there for three days, and all slept in the barn. All friends survived, but few trees did because they were too small to compete with grasses (I did not anticipate the problem this at the time). The ash trees along the fence beside the highway, now ca. 40 ft. tall, probably date from this time, and possibly some of the silver maples along the river. Second summer at the farm, living in the milkhouse. My garden expands to ca. one acre, and I kept 5 ducks, 12 chickens, and 17 rabbits. Friends helped me to dig a pond for the ducks, and Dad helped me to make a henhouse. Again, I worked the night shift at Dominion in Barrie.
 

Thanks to Gary Rasiuk, Tony Tolomizenko, Peter Janiuk, Arlindo Candido, Arvid Rimkus, Rob Warner, Ed Fischer, Gary Yee, Brian Hookey, Jim Shychrolas, Ken Mizyabu and Rick Spanlik for help planting the trees.
 

1978

Obtained current 1:10,000 aerial photograph (Photo #2). An annotated version of this photo is in preparation.
 

1987

Dad, Gary and I thin the trees which were planted in 1976; I sold these as Christmas trees in Toronto at a local gas station. When I was not busy with customers, I sat in Dad`s 1974 VW Beetle to at least stay out of the wind - it was still very cold work ! The money I earned (400 CAD) paid the cost of my flight to California in January of 1988 (postdoctoral research at the University of California, Riverside).
 

1990

Planting of 14,000 white spruce by OMNR. This is part of a Wildlife Improvement Act agreement in which the OMNR does the planting, and we agree to take care of the trees for at least 15 years. Trees are planted around the entire perimeter of the property, in a broad band at the back of the property, and along most of the river (Figure 3). Price of trees still one cent each! Notice that the much of the highway frontage was not planted. Unfortunately, cattle were in the field at planting time, so OMNR could not plant there. However, we were very lucky that we got this work done at all, as the WIA program disappeared soon after due to government budget cuts.
 

Dad purchases the farm house property.
 

1991

Dad and I planted the following (mainly on the farmhouse property; see (Figure 4):

500 white cedar seedlings, 150 windbreak poplar seedlings, 50 red oak seedlings and 50 black locust seedlings from OMNR; 250 bush white cedar from Gerald Bell Orchards; the following apple trees from Blue Mountain Nurseries and Orchards: 8 Idared, 8 McIntosh, 8 Northern Spy, 4 Summerred, 4 Vista Bella; 5 Russian Olive, 3 Red and 3 Black Currants, and 3 Hazelnut from Huronia Nurseries; 20 potted Colorado Spruce, 20 potted Austrian Pine, 5 potted Serbian Spruce, 1 Cucumber Magnolia, 1 Kentucky Coffee Tree; from The Lawnmaster; 1 Shagbark Hickory; 2 Ohio Buckeye, 1 Sugar Maple; 1 English White Oak; 2 Black Walnut; 2 Carpathian Walnut; 2 Black Cherry; 4 Little Leaf Linden; 14 Norway Maple; 3 Russian Mulberry from Keith Somers Trees. Beth`s Uncle Walter helped to plant one of the rows of cedars.
 

1993

Dad and I planted the following along the highway frontage (see Figure 5)

200 black locust, 150 red oak, 75 Colorado spruce and 75 Austrian pine around the farmhouse property

2 Amur Cork, 1 Horsechestnut, 1 Northern Catalpa, 2 Big Leaf Lime, 3 sugar maple, 2 Russian Mulberry, 2 Russian Olive behind the barn

2 Harbin Pear, 2 Manchu Cherry, 2 Manitoba Apricot, 2 American Plum, 2 Siberian Peach at the back of the garden, beside the river

3 Balsam Fir, 3 Fraser Fir, 2 English White Oak, 3 American Hazelnut, 2 Bitternut Hickory, 2 Beechnut; 2 Butternut, 2 Fioka Buarnut, 2 European Filbert, 2 Chinese Chestnut, 2 Carpathian Walnut on the opposite side of the river

6 Black Cherry (first bend in the river), 6 Black Walnut (second bend in the river). The beavers ate most of the Black Cherry, but the Black Walnut are still standing and doing very well.
 

1999

Planting of white ash, silver maple, and black walnut along the river (Figure 6) with Andriy Cheburkin, Helen Kurzel, and Dominik Weiss; planting of five black walnut near the old apple trees in the NW corner of the farm; planting of a sycamore in front of the farmhouse. Thanks to the Nelligan Family for delivering all of the trees, for helping to plant the black walnuts, and for the gift of the sycamore.
 

2003

Planting of six small white ash trees along the river (Figure 7). My Dad did not feel well enough to make the trip with me from Toronto, so I went on my own (October 4,5). I planted these trees in his honour, to remember all the great times I had at the Farm with him. I was also celebrating the fact that I had survived an infection of necrotising fasciitis, and after three operations and one skin graft (!), was feeling well enough to be able to plant these small trees. I suppose it was a celebration of life itself, and I was just so happy to have both of my legs. I am very grateful to have another "chance at life", and did not feel I could miss an opportunity to plant a few trees. It was a beautiful weekend: cold and overcast, with alternating hail and sunshine. I had never planted trees in a hailstorm, but it was such a beautiful experience that I would love to do it again, anytime. With such dark skies in the background, everytime the sun made an appearance the trees (in their autumn foliage) were illuminated like brilliant candles and the ash trees in the distance glowed like embers.