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Farming was life to the early settlers. The whole family pitched in with matters of survival, the main one being food and food sources.A domestic garden was grown for vegetables, animals were raised for food, and grain was grown for cereals, flour and feed. They also supplemented their domestic food supply by picking wild berries, hunting and fishing.
The women and children mainly took care of the gardens, animals and wild berry picking, while the men and older boys would work the various farming machinery with horses or oxen to break, till, plant and harvest the fields of grasses and grains. They also handled most of the hunting and fishing.
Following are some photos of this survival part of our early settler's lives, the food supply.
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Jim Pilcher Discing a Garden Most Likely on the Preston Sharp Farm1920
Near Mirror, Alberta
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Jim Pilcher discing a garden, most likely circa 1920, on the Preston Sharp farm, near Mirror.Everything was done either by hand, or with the help of a good team of oxen or horses, such as this one.
Jim was friends with Preston Sharp, both arriving in Alberta around 1914, from the same area, Longton, Kansas.
After working at several places around the country, and at first filing on his own homestead beside Preston up around St. Paul, Alberta, in 1917, Jim and Preston moved onto Preston's farm, in the George district, near Mirror.
They lived the first year in two graneries, the second year adding a tent with a board floor, for living quarters.
They broke and cleared land and built a barn, and finally a house for Preston.
In 1920, Jim married Myrtle Jewell and they stayed with Preston until buying their own farm in 1927.
Jim also worked in Mirror for a number of years as a carman helper, and retired here in 1964.
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Madeline Dowswell Cultivating Potatoes1928
Near Mirror, Alberta
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Madeline Dowswell and horse, preparing to cultivate the potato field.Potatoes were a big staple of life for the settler families.
Madeline was Fred Dowswell's daughter.
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A Huge Sunflower Grown on the Rider Family Farm1918
Near Mirror, Alberta
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Eleanor Rider in the Rider garden, standing under a huge sunflower her father, Thomas Rider had grown. Gardens were tended carefully and the soil was fresh and fertile at this time, often producing far larger plants than any that could be grown these days.This height of this sunflower is testimony to that.
Assessing Eleanor's potential age to be about 16 or so, this photo would most likely have been taken around 1918.
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A peek at a child's garden1912
Near Mirror, Alberta
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Even children could grow healthy gardens because of the loose, fertile, virgin soil conditions on the prairies in the early days of Mirror.10
Mrs Robert Ingram Milking a Cow1928
Near Mirror, Alberta
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Mrs Robert Ingram is milking their cow, and her daughter, Jesse is feeding a calf.This was a well-fed farm family, having chickens and milk, as well as beef cows, and pigs.
Milk was a staple and a whole food everyone liked to have at their table.
The photo is most likely in the late 20's, as the Ingram family was placed (by the Soldier's Settlement Board) on the old Cairns farmstead in 1925.
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Brawner Children Milking a Cow Most Likely on the Brawner Family Farm1925
Near Mirror, Alberta
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These 3 girls, Berniece, Eileen, and Elsie are the daughters of Allen and Mildred Brawner. Even children knew how to milk a cow in those days, combining fun with chores.The Brawner family moved into our area in 1919, purchasing the N.W. 20-40-23.
The girls were all born in Tees, just West of Mirror, and grew up in the area, and Allen hauled coal from the Sissons Mine, south of Alix, a few miles SW of Mirror.
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Child and Geese1915
Near Mirror, Alberta
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