A short distance behind the Royal Canadian Legion in Thedford stands the shell of what was once the home of the Farmerettes.
Years ago, when there was an active canning factory in Forest as well as another in Exeter, the owners and farmers of the rich organic lands north of Thedford had a reliable market for the much-needed produce that could be grown in the area.
At that time, acres of celery, carrots, red beets, onions, potatoes etc., were grown by farmers such as the Licko Bros., Jamieson, Donald, Love, Willsie, Moloy, Carrothers and Sitter to name a few. Other farms on the higher land grew crops such as peas, corn and tomatoes, also for canning.
There were a couple of peppermint operations in the area as well, where the peppermint plants were grown and then distilled for the oil.
These crops are all labour intensive and the weeds have to be controlled. So with no weed spray and very little mechanized cultivation, manual labour had to be used. This was when the Government brought forth the Farmerette program.
I’m sure that the two dozen or so girls that spent their summers in Thedford spent most of their time hoeing these much-needed crops.
In fact, my brother and I were able to have four girls to hoe white beans for a couple of days and I also worked where they were picking tomatoes for the canning factory in Forest.
I probably knew the names of a number of the girls, at least their first names, but 75 years has taken care of that in much the same way that it has with the building in Thedford that the girls called home.
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