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Keith Phoenix, left, and his son Matt are seen here in the turkey barn at their two century-old Dappledale Farm in Scugog Township. DAPPLEDALE FARM Kerth and Matt Phoenix are still farming the land their ancestors carved out of the bush over 200 years ago Farming is a noble, though often underappreciated, profes- sion. “Farmers Feed Cities,” the posters remind us < that we won't take their contributions to society for grante The Phoenix family has understood that ase _— for generations. “Our ancestor, Eleanor Phoenix, got a 180-acre land grant from the British government in the early 1800's,” explains the family’ 's current patriarch, Keith. “She was a United Empire Loyalist This group remained loyal to The Crown in the face of the American Revolution. Most resettled to British North America — now Canada ~ and received land from the British government to begin their new lives.) The Phoenix family has prospered at Dappledale Farm, just north of the current Greenbank village. “The original house sat on the high ground at the front of the property,” Keith explains. “You can still find the foundation. By the late 1800s, they were doing well enough to build a new house and move the barn.” Dappledale Farm has had mixed uses throughout its rich history. “Like most farms, for a long time its aim was self-sufficiency. When I was a kid, we sold very little of what we raised, but we also only purchased a few goods — things like flour and sugar which we couldn’t get from the crops and animals. We had milk and beef cows, sheep, Pigs, chickens, and rented out some acreage for crops.” While you might assume he was born into farming, Keith admits he entertained at least one offshoot as well. “Thated school,” he says candidly. “And con- sidered becoming a butcher. I could’ve done that from here, onsite, in those days.” He learned his skills through old-fashioned hard work and practice, and remembers an atti- tude of mutual cooperation among local farmers. “That cooperation was necessary for everyone to survive. Give you an example: five or six farms around here had a ‘beef ring.’ When a cow from one of the farms was ready to be slaughtered, the meat would be divided evenly among them. Remember, there weren’t any freezers in those days.” You don’t need first-hand knowledge of farm- ing to agree that the modern version bears little resemblance to the methods of even a generation ago. “Farming’s still hard work and it certainly re- quires you to put in long hours,” says 36-year-old Matt Phoenix. “But technology has made it less Please turn to page 28 FOCUS - DECEMBER 2014 27