1921 ".... the returned soldier...." Growing Strawberries and Raspberries in certian BC Coast sections

SMALL  FRUIT  SURVEY
A Report on the Cost of Growing
Strawberries and Red Raspberries
in Certain - Coast Sections of
British Columbia during
the season of 1921

Agricultural Department Circular N6.'39

18 pages in length

New source of document    2023-12-18:

Source: http://www.llbc.leg.bc.ca/public/pubdocs/bcdocs_holmes/qp_mar_2012/513993/513993_adc39b_small_fruit_survey.pdf

There's a story out there where I heard Sunshine Coast lots are being made ready for farming instead of the land sitting idle.   Go Organic they say.

But then I thought about Vancouver and their Coach houses in the lanes and the "large" tracts of land between between the Coach House and the Primary House.... couldn't it be converted to raising Strawberries and Red Raspberries with the simplest of ingredients, and energy.

What better method than going back in history, when just after the First World War had ended and our British Columbian forested lands still existed, the land was being given away FREE, no strings attached, to returning soldiers.

   I detract...... but that's what was written in this pamphlet.

For the soldiers and their families they had to cut the trees down, remove the stumps using pry bars and dynamite, plow the land to be made ready for planting what they would need to survive on for the rest of year..... when nothing would grow.

"The growing of raspberries and strawberries appeared to be a type of farming which could be carried on successfully on a few acres of land, which demanded the labour of only one man with the help of his immediate family, which required little initial outlay for equipment, and which in general promised a good return in a short time."

Think about this.   There were no stores called Costco or Rona or Whole Food back then.  The population wasn't what it is today.  There wasn't anything called BC Hydro to provide lighting or run the toaster, nor was there a steady supply of Natural Gas to heat our homes.

Why this sudden thoughts on growing something, anything in the front or back yard..... not just flowers, but vegetables.....


Oh look the yellow forsythia and crocus are blooming which means it's the time to prune roses and fertilize the lawn but for this household, its time to go out and prepare the garden, and purchase PEAS!!!!!!!!! from the nursery.