鈥淭his is the house I was raised in,鈥� Dave Ormrod said, motioning to a farm house adorned with blue shingles. 鈥淚t was built about 1928 and my dad bought the farm in 1942. And 鈥�42 was the year I was born.鈥�
Like his childhood home in Milner, Ormrod has a colourful history.
And at 75 years young, he鈥檚 still picking.
Farming and agriculture is in Ormrod鈥檚 DNA; he has had dirt underneath his fingernails since he was six years old.
These days, Ormrod continues to operate Dave鈥檚 Orchard at 5910 216 St., where tree fruits and vegetables have been grown for more than 70 years.
Apples, pears and potatoes are the main crops but Dave鈥檚 Orchard also harvests a wide range of vegetables. The farm also has cut flowers (zinnias, asters, and sunflowers) and Christmas trees in season.
鈥淚 work from seven in the morning till whatever time it gets dark at night,鈥� Ormrod said. 鈥淓verything has to be looked after; there鈥檚 a lot of work involved in producing any crop. Nothing grows by itself so you鈥檝e gotta do all kinds of things to make it happen.鈥�
Ormrod won鈥檛 stop working, and he鈥檚 receiving a huge helping hand from his daughter Brandie, who he says inspires him to continue farming.
鈥淲hen I sit down I fall asleep,鈥� he explained.
He continued, 鈥淚t鈥檚 no value to me. The only thing I enjoy watching on TV are the Blue Jays games and the football games. And I even fall asleep watching the football games. So automatically when I sit down on a chair, I fall asleep. So what鈥檚 the sense of retiring? I鈥檓 going to be sleeping and having nightmares.鈥�
Agricultural education
Ormrod spent the first 18 years of his life at his childhood home before leaving the nest in 1960 to pursue agriculture at UBC.
Many years later, he returned, bought the farm from his parents John and Ruby, and in 1977 had another home built on the property.
He still lives in that home.
In its original incarnation, the property was a dairy farm.
鈥淎ll the farms around here were called mixed farms,鈥� Ormrod said. 鈥淎nd they had, like, 20 cows and 200 chickens and apple trees, and different vegetables and stuff like that.鈥�
As a young boy, Ormrod learned the trade.
鈥淚鈥檝e got a picture of me driving a tractor when I was less than 10,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 used to come home (from university) on the weekends and do the hard work for him (his dad). He couldn鈥檛 do it all himself. I鈥檇 work on Saturday and Sunday before going back to UBC.鈥�
While at UBC, Ormrod lived in an apartment near the university. 鈥淭hey put the rental up from $75 to $85 a month and that made me so angry, that I went out and bought a house.鈥�
He purchased a house in Vancouver for $15,000, and two years later took a job with the Ministry of Agriculture based out of Cloverdale. Ormrod worked for the ministry as a plant pathologist for 30 years.
Along the way, he sold the house in Vancouver for $26,000 (鈥淚 made a clear profit of $11,000,鈥� he said.)
With his new-found wealth (so to speak) Ormrod paid somewhere in the neighbourhood of $23,000 for a farm not far from his family鈥檚 property in Milner.
鈥淚 tried farming it for a while鈥� but this farm was horrible,鈥� Ormrod said, 鈥渂ecause it was way too wet and the soil was awful.鈥�
After a handful of years of trying, Ormrod sold that farm, returned home, and had his home for the past 40 years built.
Ormrod retired from the ministry in 1997 with the intention of giving someone younger an opportunity for employment.
He didn鈥檛 stay retired for long. The Vegetable Marketing Commission came calling, asking Ormrod to visit local farms to determine the amount of crop loss they suffered from rain or late blight (a serious disease affecting potatoes and tomatoes).
鈥淢y job was to go around the province and determine how much of the potato crop loss was due to late blight and how much was just due to rain,鈥� Ormrod shared.
Ormrod said he did 鈥渟uch a good job at that,鈥� he made a transition to a new role as a food safety inspector, visiting farms and making sure they are using safe methods of production, and to 鈥渃heck and make sure they have toilets and hand-washing facilities for their employees.鈥�
Ten years after that, Ormrod continued on, touring farms whose crops have been damaged, to determine if their losses are insurable or not.
鈥淚鈥檝e been doing that for 10 years, now,鈥� he said.
Pears popular
On his own farm, Ormrod has an affinity for his pear trees.
鈥淚t鈥檚 effortless to grow pears,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou can hardly go wrong with pears if you鈥檝e got the right variety.鈥�
Dave鈥檚 Orchard is also becoming a hot spot for a popular seasonal orange gourd.
鈥淧umpkins have never been a main thing for us but we did so well last year, that I decided to do it again this year,鈥� Ormrod said.
鈥淧eople were just pouring in to buy pumpkins. We made more money in one day selling pumpkins than we ever did with anything else. I thought, 鈥楾his is worthwhile doing, after all!鈥欌��
House has history
Old photos show the home Ormrod was raised in wasn鈥檛 painted for the first 20 years of its existence.
鈥淢y parents , John and Ruby Ormrod, bought the farm from Glover Lawrence in 1942,鈥� Ormrod shared.
鈥淕lover Lawrence then moved to Dawson Creek and used the money to start the Lawrence Meat Packing Co. as there was a big demand for meat to feed the crews building the Alaska Highway. At the time there was fear of a Japanese invasion鈥�
With coaxing from Ruby, John painted the house a rusty brown colour in the 1950s.
It was a farm house with dirt floor basement plus four rooms on the main floor and one long room on the second floor. The roof was originally cedar shingles, later covered with duroid.
When that roof needed replacement, son Dave applied blue painted interlocking metal.
As that did not match the rust-coloured siding, the cedar shingles on the walls were painted blue around 1980.
Since then it has been easy to describe as the 鈥渂lue house.鈥� It is now being renovated inside by Dave鈥檚 stepson, Ron Freeman, who is a carpenter and painter.
troy.landreville@blackpress.ca
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