For this episode I interview Ted Presant, a resident at The Village of Riverside Glen. Ted's life story covers a huge history of farming in the region. Some of his family members attended Guelph Ontario Agricultural College all the way back in the 1910s. Ted shares the story of his grandfather starting a farm in the Blenheim/Chatham area, the "Heart of the Golden Acres" circa 1913, supported by Ted's dad (who attended the OAC to specialize in Horticulture) and Ted's uncles and Aunts. Born in Chatham in 1930 Ted grew up on that farm too, until the return of his cousins and his older brother from the services. With so many more young men in the family ready to help on the farm, Ted's brother attended the OAC with a focus on poultry, and Ted's father branched out to start a new farm with their family in the Brampton area.
Ted takes us through his education, studying first horticulture, then Field Husbandry, with a focus on crops and soils. Further schooling in Montreal brought geology into the mix, and the next few years saw a marriage, more schooling in Ottawa, and summers spent in New Brunswick , using his knowledge of soils and geology to help locate areas for metal mining. After graduation, he returned to Guelph where he spent much of his career creating soil maps and reports of various locations in Southern Ontario, (he also confirmed that some of the best soil for growing fruits and vegetables - second maybe only to Niagara - is located under the QEW). Ted gives us a glimpse into a fascinating history of farming over the past 100+ years in this region, and we are so appreciative to him and his daughter Wendy taking the time to connect.
This interview was originally recorded on March 16th, 2022
