Remember the photo of Mel Culbert pretending to chop off the head of his little brother, Earl Culbert? (click here if you missed it.)
Here's another shot, probably from that same day at Poplar Farm near Lucan, Ontario. However, this time there's no threat of decapitation . . .
 |
| Earl Culbert (left) with his big brother Milward "Mel" Culbert and the family dog, standing at the back of the house at Poplar Farm located on Lot 19, Concession 2 (The Coursey Line) in Biddulph Township near Lucan, Ontario, Canada. Photo probably taken in the late 1930s. Click on photo to enlarge it. |
I asked my siblings, Terry Culbert and Dana (Culbert) Garrett if they knew the purpose of that old wooden building attached to the back of the house. They told me it was Effie Culbert's summer kitchen.
Effie Pearl (Taylor) Culbert, the wife of Myron Culbert, was the mother of the above-pictured Mel and Earl, along with four other sons: Cliff, Ken, Ivan, and Mert.
 |
| Myron Culbert and Effie Taylor on their wedding day, 14 June 1911. Much cooking and cleaning and mending lay in store for our Effie. |
It was here in her summer kitchen that Effie prepared the harvest from their abundance of fruits and vegetables. Effie canned, pickled and preserved their home-grown bounty. Not only was there enough produce to feed their large family, they also sold some of their produce at the Covent Garden Market in London, Ontario; a journey of over 20 miles (32 km) from their home.
See the pump on the right hand side of the summer kitchen photo? That pump was connected to an underground well, and it was the Culbert family's source of water for drinking, cooking and bathing. Like other farmers in the area, Myron and Effie didn't have indoor plumbing and running water so they had to go outdoors to the pump for all their water needs.
 |
| The water pump at Poplar Farm. Pumps, made of cast iron, drew the water up through an underground well. You had to push up and down on the long handle for the water to come out the spout. |
Off that cement deck, Effie chopped the heads off the various fowl that she raised, such as chickens and turkeys. She plucked and prepared them for supper. This was many decades before anyone in our family became a vegan. Meat was the meal of choice for farm families at that time.
 |
| Effie's turkeys. You can see the summer kitchen in the background, attached to the house. |
Effie would have spent many hours in her summer kitchen. Her work never ended.
I've been reading Effie's diaries which include entries from 1931 through to her death in 1957. She made note of what she cooked, baked and/or canned, pickled or preserved on any given day, and listed her daily household chores. I've randomly chosen some entries from July 1939.
Effie's diary entry for July 11, 1939:
Earl and I went to the bush and got 3 quarts of blackberries. Merton picked cherries and I did 8 quarts.
The next day:
The boys and I picked 4 pails of peas. I canned some and done the ironing.
A sampling of other July entries include:
I made pies and biscuits and cherry jam.
I got up at 4:00 a.m. and churned butter and cleaned up the front part. I did 3 quarts of berries.
Merton and I did all the milking.
We went to church twice.
I ironed and made gooseberry and raspberry jam.
We threshed the wheat. I had 11 men for supper. I made the first apple pies.
I made chokecherry jam and jelly and mended a pair of pants for Cliff.
I cleaned up the upstairs and canned peas.
I am trying to feed three little pigs. I washed and got some ironing done.
The above were just some of things she did during the course of any particular day that month.
Raising a family of six boys on a farm was a thankless and endless series of chores. Occasionally at the end of the day, Effie made time to listen to the radio. This seems to have been her only form of relaxation although I'm sure she had her hands busy mending at the same time as she was listening.
Here's to Effie Culbert and her summer kitchen!
