Farm Stories: Coming of Age on a Mid-20th Century Alberta Mixed Farm

George Rock grew up in the 1950’s on a central Alberta farm that was very typical in some ways, but unusual in others. Thanks to the Rock family’s inherited expertise, knack for innovation, and openness to ideas from colleagues and hired hands, the farm thrived through the 1940’s and 1950’s. They specialized as suppliers of breeding stock and registered seed to other farms, while extending the business into more unusual endeavours, including purebred sheep and thoroughbred racehorses. As George matured, he also witnessed the widespread impact of mechanization, which enabled the farm to expand in the 1960’s but also brought new challenges.

Despite being from a small, geographically isolated community, George was exposed early on to the larger world through stories from his extended family and the farm’s ethnically diverse hired hands. Third in a family of four, his education included not only a one-room schoolhouse, but also trips to the US and neighbouring provinces. Even as he grew, learned, and got up to mischief with his younger sister; mourned the untimely death of his eldest brother when he was eleven and saw his family embroiled in a national political scandal when he was thirteen.

Begun as reminiscences for his grandchildren, the stories in this book recall a rural world that is much changed, while also reflecting universal themes of innovation, humour, and family adaptation.