Cowichan Bay Farm
More History
May 1997 

[ Home ] [ Map ] [ Philosophy ] [Farm Products] [Recipes]

Pastured Poultry

Contact Information:

E-mail: 
Lyle & Fiona Young
 
Telephone: 250-746-7884
Fax: 250-746-8912

1560 Cowichan Bay Rd,
Cowichan Bay, BC
V0R 1N1

Walled tent that probably was home 1910-1912 for Kingscote family while farmhouse was being built.  The woman is probably Mrs. Thomas Kingscote (Herietta Frederika)

Thomas Henry Kingscote on predator patrol circa 1920.

Mowing hay, Nigel Kingscote on mower.

Nigel Kingscote with "Jack" pullng Model T and stone boat.  Nigel steers (!) circa 1928.

Dorothy Kingscote & milk cow "Moo" with three of Dorothy's children: Mary, Joy, and Wilf.  1945

Vancouver Island, BC

by Lyle Young 

Part of Cowichan Bay Farm

Cowichan Bay Farm was established in 1910 by my great grandfather, Thomas Henry Kingscote.

Kingscote was an electrical engineer by trade.  Included in his c.v. were his responsibilities for seeing electricity and lighting brought to Buckingham Palace.  England was too sedate for Kingscote, however, and the lure of a new and exciting land brought him to Canada.

My great-grandfather first had a farm in nearby Saanich, where the land was good, as was the hunting.  It wasn’t long, though, before he heard about a place called “Cowichan” or “The Warm Land”, where the land and hunting was good and the salmon fishing legendary.

One fine day Thomas Kingscote hired a native guide and dugout canoe to take him across the waters separating the Saanich peninsula from the Cowichan region.  Kingscote found a level piece of land on the bench, just above the small fishing settlement of Cowichan Bay, which he proceeded to clear, and then build a house for his family. 

It took Kingscote two years to build the house, during which the time his wife and two small boys lived in a walled tent and endured two of the coldest winters in local memory.  Kingscote was obliged to sell the house and a bit of land for a small profit, which enabled him to build the present farm house and start farming.

The land was logged with horses, and pigs were put to work clearing brush and loosening stumps, which were to be blasted or pulled later.  It wasn’t unusual to see cougars; as the natives explained, the farm was on a traditional route for the pregnant cats which swam to nearby Saltspring Island to have their kits.  A Chinese labourer was employed to help with the farm work. The small shack that was the help’s home-away-from-home still stands.

The boys, Anthony and Nigel, grew up on this rugged land with a love and respect for the animals with whom they shared it.  Anthony and Nigel often went exploring around Mt. Tzouhalem, named after the fierce chief of the Cowichan Tribe, and they discovered many artifacts which now reside in the Royal B.C. Museum.  The boys would often visit their friends at the Cowichan native’s Big House, and with their hunting and fishing skills they became expert at helping to put game on the farm table. 

As he matured, Anthony, the oldest boy, had interests which took him beyond the farm,   His experiences led him into careers which included RCMP officer, artist, veterinarian, research scientist, secret service agent, and World Health officer.  Nigel, on the other hand, became completely enthralled with farming and immersed himself in every aspect.

Anthony once told me that Nigel was offered a bicycle for one of his birthdays when he was a youth - and his reply was “thanks Dad, but I’d rather have a pig!”  By the time Nigel was a young man he had built up a respectable pork operation, here on Cowichan Bay Farm, selling smoked hams as far away as Alaska and California.  By the early 1930’s Nigel was a director of the B.C. Swine Producers' Association, and had received publicity for his innovations in hog raising and the high quality of his product.

Nigel married Dorothy McKinnell in 1935, and together they raised a family and farmed for over fifty years.  Nigel and Dorothy kept a variety of farm livestock on their beautiful farm, and paid special attention to the needs of the land and the animals.  As decades slipped by, my grandparents seemed by others to be more and more out of step with “progress” - as Nigel and Dorothy still preferred the team of horses to the tractor; to them,  animal welfare was as important as return on the dollar.

As a young boy growing up in the city my visits to the farm were like a step back in time.  The value of every small thing was recognized, all things were respected, nothing was wasted.  My grandparents lived their philosophy in a world they had created.  I could see in everything a strong conviction of faith in what they believed, and that everything was somehow connected to everything else in their world.  From my disjointed urban perspective I began to see that there could be some order to things.  I knew I wanted to be a part of this farm when I grew older.

Life for me, as a young man, alternated between completing a degree in art school, renovating houses, and letting my Grandparents know, whenever possible, how much I loved the farm.  It was a difficult subject, however, as by this time Gramps seemingly had little time for the future; he was completely concerned with 'yesterday' and 'today'.  Eventually I made plans to expand my horizons and set off, for an undetermined period of time, for Africa.

During  my absence my Grandfather suddenly passed away, leaving the 40-acre farm completely to my Grandmother.  Upon reading the news I wrote to her, urging she keep the farm intact and keep this treasure in the family.  Once the dust settled, and it was apparent that I was the sole wanna-be-farmer, I returned from travel and began to try and earn the trust my Grandmother had in me. 

Fortunately for me, shortly after I began to learn about farming by trial and by doing, I met a wonderful woman who would become my wife.  Fiona, who comes from a scientific background, provides the perfect temper to my artistic energies - which haven’t always been as well directed as they should be.  Together we struggled along, meeting each challenge as it arose, learning daily how not to do things the next time.  

The farm had deteriorated noticeably since my Grandfather had passed away, and so we embarked on a major revitalization plan that would span the next ten years.

We tried veal calves and pigs, chickens and beef.  We cut the hay much too late, with modified horse-drawn equipment, and then it got soaked by the rain.  In the winter the feed truck got stuck in the mud, then the pipes froze, then the well pump broke down. 

The cows regularly got out through the tired fences so we became well-acquainted with the police and our neighbours!  Windstorms blew the trees down and covered the fields with limbs, and the roofs started to leak.

We worked all hours and managed to somehow gain a bit of ground between each challenge.  Fiona had returned to school to get a second degree, this time in education, as the jobs in the professional horticulture field.  were not satisfactory.  

I had an accident with a dull saw blade when working with poor lighting while over-tired.  Friends and relatives showed up and pitched in under some terrible conditions for the next few weeks. As I healed I realized what a great bunch they are, and I reflected on my own destiny.

During the time that we were without many animals we took a trip to England to see Fiona’s Grandmother, and a good friend from my urban youth.  

We didn’t know what kind of farm operation we really wanted to have; we just knew what we didn’t want to have - that is, until we happened upon Cotswold Farm Park in England.  Cotswold Farm Park is home to a number of rare and endangered breeds of livestock.  The animals we saw there were very attractive, had very interesting histories, and according to the signs could be very productive.  We wanted to learn more.  Fiona and I purchased an armload of books on Rare Breeds and began learning…

Upon our arrival home we sourced out Rare Breeds Canada, The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, and also happened upon some like-minded individuals locally.  The more we found out about rare breeds, their attributes, niche marketing potential and need for conservation, the more we felt we had found the style of farming that fit with our own philosophies.

We looked into numerous breeds and finally settled upon Navajo-Churro sheep, Dexter cattle and San Clements goats.  Over the next few years we sought out and purchased bloodlines from the western states, the eastern states, Ontario, and various places in B.C. It was our goal to   provide good breeding groups to other people who might become interested in this area of farming.  

We formed the Cowichan Valley Rare Breeds Group with our colleagues, and we began to take representatives of four various rare breeds to fairs. The increase in interest in rare breeds over the past five years, particularly on smaller acreages is remarkable.  Our rare breeds group is now called The Vancouver Island Rare Breeds Group and doubles it’s size about every year.  We have recently become an official western chapter of Rare Breeds Canada.

Members of our group and keepers of rare breeds find the animals to be hardy, thrifty, easy birthers, and excellent mothers.  The rare breeds tend to maintain condition, or even continue to gain when the weather is bad and feed is poor or scarce.  Many breeders have found there is a huge specialty-market potential for the different things rare breeds can produce. 

Cowichan Bay Farm presently has about 40 Navajo-Churro ewes and 10 mature rams from a wide variety of bloodlines, (there are only about 1500 Navajo-Churros registered worldwide).  Many of our animals are four-horned, and we have many colours of fleece.  Wool sales are brisk as spinners and weavers eagerly seek to work with this special wool - the wool on which the Navajo nation’s weaving tradition was built.

The Navajo-Churro sheep has also been looked at for its dairy potential.  Saltspring Island sheep dairyman David Wood took some of our ewes for a while to see how they did in a commercial parlour.  While the East Friesland crosses outmilked the Navajo-Churros, the Navajo-Churro milk made a lot of cheese for its volume, indicating a high amount of solids.  We feel that in a home dairy situation the Navajo-Churros would do quite well, or in an East Friesland/Navajo-Churro cross, the Navajo-Churro blood could add some needed durability in the commercial parlour.

Cowichan Bay Farm regularly hosts events to increase awareness of rare breeds of livestock.  In February, we brought rare breeds sheep and wool expert Ingrid Painter and Barbara Barraclough up from Oregon to give a day-long seminar on sheep and wool. Vancouver Island Rare Breed Group members supplied pens of Cotswold sheep, Black Welsh Mountain sheep, Jacobs, Shetland and Navajo-Churro sheep.  Cirolan Iaserscan technology was a topic as well as card grading, breed standards, and advantages of rare breeds of sheep.

Each Father’s Day Weekend in June, Cowichan Bay Farm hosts a rare breeds benefit farm art show. "This Show's for Ewe!" began in 1995 as an idea for a friend who was excited about the rare breeds concept and what we were doing with the animals.  Our friend Kaye Smillie used the animals, fields and farm for inspiration for her work, and invited her friend Lynne Starter to show with her.  We turned the hay barn into an art gallery for the weekend, and gave farm tours of the rare breeds, buildings and equipment. 700 people showed up for the event this first year, and over a thousand came out the next year!

We have grown to include many artists selected by a jury, artisans, and demos including a potter, a weaver, a felt maker, a blacksmith, and a shepherd with working dogs.  Farm tours of the rare breeds and demonstrations run throughout the day, and all proceeds go to conservation work we are doing with the rare breeds of livestock.  The event makes a great family day, with lots to see and do. 

[ Home ] [ Map ] [ Philosophy ] [Farm Products] [Recipes] 

© Cowichan Bay Farm 2000/March 2003.