Dawn Hughes, by choice, has multiple personalities. Part stage diva, part finance industry businesswoman and part farmer, it’s the latter that the 50-year-old Texada Islander loves the best.
As operator of the historic Woodhead Farm, Dawn is a popular “regular” at farmers’ markets in Powell River and on Texada Island. Together with husband Brad, she produces vegetables, fruit, eggs, preserves, poultry and beef for sale. The farm has been in continuous operation by the Woodhead family and descendants since 1915 and is the island’s oldest continuously-operated farm.
After raising two daughters, in 2006 Dawn was recruited to perform in the mystery dinner theatre production Gorillas In the Mist being staged by Texada’s Rock Island Players (RIP). “As a kid I would have been terrified to act in front of others,” Dawn said. “I really have to work at learning lines. But I thought I’d push myself to the limit, so I gave it a try.”
Dawn was so successful on stage that she’s been in every production since, eight in total. She often plays sexually provocative roles and is currently rehearsing for the 2012 RIP production of the poignant Canadian drama Kiss the Moon, Kiss the Sun, due to open in late May at Texada Community Hall. Her character is a pregnant young woman in crisis, persevering against all odds.
When not farming or acting, Dawn is the full-time loans administrator for First Credit Union, Texada Branch.
Born in Alberta and raised in Fernie, BC, she often visited her grandparents’ cattle ranch as a youth, where she picked produce from the garden. She wanted to be a vet, dragging home every stray animal she could find.
After high school, Dawn moved to Edmonton. “With [Wayne] Gretzky, the [Edmonton] Oilers and the brand new West Edmonton Mall, it was an exciting place to be.” She soon tired of the city and went to visit her brother in Faro, Yukon, where she stayed three years. When a family member took a job with the Texada Island Quarry in 1990, she also moved to the island.
With two young daughters, Dawn immersed herself in their growing-up years, preparing hot lunches at school and leading the local branch of the Girl Guides of Canada.
At her house in Gillies Bay she put in her first garden, calling it “a grounding experience. It was something I knew nothing about, so I started with squash and potatoes and learned from trial and error.”
At her 40th birthday party, she met future husband Brad, the great-grandson of Willis Woodhead who purchased the property near Crescent Bay Road which became the Woodhead Farm. Woodhead developed a garden and established an orchard of fruit and nut trees, of which a walnut tree still survives. Subsequent family members added livestock and Brad’s parents, Nora and Keith Hughes, restored the heritage orchard and added raspberries. Dawn was asked to help her in-laws pick and sell produce at the farmers’ markets. When they retired, her enthusiasm for all aspects of running the farm led to her and Brad taking over its operation in 2005.
“The history of the farm gives my commitment to it an added element, in that I can’t let the ancestors down,” Dawn said. “It’s a heritage tradition which works for me.” She still uses some of Nora’s recipes of preserves and has come up with some original ones of her own. The market garden covers five acres, including one acre of vegetables, raspberry and blueberry gardens and a grove of hazelnut, walnut and apple trees. There are 12 cows, 62 laying chickens and soon, turkeys. Everything is raised naturally, with no chemical feeds, fertilizers or insecticides.
When to do spring planting she calls “a crapshoot, depending on the weather.” Last year she didn’t plant a lot of vegetables until June because of the cool spring. “Don’t be too hasty to plant. Wait for the weather and the plants will catch up.”
She describes her summers as “exhausting,” making salsa and jams before work at the credit union, and spending hours at the farm afterward. “The results are worth the time and effort to do it right.” Woodhead Farm has been one of the largest vendors at the Open Air Farmers’ Market in Powell River for years and the Hughes built a permanent booth in 2007. Dawn says they sell 95 per cent of what they produce.
“What I like best is knowing that what we produce on the farm makes people happy. If I could be a full-time farmer in rubber boots I would be. Our lives impact others in so many ways, whether it’s producing quality food or providing entertainment on stage. Gardening and being in plays are the best things for me and my soul. For me, that’s life’s fulfillment.”
