My Summer as a Farmerette

About 40,000 Farmerettes, mainly high-school teenagers, picked fruit and planted and harvested crops on Ontario farms from 1941 to 1952. Their labour helped produce food needed overseas for the troops and for a hungry Britain and Europe. For Virginia, that summer away from home working for a farmer in Vineland marked her coming of age.

We showed Virginia’s story on the big screen at the Revue Cinema on Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025 as part of our celebration of Ontario’s Farmerettes. The theatre was full for Colin Field’s documentary We Lend a Hand: The Forgotten Story of Ontario Farmerettes, based on Bonnie Sitter’s collection of Farmerette memories, Onion Skins and Peach Fuzz. Colin, Bonnie and Virginia took part in a discussion following the films.