Fiber Fool

Thanks to Deb and her daughter’s CSA share and our own I was able to get 2 free tickets to attend Grant Family Farm’s Harvestival on Sunday afternoon. The lovely Kathryn stopped by and picked me up along the way (and gave us a jar of homemade apple butter!) and we spent several sunny hours on the farm.

We were greeted by these two rather tall individuals just outside the gate to the paid section of the festival which included two stages where musicians and sustainability-minded speakers could be seen.

Sunday afternoon was chosen to attend because Joel Salatin, featured heavily in The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Food, Inc. was speaking. He was an interesting speaker, if a tad rambly. With the audience I suspect mostly comprised of CSA members who got tickets as part of their shares he was obviously preaching to the choir :-)

I did manage to spot a bit of fiber arts in the wild…

After the talk we quickly sought out food. We opted for the Grant Family Farm Grill where they were selling bison burgers and brats and well as a smattering of other locally raised foods. Then we wandered one booth south for some homemade root beer (which was less photogenic than the burger).

While it did cost $20 on Saturday or $30 on Sunday to get into the area with the speakers and most of the musical acts and food and vendor booths, there was across the road a free area with a mini farmer’s market and lots of kid friendly activities.

Seeing a watermelon flinged across an empty field via trebuchet was probably the most popular amongst all the ages.

Since the egg recalls, Grant Family Farms has gotten a fair bit of press about their approach to raising chickens. They had two of their chicken buses on display and some boxes of lower grade produce that visitors could feed to the chickens. The converted school buses are driven around to various areas of the farm so the chickens fertilize the soil and graze, then the buses are moved to the next area before overgrazing occurs. They are also locked up inside at night to keep them safe from the coyotes and other predators.

There was a meandering self-guided walking farm tour where you could take in the sights of the orchards and fields and learn some interesting tidbits along the way…

I couldn’t believe this factoid so had to capture it! If I stop and think about it, it makes sense. Grant Farms delivers CSA shares as far south as Colorado Springs each week and they are a major supplier of fresh produce for many of Fort Collin’s restaurants and I suspect many all along the front range.

At the end of the farm tour loop we checked out more of the free section. There were many animals for kids to see. The following is only small sampling.

Okay, you knew I’d take a picture of sheep! The llama and alpaca were in more enclosed pens that made getting fence-free images impossible so you’ll just have to envision those yourself.

Can you name this one?

There were also pigs and a pony and a cow.

And I can’t forget the ducklings (though they were in a different area of the free side). Too cute! I had forgotten how cute they were as it has been decades since I lived on the farm and we hatched any mallards from nests exposed to predators when the alfalfa was cut.

There was also a section with all kinds of fun games, such as the straw pile above. There was a straw maze and what looked like pumpkin bowling (though it was late in the afternoon and no longer being manned). I think there was also a booth where kids could paint and plant a small pot as well as one where they could combine various vegetables into imaginative creatures. There was also a small stage that was frequented by a magician and some smaller musical acts.

I have to say the free side of Harvestival did a really good job of catering to the kids. I think it would totally be worth the 14 mile drive north of town to take preschool and early elementary aged children to the festival in future years.

You can see a few more photos and non-mosaic versions of those appearing in mosaics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/designedlykristi/sets/72157624842183179/detail/