Family Farm Day is back for its sixth season of providing folks in the Alberni Valley with the opportunity to tour around local agricultural land.
The self-guided tours will take place on Sunday, Sept. 18 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with six farms participating this year.
This free event allows people to visit as many farms as they like in no specific order. Activities for children, farm tours, recipe books and farm fresh products will be available throughout the six farms.
Family Farm Day, began as an initiative by the City of Port Alberni Parks, Recreation and Heritage department that was taken over by the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District (ACRD) three years ago.
“I think it’s a good event to promote agriculture in the Alberni Valley,” said Alex Dyer, planner at the ACRD. “We do hold a lot of agriculture related events but not a lot of them are geared towards kids and families, so this provides an opportunity for that.”
This year’s participating farms include, Healthy Harvest Farm, at 4890 Beaver Creek Rd., where folks can tour their newly expanded gardens and green house.
Next door to Healthy Harvest is the Hupacasath Community Farm, new this year to Farm Day, that will have a large growing pumpkin available for viewing.
Also new to Farm Day is the View Street Market, at 4595 Montrose St., that provides close to 1/3 of an acre of urban farm and garden space.
Leda Organic Farm, at 4361 Batty Rd., has been operating since 1974 and will be offering tours of their gardens and compost yard. At noon, attendees can catch a demonstration of how to make a home-garden sized biodynamic compost.
Coleman Meadows Farm, at 6670 Coleman Rd., invite folks to tour the farm’s milk parlor and wander through the farm stand where water buffalo cheeses, sausages, meat and gelato will be available.
Take a farm tour hay-ride or visit chickens, goats and donkeys at Arrowvale Farm, at 5955 Hector Rd. Here you can also purchase plenty of farm-fresh products.
Dyer said Family Farm Day has become a popular event in the Valley that people tend to ask about year after year.
“We see a lot of attendees and we see a huge benefit to having it here in the Valley,” Dyer said.
There is no registration required for this event and people are encouraged to bring a cooler if they wish to purchase farm products. Many of the farms have cash only sales available.
When arriving at a farm, folks can look for the host table, that will be occupied with two members of the Alberni Valley Bulldogs, who will be handing out free activity books, recipe books and available to provide information about each farm.
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