The Owl's Cookbook: August 2015

Alberta Open Farm Days

Our visit to local farmers!

So so Sorry everyone….life has gotten the best of me. Every week I've been wanting to post, but summer has been busy - I hope there are still people out there reading my blog..hello?

It’s been a while and I’m back and I have a new post about my weekend adventure.

Today’s post is about Alberta Open Farm Days! An annual event that is held all over Alberta where us regular folk can visit various farms to see where our food comes from. What’s also great about this event – IT’S FREE! (Or very close to it) If you haven’t attended any of these open farms, I highly recommend you mark your calendar for next year. Usually, around the end of August on a Sunday.

For more information, go to the Alberta Open Farm Days at: www.albertafarmdays.com. Also, watch the video on the website – firstly, it's beautiful. Secondly, it makes you feel proud of the amazing people that grow our food here in Alberta.

Alberta Open Farm Days has a listing of the farms that are part of the event, and divides the province in three sections=North, Central and South. There is a brief explanation of the farm, who’s the farmers are and contact info and directions to the farm.

We of course did the north section and researched a day before where we wanted to go and planned our travel. There were 19 farms available to choose from in the north area. Plus, I heard one of the farms, the Cheesiry had a special meal made on the Saturday before. I recommend you check out the farms a few days before to see if they are doing any special events during Alberta Open Farm days.

I’m an advocate in buying local, supporting your community and eating real food. You get a sense of pride when you cook or prepare something you know where it came from and it’s reassuring to know what’s in your food.

The day we ventured out was beautiful. I couldn’t ask for better weather. Sunny and not too hot, with a little breeze. Driving to these farms on highway 21 was breathtaking. It’s always nice to go on an adventure once and awhile.

Irvings Farm Fresh...what a nice day!

Our first farm was Irvings Farm Fresh Ltd., which produces free range heritage breed pigs and they have their own meat shop on the farm. They are just located east of the village of Roundhill. Depending on what area of Edmonton you are form, it can take little over an hour to get to. It really made me appreciate how the owners of Irvings drive to deliver their products at both the Strathcona and Downtown’s Farmers Market.

Alan Irving, the owner and farmer already knows my hubby and me from the farmers markets we frequent. It was nice to get a chance to see where our favourite bacon comes from.

When we got there, we parked in a grassy area by -the front gate. It was nice to see that there were quite a few cars parked there already and taking in this event. We were greeted by a lady close to the gate for both of us to sign in (just to keep track of how many people came) and she told us some information about where was what and what to see.

Lunch time! They enjoy the great outdoors.

Spa mud treatment to cool off

Alan was in the pen with the pigs and explaining to a group of us about the pig breed, what they eat, how they get along, where they sleep, and everything you need to know about their pigs. He answered questions and explained how the animals are moved to a processing plant, then returned to the farm to make sausages and other items.

The animals even came up to Alan for few times to get pets. It’s nice to see the conditions the animals lived in. Even though, they end up not with a happy ending – they did get to enjoy their life outside, with fresh air, warm bedding, good food and some sort of affection. Sadly, not all commercial pigs are raised this way. Also, it was nice to see the farmer showing pride in what he raises and respecting the animals.

Alan giving the pigs some loving strokes

He opened the water to makes some mud for them to roll around in, told us about the items they plant for the pigs to route around in. The animals looked very content and had a lot of room to run around in and they do get to go to new areas and rooted up greens. The barn was open for them to go in and out of anytime they wanted, and was a great shelter from the rain and cold. There was even heaters for the upcoming cold months. Alan mentioned that the pig’s tail can show how content they are, if it in a tight curl – you got a happy pig. There were plenty of curly tails.

We got to pet some horses they had there and their sweet farm dogs.

Horses!

Farm dog one

Farm Dog #2 - only 4 months old

They also had their meat shop open and had a small tour of what they make on the farm. At the meat shop they showed us how they made their various sausages, smoked their meats and make their awesome bacon. We ended up buying some bacon, sausage and pork belly to take home.

Tour of the meat shop

What was really nice about Irvings, was their generosity. We not expecting any lunch or food, but they served us a great lunch! Pulled pork on a bun with coleslaw and various sweet squares. It was delicious! Not all farms gave free food.

Pulled pork on a bun, salad and a coconut cake square - YUM!

We thanked Alan for opening the farm and sharing his livelihood to us, then we took off to the next farm – A.L.P.C.A.

A.L.P.C.A. (Sunnyhill Alpacas and Twisted Sisters Mill) is located in Rollyview, just forty five minutes west of Irvings. As the name state, the farm has Alpacas! We drove up their well-manicured driveway and parked on a batch of grass.

the market

My yarn. now to find what to make...

They had a little market and tents were there were some craft making. We talked up to the information booth and a friendly gentleman told us about the farm, and explained where the Alpaca’s were, where the mill was and mentioned there was a soap making area for kids.

SO CUTE! I want one!

Again, this was another self-guided walk about and we headed over to where the alpacas were. What can I tell you about alpacas? They are very, very cute! A cross between sheep and a giraffe. They are also very skittish, we never had a chance to pet one. These guys had the funniest haircuts. Found out they were sheared in May. Some had fluffy muffin topped heads, others had shaggy leggings.

Baby alpacas

We entered their mill, that the moment you walked in you got hit with a gust of heat and humidity. We learned that they had to keep the mill at 80% humidity and warn to get the yarn to the right consistency. The owner gave us a tour of the mill and their many machinery.

Sun drying

Machine removing debris

light as a cloud

spooling the yarn

He showed us where and how they wash the alpaca wool, how they dry (summer outside/winter hang to dry) then how it goes through a machine to remove the grass and debris from the hair, then they through various machine to stretch and roll them in a spool. I learned so much from the tour and being a novice knitter – I just had to buy some of their yarn.

We walked to the market and looked at the various wool items. I wished I brought more money, there were some amazing scarves for reasonable prices. There were two ladies showing how yarn was made using the old fashion spindles. Also, learned that there are two types of alpacas, a regular and a silky. The silky alpacas have longer and curlier hair. I thought the shaggy type of yarn was man made, but it’s natural from a breed type.

After this great tour of alpacas and yarn, off we went to our last farm of the day that was on our way back home to Edmonton.

Barr Estates Winery is located just outside Sherwood Park. The farm has sheep, some petting zoo animals and fruit wine! Arriving at the farm, we were greeted by a lady right at the gate, she told us the lay of the land and that there was wine sampling, and some food for sale there.

see the sheep in the background

The winery makes two wines right now, a raspberry and rhubarb. They were both really good, and had a hard time deciding. The owner told us they were working on a new flavour and is in the testing stages right now.

The owner gave us a tour where they make the wine and answered our questions.

Wine making!

If you go to their website, you can find locations where they sell their wines, pretty much across Alberta.

Those are some BIG rhubarbs to make wine with

We enjoyed a lamb sausage sandwich ($4 only), with homemade ice cream and rhubarb compote ($2) – plus some wine sampling ($1). Very reasonable and very tasty.

Wine sample - "The Other Red" a raspberry wine

Fresh ice cream with rhubarb compote- YUM!

All in all, this adventure was lots of fun, learning and a great way to see what is available here in Alberta. I recommend that you put a reminder somewhere for next year. I know, we’re going.

Until next time, keep local!

Information:

Alberta Farm Days

When: mid/end of August, weekend

Location: various participating farms throughout Alberta

Website: www.albertafarmdays.com

Phone: 1-800-Alberta (252-3782)

Irvings Farm Fresh

18469 Township Road 484, Round Hill

(780) 672-2787

Website: www.irvingsfarmfresh.com

A.L.P.A.C.A. (Sunnyhill Alpacas and Twisted Sisters Mill)