LAKELAND - Each year, Alberta Open Farm Days gives people the opportunity to visit and tour small agricultural operations and other related industries across the Wildrose province while purchasing products and sampling farm-to-table meals.
For Alberta Open Farm Days 2024-which take place Aug. 17-18-a handful of farms in the Lakeland region will be opening to the public. This year’s regional locations include Christy Creek Honey in Lac La Biche, Backroad Farmhouse Roasting Company in the St. Paul area, Providence Acres Farms in Iron River, as well as the St. Paul Museum and 350 Farms in the Cold Lake area.
While the attractions happen at the farms, community organizations are also playing a role in the awareness events. The Lac La Biche Agricultural Society is hosting a pancake breakfast to start the day from 10 am to noon. There might also be some afternoon events featuring local-grown foods, says ag society president Aurel Langevin.
“We also plan on having some culinary demonstrations in the afternoon from 1 to 4 pm,” he told Lakeland This Week, adding that the annual pancake breakfast is not a fundraiser for the Ag Society. “It’s more of a giving back to the community affair.”
Backroad Farmhouse Roasting Company – which is owned by Breana Malcolmson and Jeremy Yaremchuk and situated in the St. Paul area – will be hosting an event on Saturday, August 17 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. According to Breana, those who stop by will be able to see the coffee-roasting set up, chat with the owners about the business, try and purchase coffee to take home.
Their business is a small-batch roaster, and they offer a variety of organic and fair-trade coffees, along with flavoured and unflavoured brews.
“Jeremy is the roaster, so when he is home on his days off, he roasts the green beans for us to sell,” Malcolmson stated.
While this might be the first event of its kind to be held at the coffee roastery, Breana is hoping that it won’t be the last. She continued by saying that the couple loves hosting and want the house to be a place where people can enjoy themselves.
“This is our first year participating in open farm days, but we would love to participate again in the future,” she said. “We are so happy to be a part of encouraging people to enjoy the rural area and see the beauty we have in our region.”
You have to Bee there
Christy Creek Honey, which has been a mainstay on the Alberta Open Farms Days circuit for the past five summers and is owned by Rob and Joanne Wicker, was set to participate again this year by offering tours of their honey making operation in Lac La Biche on Saturday, Aug. 17. They are unable to participate this year due to unforeseen circumstances.
Historic agriculture
A trip to the local museum may not be the first thing that comes to mind when people think of a major provincial event associated with farms and agriculture. The St. Paul Museum will be participating in activities that show farming in the early days on the Alberta prairie. These events take place on Saturday, Aug. 17 from 12-4 p.m.
According to Sakura Lalonde of the St. Paul Museum, the activities that will be on offer this year for the free Open Farm Days include hayrides, cream separating, ice cream making and serving, along with wood cutting and a petting zoo featuring a variety of animals ranging from mini horses to snakes.
Lalonde said that Alberta Open Farm Days-which last year drew roughly 280 people to activities at the museum-helps the community as well as local businesses.
“Alberta open farm days in a small farming community is very important,” she stated. “During this time, we like to promote local businesses and products.”
For the second year in a row, Providence Acres Flower Farm in Iron River has been inviting the public in to see the variety of flowers that are produced there. Providence Acres is owned and operated by Ryan and Lena Thiessen.
According to Lena Thiessen, there will be a u-pick whereby people can select and pay for the flowers they like, as well as farm tours.
The first-ever Open Farm Days event that took place last year, she said, went very well, and was well-attended.
“We had approximately 100 people show up,” she said, adding that some of those stopped by were from the local area, while others arrived from Edmonton and elsewhere. “We really enjoy meeting new people and introducing them to what we do. It's great for people to get a sense of the amount of work that goes into producing flowers.”
There will be two events hosted by 350 Farms in the Cold Lake area during the Alberta Open Farm Days weekend. This includes the food festival Taste at the Lake, which is set to take place at the Cold Lake Marina on Saturday, Aug. 17, as well as a farm tour on Sunday, Aug. 18 from 2-4 p.m.
Each year, Alberta Open Farm Days shines a spotlight on a different animal. For 2023, it was the Year of the Bison while 2024 has been designated as the year of the Alpaca.
According to the Alberta Open Farm Days website, these animals-many of whom originate in Chile, Bolivia, Peru, and New Zealand-started to arrive in Alberta in the 1980s and 1990s. The information from the website states that there are 28,500 alpacas in Canada, with 40 per cent of those farm animals in Alberta (according to 2020 statistics). Alpacas are used in Alberta’s fibre industry, which includes such products as goat’s wool (cashmere), sheep wool, and hemp.