Agriculture Appreciation Day set for Thursday

WASILLA — In what is becoming a popular event for kids and parents alike, the Matanuska Experiment Farm in Palmer is once again hosting Agricultural Appreciation Day, set for Thursday from noon until 5 p.m. at the farm.

The free event takes on a “country fair” atmosphere, with a hayride, food, kids games, presentations and demonstrations throughout the day, all geared toward building agricultural awareness in the Valley.

According to coordinator Theresa Isaac, the event was on an extended hiatus before being restarted six years ago. Isaac said the event’s popularity — some 600 attended last year on a rainy day — “has taken on a life of its own.”

“I think there has been a resurgence in the attention paid to agriculture,” Isaac said Monday. “More thought is being paid to being self-sufficient with food production, whether that’s statewide or putting in your own vegetable garden here in the Valley.”

New experiment farm director Susanna Pearlstein will provide an update on the facility, and other presentations will include edible berries and wild edibles, small grain trials, building a hoop house and the new meatpacking process at Mike’s Quality Meats, which recently took over Palmer’s Mt. McKinley Meat and Sausage Plant. Mike’s also will provide free pork samples.

Demonstrations will feature search and rescue dogs, spinning and weaving wool, a biomass gasifier and a cabbage stir-fry. Kids’ activities will include vegetable bobbing, searching for “gold nuggets” in a haystack and a dunk tank. A variety of food vendors also will be at the farm.

Also, continuing a popular tradition, kids may harvest and dig for several vegetables, including potatoes.

The farm is located at 1509 S. Georgeson Dr. For more information, call 746-9450.

Contact reporter Steven Merritt at 352-2269 or steven.merritt@frontiersman.com