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Sept 2008
Open Farm Day
By Brenda Murray
September 21, 2008, what a glorious day it was for Atlantic Open Farm Day. The sky was clear blue, and the late summer sun shone warmly on people taking advantage of the great day. It was so unlike the many dreary, rainy weekends that preceeded it. I hope many of you took the opportunity to visit a farm near you, to see how your local vegetables, fruits and meats are produced, and learn how and where to buy local products. It’s an ideal time to speak with the people who grow your food, to learn their farm philosophies regarding things like pesticide use and organic management techniques, to what are the animals being fed, that will be on my dinner plate tonight. Nova Scotia produces a huge variety of agricultural products, and value-added products. We are famous for our high quality blueberries, strawberries, cranberries, apples, and maple and wool products, but there are many more things that we do well. Really, anything from cauliflower or carrots to watermelon or grapes, seem to grow well in some part of good old Nova Scotia.
It truly is a place to be proud of, as far as agricultural diversity and quality is concerned.
Blue Barn Farms is the closest farm to central HRM that participates in Open Farm Day. This year, we enjoyed having about 150 visitors, walk through our farm yard, and sample our free-range chicken, and
lean ground beef products. Visitors could get a close-up look at the cows, and calves grazing contentedly in the field, or yearlings in the century plus old barn. Unfortunately, the chicks were still too young to bring outside. We also had our farm and excavation equipment on display. Our visitors ranged from those using strollers, to some walking with canes. Some people came to show their children something new to them, while others came to get an almost forgotten whiff of barn odour that they may have enjoyed in their childhood years.
By taking the time to participate in Open Farm Day, we helped some visitors get an understanding of what we produce, and how our animals are fed and cared for. We helped our business by selling some free-range chickens to new customers, some more signup requests for our farm newsletter, future orders for chicken and lean ground beef products, firewood, and some requests for excavation services estimates. All in all,
it was a successful day, for us and our visitors as well.
If Open Farm Day 2008, didn’t quite make it on your TO DO list, now you have a few more reasons to try and get out and visit your local food producers in 2009, when Open Farm Day comes up again.
For additional information contact:Brenda Murray
Blue Barn Farms 1800 Hammonds Plains Rd
Hammonds Plains
www.BlueBarn.ca
E-mail: brenda@bluebarn.ca
PH 902-499-3399
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