The sixth Santa Barbara County Farm Day will occur earlier than its predecessors and include four first-time participants showing off their operations.
From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, some 16 North County farms and agricultural organizations will host hundreds of visitors with locations serving up free tours, tastings, giveaways and kid-friendly activities.
“With Farm Day, our mission is to cultivate appreciation for the hands and lands that feed us,” said Caitlin Case, executive director of Students for Eco-Education and Agriculture, or SEEAG,
“This is a really unique opportunity for the community to come out and learn about how their food is grown at all scales and ask questions,” she added.
The self-guided event lets visitors select their destinations in the Santa Maria, Lompoc and Santa Ynez valleys via a trail map available on the website. Both large ag industry members and small growers will participate.
This year’s event will take place weeks earlier than previous Farm Days in Santa Barbara County to accommodate growers due to harvesting and other schedules.
“August was a little bit of a better time for everybody in terns of harvest schedules and what they had going on,” Case added.
Farm Day visitors can see a diverse mix of row crops, vineyards, orchards, livestock, ag support and ag education sites during event.
This year’s Farm Day features four first-time sites such as the Ballard Walnut Grove where visitors can walk among 900 walnut trees and learn about the family-owned farm.
At the end of the tour, visitors will enjoy a walnut tasting and a children’s craft area.
At Growing Minds Farm Education visitors learn about educational programs and have a chance to meet the animals (goats, pigs and horses) that call this farm home. Children can participate in arts and crafts activities. Food will be available to purchase.
Visitors to Dare 2 Dream Farms in the Lompoc Valley can say hello to the chickens and goats and discover how the farm uses compost and beneficial insects in their growing practices.
In Gaviota, Santa Barbara Blueberries will offer fun educational tours to showcase the farm’s organic soil (made from earthworms and composted food and green waste), creating an ecosystem ideal for blueberry growing, organizers said.
U-Pick berries and farm stand produce will be available for purchase.
Realistically, people should expect they will be only make it to four locations, Case said.
“You do have to be a little picky and choosy with what you want to see because there are 16 locations and there’s a lot of good ones on there,” Case said. “Definitely we’re encouraging people to take a look at the trail map, read about each location.”
In addition to free tours, some locations will have other activities such as produce tasting or plant giveaways.
“Each location is kind of a little mini event itself,” she added.
Those planning to attend should register online at the event website, available by clicking here. This will allow organizers to better capture how many people attend Farm Day events.
Some farms require visitors to sign up for specific tour times.
Once registered, visitors will show their 805Tix QR code at each location to enter without having to sign in. Registered guests will entered into a drawing to win prizes.
Signups also can take place at each location the day of the event.
Pre-registration will allow organizers to better capture how many people attend Farm Day events.
In addition to registering for Farm Day, the website also merchandise such as hats and shirts available for sale.
Due to food and safety regulations, pets aren’t allowed at any of the locations.
SEEAG also organizes a similar event in Ventura County with the 12th annual Ventura County Farm Day planned for Nov. 2.