Small Farm & Food Fest returns to Carriage Hill MetroPark on Saturday

Credit: Submitted Photo

Credit: Submitted Photo

Take a step back in time and learn what it was like working on a farm in the 1800s at Five Rivers MetroParks’ Small Farm & Food Fest.

The free festival at Carriage Hill MetroPark in Huber Heights is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 3 featuring hands-on activities, demonstrations, local speakers and a pop-up farmer’s market focusing on healthy eating and sustainable living.

Credit: Submitted Photo

Credit: Submitted Photo

New this year, festivalgoers can visit the farm’s .75-mile historical trail to imagine what the park was like when it was home to the Arnold Family from the 1830s to 1916.

Guest can also experience modern-day farming techniques, along with gardening, food preparation, cooking, homesteading and home sustainability information.

There will be demonstrations, workshops and activities from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. including a floral and heirloom vegetable display, exotic fruit stand, canned goods display, blacksmithing, woodworking, rope making, a textile display, children’s games, a steam engine with complimentary steamed corn, wagon rides, draft horse demonstrations and historic breeds of livestock.

Speakers will begin at 10 a.m. in the Daniel Arnold Barn and display barn on the historical farm. Topics and speakers include:

  • Benefits of Farm Fresh Eggs: Bryna Chandler of Drunken Duck Farm & Mallard’s Landing Sanctuary
  • Fermenting: Making Your Own Kombucha: Dawn Kirchner of Full Circle Brewgarden
  • Chickens or Bees: Profiting on a Small Farm: Andrea Hancock of Happy Wife Acres
  • Growing and Cooking Heirloom Tomatoes: Betty Hoevel of Five Rivers MetroParks
  • Fall Planting for Earlier and Better Spring Flowers: Wendy Brubaker of Morningside Meadows Flower Farm
  • Coffee 101: Michael Thomas of Poppets Coffee
  • Growing Mushrooms at Home: Michael Goldstick of Guided by Mushrooms

There will be a variety of food trucks at the event including McNastys, Pa’s Pork, I Heart Ice Cream, Kona Shaved Ice, Travelin’ Toms Coffee, The Lumpia Queen and El Buen Taco.

All food vendors will be participating in the MetroParks’ waste-free initiative. Festivalgoers are encouraged to bring their own reusable water bottle and visit the designated waste stations where volunteers will help them sort their trash.

Carriage Hill MetroPark is located at 7800 E. Shull Road. For more information, visit metroparks.org/farmfest.

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