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TOMPKINS COUNTY
FARM CITY DAY
2008
Host: Angel Tree Farm Alpacas
Farm
City Day 2008 Saturday, August 9th, 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Hosted by
Angel Tree Farm Alpacas 554 Scofield Road, Lansing, NY Farm City Day 2008
celebrates Tompkins County agriculture with a trip to an Alpaca farm.
Owned by Jay and Carol Engels and Carol's parents, Mal and Ellie Hunter,
Angel Tree Farm will open its operation and welcome visitors on Saturday,
August 9th from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
In 4 short years Angel Tree Farm has grown from three adult female alpacas,
two with Crias (offspring), to a herd of 30, including 12 females. They
have now reached a point where their breeding stock is sufficient to sell
offspring; they have already sold 9 alpacas. The family also shears the
herd and sells some of the fiber, while having the rest spun into yarn.
There is a farm gift shop with many lovely and practical, soft and warm
alpaca fiber items, including hand knitted, hand felted one-of-a-kind
hats by Ellie.
Farm
City Day will be a great opportunity to learn all about this increasingly
popular small ruminant: dietary and husbandry needs, lifecycle and breeding,
how alpaca fiber differs from other natural fibers, and what makes them
a worthwhile investment.
This
event is a celebration of the food and fiber system, and Angel Tree Farm
offers a chance to explore the fiber system in detail. In addition to
the always-popular Sheep and Border Collie exhibition with Sharon Garland,
visitors can expect to see spinners, weavers and fiber artists plying
their crafts. Attendees can also get some lunch at the 4-H concession
stand, sit in the food tent across from one of the pastures and watch
the alpacas, which incidentally come in 22 natural colors, frolic and
roam.
Angel
Tree Farm is also home to peacocks, chickens, rabbits, and a few llamas,
so there will be lots of animals to check out. Many regular exhibitors
and activities will round out the day, including the Tompkins County Soil
and Water Conservation District with their mascot Ronnie Raindrop to demonstrate
how farmers work to protect the watershed, the Tompkins County Dairy Princess
with samples of several varieties of McCadam cheese, Tompkins County Farm
Bureau with great exhibits highlighting the importance of agriculture,
Quality Milk with the Milkable Cow, and lots more! Children won't miss
a thing when they fill up their Farm Fact Find Passport to Fun, which
guides them to different activities around the event. Last but not least,
no one will want to miss the Ag in the Classroom Silent Auction, featuring
a wonderful selection of goods and services from local artists, crafters,
restaurants and businesses. Mark your calendars for this fun-for-the-whole-family,
hands-on agricultural event! You won't want to miss an exciting minute
of the day!
Farm
City Day is sponsored by the Tompkins County Agriculture & Farmland Protection
Board in conjunction with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County,
Tompkins County Farm Bureau, and other area agriculture businesses & organizations.
For more information contact CCE-Tompkins at 272-2292 or see the web site:
http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/tompkins/farmcityday
For
more information, call CCE Tompkins County at (607) 272-2292
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