We are excited to be participating this coming Saturday, August 14th, in the event Alberta Open Farm Days. From 10 am to 4pm on Saturday you can come join us for a tour through the mill, try your hand at felting wool with Leah from Artfelt Studio, visit our sheep and llama, and shop our little country store.
Alberta Open Farm Days is a province wide open house where different agribusinesses open their farms/ranches/meaderies/woolen mills/etc to their rural and urban neighbours for a day of learning and discovery. It's an opportunity to learn about both modern and historic farming practices, discover the different connections throughout our food networks and our textile networks, and expand your understanding of how agriculture forms the base of our society - the food we eat and the natural fibre clothes we wear.
You can visit the Alberta Open Farm Days website to see a list of all the different places participating this year. This year is a little bit different from pervious years - due to COVID 19 considerations, you are asked to pre-register for a time slot at each of the different farms you will be visiting and to stay home if you are unwell...staying home if you are unwell is not only important in preventing the spread of COVID 19, but it is also important for visiting places with livestock where there are sometimes concerns about people transmitting human illnesses, such as the common flu, to animals, which can have devastating consequences (for example, the human flu is deadly to pigs). Pre-registering is also helpful to participating locations because it allows us to plan how many people we need to have on hand to help throughout the day. However, I have noticed that there are many farms listed on the Alberta Open Farm Days website that are not set up for registration - you can always give those hosts a call to confirm everything is good to go for the time you want to visit - some of them have tasting rooms and restaurants, so you may benefit from making a reservation anyway. Additionally, you can always call us here at the office, 403-337-2221, if you want to book a spot here at the mill for Saturday, but are having challenges navigating the Open Farm Days website. Below I have suggested a couple routes that are reasonably direct and would make a full and fun-packed day trip for you!
Route 1 - From Calgary: Start at Custom Woolen Mills in the morning, then head west to Happiness by the Acre, then finish your day at Fallen Timbre Meadery.
Route 2 - From Red Deer: Start your trip in the morning at Garlic Goodness, then head south to Hogarth Malt, then finish your day with us here at Custom Woolen Mills.
