Emma Drenen enjoyed a pony ride during last year’s Farm Day event in town. She is being led by Lindsay Hale, owner of Firefly Fields, in Southwick.
Reminder Publishing file photo
SOUTHWICK — Folks who want to see farming up close will get their chance in August when the town’s Agricultural Commission hosts its second annual Farm Day.
“The goal of the event is to show how farmers contribute to the town’s and region’s economy,” said commission member Burt Hansen about the free event, which will run 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 18.
In addition to the nine farms that participated last year, there are two new operations that have agreed to open their doors to the public: Gran-Val Scoop, and Southwick’s newest farm, Second Eden Farm, Hansen said.
Gran-Val Scoop, at 223 Granby Rd., Granville, is well known for its handmade ice cream, but it also has several friendly farm animals families can enjoy petting. It will also run wagon rides during Farm Day.
Hansen described Second Eden Farms, at 67 Hillside Rd., as a homestead farm. Its owners will be talking on Farm Day about how to start a farming operation. It will be offering fresh eggs, seasonal vegetables and cut flowers, Hansen said.
Each of the returning farms on the tour will offer the public a different experience.
Blossoming Acres, at 249 College Hwy., will offer hayrides around its produce fields, weather permitting. It will also be offering visitors fresh vegetables, fruits, annuals and perennials, cut flowers, in-store baked goods.
“They will again be offering free vegetable- and flower-shaped sugar cookies,” Hansen said, adding that during last year’s Farm Day he saw a child chomp into one of the cookies, look at his mom and say, “Look mom, I’m eating my vegetables.”
For those who want to see, nuzzle, and pet farm animals, Firefly Fields at 9 Babbs Rd. will be the place to be.
“They were the biggest draw last year,” Hansen said.
Firefly has plenty of friendly livestock that love to be petted, and while there visitors can pick up some homemade goat milk soap, eggs, and seasonal produce.
On Sheep Pasture Road, Karen Arnold, the wife of tobacco farmer Dwight Arnold, will give away sunflowers she’s grown on a patch near the Arnold farm, just like last year, Hansen said.
Arnold, who grows shade and broadleaf tobacco, will give folks the rare opportunity to see, and smell, the tobacco leaves curing inside one of his many barns, he said.
“Dwight told me he had never answered so many questions, ever,” Hansen said about last year’s visitors curious about growing tobacco.
During a visit to the Arnold farm, he will also walk folks through a tobacco barn that was built in the 1870s by his great-grandfather, who was the first Arnold to grow tobacco in Southwick, Hansen said.
There will be even more livestock to see at Solek Farms. At 230 Granville Rd., the Solek family raises corn, wheat, soybeans, hay and Herefordshire cattle. Hansen said the Soleks will also have on display antique tractors and the implements they used to work the fields.
Also at the Solek Farm will be a honeybee apiary, called 413B, which will share with visitors its demonstration hive with live bees and a taste of the honey it processes from the hives.
Growing flowers, shrubs, herbs and succulents, Coward Farms, at 150 College Hwy., will provide a chance for folks to learn about how they grow Christmas trees and see its automated greenhouse, Hansen said. The Cowards grow balsam, Fraser and concolor firs, and blue spruce.
Kline View Stables, at 53 Kline Rd., will be open to show folks the work involved in boarding and training horses. It will also be offering free pony rides during Farm Day, he said.
Also on the tour is Bisi Farm, a former dairy operation at 146 S. Longyard Rd. Hansen said the farm’s property backs up to Provin Mountain, and its owner, Roger Bisi, will take folks on a tractor ride into those areas. He suggested visitors have their cameras ready to shoot some spectacular photos.
The Southwick Historical Society will host special open hours Sunday at its museum properties at 86-88 College Hwy., the Joseph Moore House and Charles Gillett Cigar Factory. Hansen said two of the society’s docents will discuss the history of farming, including ice harvesting, in Southwick.
Families or individuals can also pick up a “passport” at whichever site they visit first. At each farm, they can have their passport stamped, and stickers will also be handed out for free, Hansen said.
Last year, the commission used the passports as entries in a raffle for prizes, but not this year.
“The real prizes are the farms,” Hansen said.
Another new feature of Farm Day this year is the addition of the Hampden County Improvement League, an agricultural advocacy organization.
Hansen said it provides scholarships to students who want to pursue a career in agriculture, grants to agricultural organization, brings agricultural learning to area classrooms, and works with local 4-H clubs. It will have an information booth at the Southwick Historical Society museums.
Hansen said the commission is still looking for some volunteers to help out during the day.Volunteers will work in shifts of two to three hours, so they, too, can visit the farms. There will be an orientation for volunteers at 10 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 10.
The event is cosponsored by the town of Southwick, the town’s Economic Development Commission, and the Southwick Land Trust.
