Seed to Spoon drew visitors interested in healthy lifestyle
Jonathan and Allison Zins of Columbus brought their 8-month-old twins with them. They hope to move from a city lot to 5 acres soon.
Heat and humidity did not deter crowds from attending this year’s Food Independence Summit at Timbercrest Camp and RV Park in Walnut Creek. In its third year, the two-day event, Seed to Spoon, drew visitors interested in homesteading to hear speakers, participate in workshops and get home-cooked food.
Those attending were given a number of catalogs and books describing methods and equipment for use in growing and preserving healthy food for families. Ninety-two vendors and demonstrators participated.
Speakers spent Wednesday morning explaining and praising the concepts of food independence. Nationally known speaker Joel Salatin, owner of Polyface Farms, presented his image of being a frog living in AD 1500, sitting on the edge of a pond, wondering what that frog would know about the world. Salatin also discussed how small-scale farmers are afraid to upgrade because of fears of not being able to market adequately or keep up with financial records.
Sarah Thrush, creator of Peeliesnpetals, drew a large crowd interested in canning. She advocated preserving food with sustainable practices from garden to jar, and Anne Briggs, founder of AnneofAllTrades, gave advice for time management and work effort in the homesteading garden.
Workshops included hands-on demonstrations with some of the more popular including sauerkraut making, canning, chicken butchering, cow milking, water purity, soil nurturing, broom making and kimchi making.
Hannah and Josh Powers of Edgerton were interested in the lawn fertilization workshop. “This is the second year for us,” Hannah Powers said. “We have seen quite a few families with a number of children, but we have made this our little getaway. The kids are too young for the hands-on workshops that we enjoy so much, but we will definitely be bringing them when they are older. There is so much to learn.”
Allison Zins of Columbus said, “This is our third year. In the past we have brought a number of friends because there is so much to see and do. This year we brought our 8-month-old twins instead.”
Her husband Jonathan Zins said, “We have a small garden at home right now but are hoping to move to 5 acres soon. Everything we learn here is helping us with those plans.”
Guests were treated to an Amish wedding feast including chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, tossed salad, and ice cream on Wednesday and a barn-raising lunch of meat loaf, parsley potatoes, baked beans, broccoli salad and fresh mixed fruit on Thursday.
Tim Blair of Holmesville attended the wedding feast. “This is the first time I’ve been here. The food is really good, but what I enjoyed the most was the canning workshop. I drive for the Amish and am away a lot, so I only have 48 tomatoes and 24 peppers in my garden. I wanted to learn some new canning techniques besides just making salsa. I learned a lot and have really enjoyed being here,” he said.
Children were not left out of the planning as they were able to participate in a bounce house, story time, petting zoo and horse-drawn rides.
The event was planned and organized by Marcus Wengerd, owner of Berlin Seeds, and John Miller of Supurb Sealing Solutions.