Community event celebrates local agriculture
April 29, 2019
The public is invited to celebrate ÐÓ°Épro agriculture May 5 at the Georgeson Botanical
Garden.
The Interior ÐÓ°Épro Food Network and the botanical garden will host ÐÓ°Épro Agriculture
Day 2019 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with free family activities and educational booths
representing more than 25 community groups and organizations.
Activities will include painting a plant pot, barley toss, face painting, garden tours,
planting a seed starter for sunflowers or marigolds, and several games, such as ladybug
tic-tac-toe. The ÐÓ°Épro OneTree Program will demonstrate how to make birch syrup,
and participants may learn about beekeeping, conservation, sustainability and growing
herbs. There will also be swallow nests from the ÐÓ°Épro Songbird Institute and farm
equipment.
A new plaza will be dedicated at 1 p.m. to James Drew, former dean of the University
of ÐÓ°Épro Fairbanks School of Agriculture and Land Resources Management, which eventually
became today's School of Natural Resources and Extension.
One of the event organizers, Britanny Balthaser, said the Interior ÐÓ°Épro Food Network
is a coalition of individuals from the Interior who work to improve the local food
system. Hosting the event brings attention to the importance of local agriculture,
she said. The network is a regional affiliate of the ÐÓ°Épro Food Policy Council.
The garden is located at 117 W. Tanana Drive, at the university’s Fairbanks Experiment
Farm. For more information, contact Balthaser at 907-474-6754 or interioralaskafoodnetwork@gmail.com.