While we wait for the waters to freeze up in our area, my wife, Brother in law (fellow contributor to Moose Knuckle), and myself, decided to attend the Harrisburg Farm Expo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. My wife and I have been wanting to attend this expo for quite some time now, and it was well worth the visit. We arrived early Friday and the place was packed already!
The first stop at the farm show was the food court. The foods being offered were from locally grown producers and other food entities. In addition, the vendors were offering food such as roast beef, pizza, grilled cheese, French fries, blooming onions, fried mozzarella cubes, fried mushrooms, chicken, fish, cotton candy, ice cream cones, delicious milkshakes, and apple cider were provided by local farm organizations. The prices were extremely reasonable, not like at a sporting event or even other county fairs I have attended in the past.
We checked out the farm equipment next, which I was a little disappointed in. I had hoped to see various hay equipment and large farm tractors to examine. However, there were only a couple of tractors on display. Most of the equipment was for home use. There were signs on the tractors asking people not to climb aboard. I suppose some parents as well as their children are unable to read, as one child was inside the cab of one tractor jamming the gear shifter so hard, I thought it would break off! I hope the individual who purchases that piece of equipment doesn’t go out one morning to plow his field and have his transmission fail on him. Thanks kid!
My wife, Lisa, had a great time taking pictures of all the animals, especially the cows, goats, and chickens. Unfortunately, all the pigs had gone to market prior to our arrival. The beef cows were missing as well. We were able to view the cows being milked, goats being judged, and little baby ducks sliding down a sliding board into a pool of water. You name it, there were rabbits, chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks, all shapes, colors, and sizes.
There were many interesting displays including ancient artifacts, women weaving, giant pumpkins, hay, Christmas trees on display, and many other farm products to be viewed and tasted! Other vendors were selling products including bee’s wax, honey, various hot sauces, and even wine tasting. If you are on a low budget, you could sample many of the products on display at the expo and go home full. Hard boiled eggs pickled in hot wing sauce, venison jerky, apple butter, apples, cider, Turkey Hill ice cream, chocolate, pretzels; people were anxious for you to sample in hopes of a sale.
As the day was getting late, it was time for us to leave. A shuttle bus took us almost to the spot where we parked our vehicle. We spent almost an entire day viewing all the farm products, animal judging contests, and tasting fresh food all for the price of ten dollars per carload. You really can’t beat that, especially, in these tough economic times. Next year, if you want to get out of the house, let your children understand that food isn’t produced at the food store, then check out the Harrisburg Farm Expo.
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