It is finally over, well almost. The Greene County Fair, in East Tennessee, ended yesterday. We will have our booth taken down by tomorrow, then it will be officially over, till next year. I am completely exhausted, but am very excited with how well things went. A few challenges, but those challenges will make for a much better fair next year! The teens came out all week and helped to hand out information on our healthy lifestyle launch, 5210! We promoted eating 5 fruits and vegetables a day (our big concern and I ate a lot of our veggie samples this week), 2 or less hours of screen time (yep I accomplished that this week. No screens at fair!), 1 hour or more of physical activity (OH boy did I cover that this week. I think I walked 50 miles around the fair back and forth from barns for this activity and that activity!), and 0 sugary drinks (well, um, maybe not this one. I had to have my sweet tea). We handed out tomatoes and cucumbers from our farm for people to munch on during fair. The teens enjoyed promoting this theme by wearing veggie costumes, and it is fair, so they wore animal costumes too!
We also sponsored food preservation demonstrations during fair week. Monday we made some infused vinegar with one of our chefs and teens, Tuesday was butter making with our executive director Sally, Wednesday pickling with my mom and my cooking teens, Thursday sauerkraut with a Rural Resource volunteer, Friday apple butter making with a local grower, and Saturday jam making by a local artisan. The preservation demonstrations were a huge success, and they have asked us to come back next year and line up more!
Not only did we have our own information booth, and expanded this year with food demonstrations, one of our teens showed some livestock at the fair. He showed a dairy cow and sheep. He did not show these under Rural Resources, but we are extremely proud of his step this year into large animal care. We have helped give him the stepping blocks to, what appears to be, a future in agriculture. He loves the animals and seems to have a way with them, and he loves growing his own food. We believe he will go far! Way to go Bobby! He won a few ribbons.
So, Debbie Strickland signing off now. I think I will find a place to sleep for a whole year!
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