Gidgegannup Small Farm Field Day: Thousands flock to an enchanting day of discovery
Enchanting fairies, cuddly animals and a delicious smorgesbord of food delights paved the way for a festive 18th annual Gidgegannup Small Farm Field Day that was both educational and a barrel of good old country fun.
The event, held at the Gidgegannup Agricultural Showgrounds on Sunday, May 25, bought an evenly flow of 6000 visitors to enjoy a full program of all things that grow on small properties with the help from a field of leading experts.
Field day president Penny Morgan said the climatic weather, with a few spurts of rain, didn't deter the crowd, 'most knowing the benefit of May showers'.
'The bits of good rain coincided with this year's theme Sexy Soils, both ingredients required for healthy gardens and productive farm outputs,' she said.
'Visitors flocked to the undercover venues during brief rain showers and were happy to satisfy their appetite for some of the informative talks.'
The field day provided an abundance of expert advice on small landowner gardening and the second-year return of The Garden Path had a selection of plant sellers providing a range of tube stock for sale.
It was a foodies delight at the 4th annual Slow Olive Festival site hosted by the Swan Valley and Eastern Districts Slow Food Convivium with Italian cooking instructor Concetta Sultan serving up a platter of local produced finger foods available for tasting.
The festival included an olive oil competition that was won by Mt Barker-based Wild Olive Farm owner Megan Aitken.
Judge Barry Sander said Ms Aitken's entry had 'fresh grassy herb notes with complexity, was smooth and creamy on the palate with fresh herb flavour for added depth'.
It was an unbee-lievable day at the 2nd annual Honey Festival where visitors indulged in sweetness.
There was plenty of edible products available for sale and tips on how to design a bee friendly garden.
The honey and wax competition had 60 entries and taking home the overall award was Ferawati, of Chittering, whose entry was a wax sculptured candle.
The animals on exhibit included Paragon Miniature Herefords, Gindoon Babydoll sheep, and a wide selection of stud goats, poultry and alpacas.
At the 15th annual Alpaca Expo, four age groups of youth paradors were judged on their skills in handling alpacas through a walking course.
Judge Kurtis Parker of Goulburn in NSW said the participants had 'good animal control, were gentle and remained calm'.
The overall winner was Matelyn Stacey, 8, whose family runs the Banksia Park alpaca stud in Serpentine.
WA Alpaca Association president Tara Ravenhill said the expo had 50 alpacas on display with visitors interested in what the animals were all about.
'The expo followed on from Saturday's Gidgegannup Alpaca Show (May 24) with 117 animals in the competition, our stud Bedrock Alpacas was proud to take home the supreme Huacaya and Suri titles,' she said.
The inaugural Gidgegannup Young Farmer Challenge produced a first-time entrant winning team including Dylan Williams of Chidlow, James Brims of Mt Richon, Callan Parker of Stoneville and Zachary Charlton of Parkwood.
WA Next Generation Association president Josh Antonio said 'they came in blind but asked the right questions and got on with the job'.
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