2 days ago
Ag producers inviting Albertans to experience farm life this weekend for Open Farm Days
Charlotte Wasylik, a member of the family-run Chatsworth Farm near Vermilion, Alta., pets a pig on Aug. 14, 2025. (Miriam Valdes-Carletti / CTV News Edmonton)
Alberta's agriculture producers are preparing to welcome guests this weekend for the 13th annual Open Farm Days.
'It's really about getting all the items in place: moving all the pens around, setting up all the signage, moving bales around, … giving (the yard) that final polish,' said Charlotte Wasylik, a member of the second-generation Chatsworth Farm northeast of Vermilion, during an interview on Thursday.
'A lot of gardening, a lot of weeding, a lot of watering,' added her mom, Johanna Wasylik. 'I also make the condiments for our hot dog barbecue, so making lots and lots of hot dog relish and quick pickled red onions and sauerkraut and red water pickles.'
140 farms across the province welcoming guests on Saturday or Sunday. 5
Open to guests on Saturday, Chatsworth Farm is hosting farm tours, machinery and sheep shearing demonstrations, cooking lessons, live music by Edmonton-based duo the Western Thistles, and more.
'Everything that we add to our Open Farm Days, there's a connection. The rock painting we're doing for kids… the rocks are from our fields,' Charlotte told CTV News Edmonton. 'One of the food truck vendors, they're serving our hot dogs made with our beef. And the equine demos, the horse trainer, Megan, she's actually the trainer of my horses. The sheep shearer is actually our sheep shearer.'
She said it's an exciting time to be a farmer and participating in Open Farm Days because of the rise in popularity of farming and homesteading on social media.
'Not a lot of people are connected with farms or where their food comes from. So this really gives people the chance to experience it.'
The theme for this year's event is 'Water, the lifeblood of every farm.'
Admission is free. More information is available online.
Open Farm Days falls at the end of Local Food Week.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Miriam Valdes-Carletti
