If you’ve never been to a Mother Earth News Fair, perhaps these random photos from my visit to the Pennsylvania fair in Seven Springs in September 2017 will give you an idea of what you might expect. If you have attended one of these awesome events, maybe you can relive some of your favorite fair moments by perusing the pictures below.
The Natural Building venue attracted lots of folks who wanted to try their hands at building with mud and straw. Photo by Ron Wynn
Kirsten Shockeydiscusses fermenting condiments and more.
A few of the many books available at the fair’s Mother Earth News Bookstore
Mother Earth News contributing editor Barbara Pleasant prepares slices of disease-resistant apples for audience taste-testing.
Zach Loeksbrings permaculture gardening and design concepts to life with his unique, entertaining style.
Workshop participants try their skill at building a strawbale garden. Photo by Ron Wynn
Even with more than 150 workshops to choose from, it’s not unusual for workshops to be filled to overflowing. Photo by Ron Wynn
Claire Ornerwas one busy lady during the fair, leading four workshops as well as tending her exhibit booth along with husband Rusty.
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange‘s booth is always popular. Fair goers can sample a wide variety of tomatoes, learn about growing garlic, and purchase heirloom seeds and garlic bulbs for fall planting.
Animal-related workshops included guinea fowl, rabbits, chickens, horses, pigs, goats, cows, and alpacas. Photo by Ron Wynn
Workshops I attended but for some reason have no photographs from include a fascinating talk by fermenting maven Sandor Katz, a Jessi Bloom workshop on gardening wisdom for resiliency, and two workshops by the ever-effervescent Shawna Coronado (one on gardening hacks and another on how to garden successfully with arthritis).
You have one more chance to catch a Mother Earth News Fair event this calendar year. The next fair venue is the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka, KS, October 21-22, 2017. If you can’t make that one, don’t worry—next year’s fair season begins in February with the Belton, TX, fair, followed by the Asheville, NC, fair in April and back to Seven Springs, PA, next September. Maybe I’ll see you there.
Carole Coates is a gardener and food preservationist, family archivist, essayist, poet, photographer, modern homesteader. You can follow her Mother Earth News blog posts by following this link.You can also find Carole at Living On the Diagonal where she shares her take on life, including modern homesteading, food preparation and preservation, and travel as well random thoughts and reflections, personal essays, poetry, and photography.
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