By Teresa Carey…
The Percy Family & Their Friendly Dog
Get your tickets now for the first annual DIY Homesteader Festival, to be held at Nourished Roots family farm, located one mile south and one mile west of the town of Fraserwood.
This is a brand new festival for the Interlake. It is being put on by Adrienne and Trevor Percy, who just moved to Fraserwood last year with their two children, eight-year-old Noah and five-year-old Hannah.
The family had purchased the old homestead and moved there from Winnipeg, but Adrienne had grown up on a farm near Riverton so, really, she has come back home.
Adrienne and the family are thrilled with the huge amount of space their large acreage affords.
“This is true homesteading territory,” she said. “It is a hotbed of people who are doing modern homesteading.”
During her time away, Adrienne has worked in the communications industry, and has written many agriculture articles. At the same time, she has spent years attending a wide range of interesting do-it-yourself (DIY) workshops–all while on a journey to rediscover a healthy and wholesome lifestyle that seems to have become lost in our modern age.
“My kids really fueled that,” she said. “When you have kids, you want them to be well fed and as healthy as they can be…I remember being a little bit lost when we started out on this journey.”
“People are looking to reconnect but do not know where to start…It is a recognition that we haven’t just lost the skills, we lost the sense of community that came along with living close to the land and helping our neighbours.”
Some of the people Adrienne has met on this journey will be facilitating some of the workshops at the festival.
“These people are just so willing to share their information,” she said.
A total of 22 workshops will be happening throughout the day. Festival-goers will have to register for them in advance. It is possible to fit in four workshops during the day.
Some of the topics are on bee keeping, building a chicken coop, raising goats, composting toilets and solar energy, fermentation basics, cooking with dandelions, herbal first aide, hand crafted herbal teas and soap making.
There will also be a children’s area, with workshops and booths designed specifically for them. They are guaranteed to be both fun and educational.
Musical entertainment by two members of the country folk band, “Oh My Darling,” will take place over the lunch hour. A fiddle contest for age five to 18-year-olds, with a $100.00 pot for the winner, is also featured. Lunch is to be provided by Integrity Foods of Riverton.
All of this, with the exception of lunch, is included in the $40.00 admission price.
This will be a ‘green festival’. Attendees are asked to bring their own drinking vessels, and pick up after themselves. Glass containers will not be allowed on the site for safety reasons.
“The festival is really a way for us to introduce ourselves to people,” said Adrienne. “We did this just on faith. What we found is the grassroots support has been just amazing,”
The festival is being sponsored by the East Interlake Conservation District (EICD), Gimli; Adagio Acres, Lundar; La Finca, Starbuck; Lil’ B’s Restaurant, Riverton; Sage Garden Herbs, Winnipeg; Daphne Shepherd, Remax, Teulon; Prairie Grass Fed Meats, Arborg; Easy Hand Milker; Noventis Credit Union, Gimli; and Piney Fine Water, Piney.
In addition, a grant was received from Manitoba Alternative Food Research Alliance (MAFRA).
About two-thirds of the 300 tickets have already been sold. Tickets should be purchased in advanced in order to reserve one’s space in the workshops. However, it will still be possible to call the day of the festival and find out if any spots remain.
Contact Adrienne or Trevor by phone at 204.643.5412, or email them at hello@nourishedroots.ca. You can also visit their website for more information, at www.homesteaderfest.ca.
