STANWOOD — It’s not just for farmers.
The annual Country Living Expo and Cattlemen’s Winterschool is replete with information for ranchers, yes, but also for just about anybody who raises backyard chickens, has a garden or even grows tomatoes on an apartment deck.
The expo is 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 31 at Stanwood High School, 7400 272nd St. NW, home of the host group Stanwood FFA — one of the best farm and trades student organizations in the state.
The event includes more than 185 workshops and classes in skills such as cheesemaking and beekeeping as well as agribusiness, landscape design and small-scale solar power. It also includes a trade show with more than 65 vendors.
Keynote speaker Temple Grandin, Colorado State University animal sciences professor and a world-renowned authority on animal behavior and livestock facilities, plans to talk about her work with cattle and her desire that animals are treated well.
Joan DeVries, with Washington State University’s extension programs in Snohomish, Island and Skagit counties, said she is encouraging people without agriculture backgrounds to attend the expo.
“Our program has grown to include not only rural farmers and cattle producers but also homeowners, backyard farmers and urban apartment dwellers,” DeVries said. “Many people in the area are making the decision to grow and harvest their own fresh, healthy food.”
To register and to take a look at the intriguing list of classes offered, go to skagit.wsu.edu/CountryLivingExpo.
Registration is $70 for adults and $40 for youths and includes coffee and breakfast pastries, a choice of prime rib or vegetarian lunch and five classes. Some classes have a materials fee, but there is no charge to attend the trade show.
Classes include improving the fertility of your soil, raising rabbits for meat, adding a water feature to your landscape and edible wild plants, wool spinning, chain saws, greenhouses, livestock fencing, smoking fish, growing dahlias, raising hogs, meat cutting, selecting hay, Scandinavian cookies, saddle fitting, canning, hop growing and arc welding.
On Feb. 1, tours to either a beef farm or an Arabian horse farm will be available to expo attendees for $10 a family.
Hosted by the Stanwood FFA, the Country Living Expo and Cattlemen’s Winterschool is presented by WSU Extension, Livestock Master Foundation, Tri-County Cattlemen’s Association, WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources and U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program.
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