Alberta Open Farm days was this past weekend (Aug 18-19th), and was a chance for farmers and producers to show what they put their heart and soul into.

There were over 100 different farms, greenhouses, wineries, breweries and distillery’s to check out all over the province.

The government of Alberta puts on the event to highlight the importance of local food, and how it is grown.

Carmen Tiemstra from Gull Valley Greenhouses provided some valuable information on their operation.  

“People always seem to be in a little bit of awe when they see all the technical things that come into play to grow something or produce something.”

Their four acre greenhouse is open most of the year, and they produce mostly tomatoes, which they have 14 types of.

“There are orange tomatoes, yellow tomatoes, even purple tomatoes! We don’t have any of the purple ones.” She said with a laugh.

Alberta Farm Days also landed on Local Food Week, which is said to be very important to the locals of our area and anyone in the province who appreciates quality food.

“It’s a good opportunity for people who don’t have a good visual understanding or idea of how tomatoes or other produce are grown to be able to come and check it out and see where their food comes from.”

Most of the time she says people don’t realize what goes into making their food.

“It’s usually a larger or grander scale than they would think.”

Alberta Farm Days went all weekend long, all across the province.