BURLINGTON, Wash.—The 2012 Country Living Expo and Cattlemen’s Winterschool, planned from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, will offer something for everyone interested in the finer points of living in rural areas, with more than 160 classes to choose from. The event will be held at Stanwood High School, 7400 272nd St. NW in Stanwood.
Classes cover a wide range of topics:
- Food-related courses include organic gardening, grinding local grains, Pacific Northwest fruit tree varieties, giant pumpkins, dried beans, smoking fish, sausage and cider making, and more.
- Practical classes teach arc welding, barn restoration, greenhouse construction, fencing, permaculture homesteading and raising such livestock as beef, sheep, goats, horses, swine, turkeys and ducks.
- More livestock courses will describe pastures, poultry processing, pastured pork, goat milking and chick embryology.
- Other information includes slug and snail control, honey bee biology, bug identification, flower arranging, fiber fun and even a women’s chainsaw class.
Early registration is available until Dec. 31. Cost is $55 per person and includes five class selections, lunch and an all-day tradeshow with more than 60 vendors. After Dec. 31, the cost is $60 per person.
Thanks to the generous sponsorship of Northwest Farm Credit Services, Snohomish County Farm Bureau, Sno/Skagit Cattlemen’s Association and others, at least the first 200 youth will receive a reduced registration rate of $10.
Details, including the day’s full schedule, a listing and description of classes, registration information and access to online registration are available at http://skagit.wsu.edu/CountryLivingExpo/.
Event sponsors, small farm vendors and nonprofits are welcome to participate in the tradeshow. For more information, contact Dave Schram at hwt@wamedes.com.
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