Fall Harvest Festival at Calypso Farm
By Jazzy Jones
Sheep and goats eating leafy greens on Sept. 13 at the Fall Harvest Festival.
The 2026 growing season has been testing Interior farmers with a late spring thaw, sudden frosts, recent bouts of rain and high energy and fuel costs. Yet they embody Alaska's resilient spirit and forge ahead to feed our community. As Farmers’ Markets pass their peak summer attendance days, there are other ways to keep the vibes fresh.
Just 20 minutes from UAF’s campus, Calypso Farm welcomed more than a thousand visitors to their hillside agri-scape.
Yellow birch leaves covered the canopy, and meandering trails led to cool happenings at every turn. Taking the tasty route, there was a delightful apple tasting booth, an apple pressing demonstration, warm cider, fresh donuts, an assortment of veggies and wood-fired flatbreads. The dark clouds held off just long enough to take in the scenery and watch the sheep, goats and chickens munch on leafy greens and run circles around each other—they seemed to be enjoying the brief sunshine too.
Fresh-picked onions from Calypso Farm.
Calypso had several other booths set up to get crafty! A beautiful pot of floral dye was being stirred, and bandannas came out in organic patterns with ochre hues. Another table had swaths of colorful wool for felting. Seed pods were being shaken through sieves under a different tent to collect the start of next year’s chives and radishes. Several jars of ink made from blueberries, marigolds and other distilled plants were made for a quick card-making activity for visitors of all ages. Wandering to the salve station should have come with a thank-your-past-self certificate because the moisturizing blend topped with a dried calendula flower will be saving a lot of dry skin this winter.
Some things are better with dry skin, though—just look at how many onion bulbs are out of the soil and ready to go from farm to table.
The farm’s seed garden looked plentiful even in these late months. A grocery store will never show the extra care it takes to raise a whole new plot of plants, separate from the rest (to better manage a healthy genetic pool) and bring them full circle through fruiting, flowering and back to seeding in a few short months.
This whole lively festival was well staffed by knowledgeable practitioners and passionate volunteers. Their dedication to food security and memorable gatherings is evident in every interaction. Only a few more harvests remain, but support for local producers is in bloom through all seasons.