The first annual Food and Fort Festival is scheduled to be held at Fort Roberdeau in Sinking Valley this Saturday, August 25.
The event is sponsored by the Penn State Extension Service in cooperation with the Blair County Soil Conservation District and the Fort Roberdeau Association.
Throughout the day, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., activities will include ongoing exhibits and scheduled programs related to historic and modern production of edibles in the Northeast.
The Master Gardeners will be on hand to explain gardening and to answer questions.
The fort’s garden will be used to show how the Iroquois planted and harvested their staples of corn, beans and squash. Demonstrations will contrast cooking on the hearth with modern cooking techniques.
The importance of water to food production is the subject of several programs by the Soil Conservation Service. Admission of $5 for adults and $3 for children includes tours of the fort and grounds from a foodways perspective.
A gourmet buffet will be served from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at a cost of $22 for adults and $15 for children. A program will follow at 7:30 by David Slusser, a longtime dairy farmer who will speak about his service in Armenia to improve the opportunities for the dairy industry there.
The schedule is:
11 a.m. – Start of fort tours
12:30 p.m. – A-maizing Corn
1:30 – Septic tanks, summer lawns and sinkholes
2 – Hearth cooking demonstration
2:30 – Apples to zucchini: Where does your food come from?
3 – Modern cooking demonstration
5:30 – Buffet
7 – Woods walk
7:30 – Program by David Slusser: Dairying Around the World
