By STEVEN CALHOUN/Staff Writer

The annual Farm, Home and Wildlife Expo is this Saturday, August 6th from 12-5p.m. at the Chilton Research and Extension Center in Clanton. The Expo will feature around 60 different activities related to gardening, farming, cooking, wildlife management, and gun safety.

The annual event is a good way for anyone interested in eating, cooking, or gardening to spend the day. There will be samples of fruit dishes including muscadine hull cobbler, blackberry lemonade, and a variety of fruit ice creams. All these will be made from the over 100 fruit varieties grown at the CREC.

Gary Gray of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System has worked the event for years. “There is more to do than you have time to get to,” said Gary. “My personal favorite is the fruit tasting. We grow over 200 varieties of peaches alone, and people will get the chance to taste the ones that are in season now, along with apples, figs, grapes, pears, and watermelons.”

Not only will people get to taste the wide variety of fruits grown at the CREC, but they will also get to make crafts at the leaf and flower pounding station, see a working dog demonstration, explore firecracker art, and see a working beehive.

For those interested in cooking, there will be stations teaching stir-fry techniques, Jamaican cooking techniques, and how to make award-winning apple pies.

For those interested in growing their own products, there will be stations such as the Pomegranate Growers Association, Tomato Talk, Medicinal Plant Group, Kiwifruit and Sheltered Blackberry Production, and the Beginner Farmer Workshop.

For more information about the Expo, see the Chilton Research and Extension Center page on Facebook or call (205)646-3610.