NC State Fair

NC State Fair’s “Field of Dreams” exhibit is intended for children, but Carl Tart, exhibit manager, says it’s really educational for children of all ages:

“We have a gentleman from Goldsboro, Rex Sasser, he starts around the first of August trying to have plant material for the state fair. It’s difficult as sometimes we get our first frost early, but we try to keep everything green and growing for people to see here at the fair.

 We have a good corn crop here, its tasseling right now. We are trying to grow as many commodities as we can that are grown in North Carolina and its amazing to me that the kids and the adults that have not seen a lot of these crops. This year we did add aqua-culture, which is new in this state. We have striped bass and fresh water flounder. These are some new things that we are trying to get going.
 

We also have grain sorghum. Some say it’s a substitute for corn, it’s a feed item and it’s done well for us.

We have about 40 different items growing here. That doesn’t count our flower garden. We like to grow common flowers but also a lot of unique ones.
You always hear people at the grocery store asking where does the food come from. It’s great when people come through and see the items and how they are grown. We get a lot of questions about marketing. I think they really learn what the farmer has to go through on a daily basis. One thing we try to emphasize, is that the farmer who is selling his product is concerned about the quality and safety of his product for the consumers. That is a really big issue that our farmers are taking seriously.”

Visit the ‘Field of Dreams’ exhibit at the NC State Fair at the base of Dorton Arena, now through Sunday.