Carson Valley Meats hosts holiday faire

Carson Valley Meats is conducting an Ag and Artisan Holiday Faire 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Storke Dairy, 876 C Centerville Lane, Gardnerville.

The event features exhibits and demonstrations from Douglas County 4-H, Grange and FFA students including horsemanship, poultry, cattle, sheep and beehives as well as an exhibit of antique farm implements found on the property during renovations.

“We see this event as a way to reconnect with the heritage of Carson Valley, and to provide our artisans and our students a forum to showcase their skills,” owner Karin Sinclair said. “This valley came to be because the original families who settled here saw the value in raising cattle for milk and for food. As a country, we’ve lost our connection with the land as the source of our food.”

Local artisans will have hand-crafted items for sale, including pottery, turned wood, fine arts paintings, photography, jewelry, handmade breads and local honey, home décor and more. KING of Kings taco truck will be available for food purchases, and snacks and beer donated by Alibi Aleworks will be sold to benefit ag education in Douglas County.

Reno Local Food Group’s head pastry chef Katie Bennett will discuss bread baking and culinary careers at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Beekeeping discussions, whipped honey tastings and giveaways, horticulture basket giveaways are noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

The 4-H Horsemanship Club demonstrations are 1-3 p.m.

Information can be found at www.carsonvalleymeats.com.

The Ag & Artisan Holiday Faire is sponsored by Carson Valley Meats, located at the old dairy.

Sinclair purchased the former dairy in 2020 and has been renovating the property ever since. Over the past 18 months, Sinclair and her team have cleaned out the slough, repaired fences and cleaned and renewed the buildings. The pastures hold cattle and sheep, and the chicken yard is full of laying hens.

“It was important to me to reclaim the property as a working ranch,” she said. “The barns, outbuildings and the property in general have only been used as a storage facility for all kinds of stuff from abandoned vehicles to heavy equipment for decades. We are now raising animals and cutting our own hay.”

The Carson Valley at one time was full of dairies. The Minden Butter Manufacturing Company, established in 1908 by area ranchers to process Carson Valley agricultural products, especially butter, was one of the Valley’s primary industries in its heyday. The façade for that building is now part of the Bently Heritage Distillery in Minden.