'Harvesting More' the theme of 2022 Pennsylvania Farm Show

The 106th Pennsylvania Farm Show is in full swing this week as visitors and exhibitors come from across the area to see the best examples of agriculture the state has to offer. 

Steph Rider, along with her two children and their grandfather from Mechanicsburg, have made this a generational event.

“We like coming every year to see the animals; we’re here at least once every year,” Rider said. 

When she was a child, she and her father, Ron Findley, made the annual visit to the show.

“One year we were here, and I helped get a hog back into a cage after it escaped,” Findley recalled. “Those were great memories, and we're continuing to make them now with my grandchildren.” 

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For others, the farm show is a chance to let the imagination take flight and get to experience something magical — like, for instance, being in a room full of colorful butterflies. 

“It all started with me and 12 caterpillars in high school,” said Kristi Good, the woman who is responsible for bringing the beloved butterfly exhibit to fruition over a decade ago.

Good started laying the groundwork in 2005, as a high school FFA project. Little did she know the project would "morph" into what it is now years later. 

Good's father, David Folk, who works the attraction each year, reminisced on its humble beginning. “She started with $250 in our basement and raised 300 butterflies," he said. 

Good went on to compete at the National FFA Competition in 2009 and placed second in the nation and soon after began doing butterfly exhibits after hearing encouragement throughout the process of her project's potential.  

Good began attending local fairs in her hometown of Nescopeck, Pennsylvania, and approached the farm show in 2012 about bringing her exhibit to Harrisburg. 

“The first year it didn’t do very well, but it kept gaining momentum each year, and it has grown far more than I ever expected,” Good said. “We used to bring in butterflies from Florida, and this year we were able to raise all of them on our own.” 

According to Good, they will start the week with 1,200 butterflies and end with around 1,700, as the butterflies emerge from their chrysalis, which are on display. 

Once the farm show wraps up on Saturday, Good and her team begin the task of collecting the butterflies and separating them by species. 

“Once the butterflies are back home we use them for other school exhibits, and by March, we start the process again on breeding for the next show," Good said. 

During the year, Good operates Folks Butterfly Farm where they have recently built a facility to accommodate weddings, birthdays and other events all with the presence of butterflies. 

“We also have annual and perennial plant sales as well as trees that are host plants for the butterflies for people who want to come and provide a habitat for them,” Good said. Annually they raise close to 30,000 butterflies, which include monarchs, painted ladies, buckeyes, eastern black swallowtails, tiger swallowtails and many more. 

In addition to the exhibits, vendors are a large part of the farm show offering everything from western apparel, to food items and handmade goods as thousands of visitors come to the show each year. 

One of those vendors is Beth Lutz, of Spring Grove, who owns Painted Spring Farm, where she raises alpacas. 

"My whole interest with alpacas started because of the fibers," Beth said. "The farm started in 1994 with alpacas joining in 2001."

A large portion of their time at the farm show is spent educating farm show attendees about what alpacas are and about their fibers. 

“When I'm introducing people to alpacas for the first time, their favorite question is always 'do they spit'," said Beth who also serves as the 4H leader for the York County Alpaca Club. "But we really try to show the differences between llamas and alpacas." 

At their booth, Beth sells alpaca yarn fiber in a variety of colors as well as handmade goods such as sweaters and hats made by Beth and her mother, Daun Metzler.

In their free time, they welcome school groups to Painted Spring Farm as well as RV travelers.

The farm show runs daily from now until Saturday Jan.15, 2022. For more information and a schedule of events visit www.farmshow.pa.gov.