5 Creek Gardens holds fall event

PLAINS – Local residents of all ages flocked to the area around Weeksville Creek for a celebration of the autumn season last weekend.

Located a few miles west of Plains on Highway 200, 5 Creek Gardens served as the host for the seasonal event, with popcorn, lemonade, old-fashioned fudge and chili available to those in attendance.

Lots of fresh produce including sweet potatoes, winter squash and Yukon potatoes were also available throughout the duration of the daylong celebration, which ran from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20.

“Seeing the excitement people have when they see produce that is grown organically and naturally is really nice,” Dana Diehl, one of the owners of Five Creek Gardens said.

A big draw for both young and older attendees was the horse-drawn carriage rides piloted by Warren Wickum of Plains.

Two well-groomed Norwegian Fjord horses provided the power for these scenic rides as Wickum guided the team of animals up Weeksville Creek Road as visitors eagerly climbed in back of the carriage for their turn on the ride.

Wickum explained the horses have been bred in the Scandinavian country, from which they derive their name for years.

He added the horses have been bred to be hardy and docile creatures suitable for farm work and able to withstand the harsh winters of their native country.

This adaptation makes the breed well suited for Montana winters.

“They are bred to be way more docile,” Wickum said.

The docility of the breed was on clear display all through the afternoon as the horses greeted the significant attention they generated amicably.

Young kids hand fed them carrots and many parents pet and took photos with the animals in-between carriage rides.

While, the horses were a big draw for young children in attendance so to were the face-painting booth and cornfields at the farmers market.

Diehl said it was great to see the mix of old and young attendees and everyone seemed to be enjoying the event.

“Today has been awesome, better than I expected,” Diehl said.

The harvest event was lucky enough to fall on a day with beautiful weather, where warm and sunny skies made it a very pleasant day to spend some time outside.

Diehl added she had a lot of assistance in organizing the event and was glad to see it all come together.

“I had a lot of help from friends and family,” Diehl said.

This year marks the first the gardens held their harvest event and their will be one more market celebration before the end of the fall season towards the end of October.

Though it was the first year of the event several vendors with a variety of homemade crafts were in attendance.

“This is the first year we started the garden and we wanted to get everyone together for a nice farmer’s market,” Diehl said.

As the afternoon turned to early evening the last carriage ride, jammed packed full of visitors, departed shortly before 4 p.m.