Ron Muzzall was still recovering Monday from an unprecedented weekend of nonstop activity and simmering weather.

The Muzzall Family opened up its 3 Sisters Family Farm in Oak Harbor to the public Saturday and watched in astonishment as 2,408  attended their Farm Day event.

Then, temperatures that approached 90 degrees sapped even more energy on Sunday.

“Everyone is still kind of sitting around here with tired looks on their faces,” Muzzall said Monday.

The Farm Day visitor count was a pleasant surprise for the Muzzalls, more than doubling attendance during a similar event five years ago, when the family farm celebrated its centennial.

“By far this is the biggest crowd we’ve ever had,” Ron Muzzall said.

In fact, Muzzall is certain that it’s the largest gathering of people at the farm since his great-grandparents started it 105 years ago.

“One hundred years ago, the only way you got 2,400 people together is if you had everybody on the island,” he said. “In 1915, there were about 2,500 people on the island, period.

“This was beyond our expectations.”

Farm Day was intended to educate the public about how a family-run farm business operates during modern times. Since it is a working farm, it is closed to the public except during special events or scheduled tours.

Ron, his wife Shelly and their three daughters Jennifer, Jessica and Roshel, who inspired the business name, were on hand Saturday, teaming up with volunteers to help make visitors feel at home.

Information booths geared toward agriculture and conservation were set up on the property while food and refreshments were available from mobile vendors.

A barbecue lunch featuring hamburgers made from 3 Sisters beef was catered by Coupeville’s Serendipity Catering. Visitors sat on hay bales while eating their lunch.

People stood in long lines to wait for trolley rides provided by Coupeville squash farmer Dale Sherman, a longtime family friend who gave visitors a chance to see more animals as well as the farm’s greater landscape.

The Muzzalls farm has about 600 acres in North and Central Whidbey with the heart of the farm centered on 113 acres on Scenic Heights Road that overlooks Penn Cove.

Two years ago, the family worked with the Whidbey Camano Land Trust to permanently protect their farm through a conservation easement. That means the land will remain undeveloped and be available for farming for future generations.

A former dairy farm, 3 Sisters Family Farm sold off the last of its milk cows in 2006 and put its entire focus on marketing the beef, pork, lamb and eggs to the local community.

The family business prides itself on raising the cattle, hogs, lambs and chickens on their vast farmland, feeding them with the grasses and barley they grow on their property.

To help meet demand and make purchasing more convenient, 3 Sisters Market was opened along Highway 20 in San de Fuca in 2012.

Ron Muzzall said his family’s business is unique in that the family’s sole income comes from farming.

“Less than one percent of Americans make their whole income from production agriculture,” he said. “That’s why it’s so important to get people out to the farm to get them to see that.”

Muzzall said it was also important to have the mobile slaughtering truck onsite for the public to view if they were interested, though it was only there for display purposes.

A large number of inquisitive people peered into the back of the truck to get a look for themselves and many children walked inside. A representative with Island Grown Farmers Cooperative fielded questions about the butchering process, as did Jennifer Muzzall-Jones, a fifth generation farmer.

Other visitors wanted nothing to do with getting close to the truck.

“What I was amazed with was the parents who brought their kids there said, ‘We want them to know it all,’ ” Ron Muzzall said.

“That’s so much of what we’ve lost in agriculture. The only connection 99 percent of people have is through the grocery store what’s sitting on a styrofoam tray. And we wonder why people have such a disconnect with agriculture.”

A larger connection was made Saturday as farmers became tour guides, teachers and gracious hosts.

At one point, a large pasture used for parking vehicles nearly reached capacity.

Someone joked to Ron Muzzall that it looked like “they were having a rock concert” on their farm.

Jessica Muzzall, who manages the store, said that she was told by many visitors that they appreciated the opportunity to see the farm and where food comes from.

“The reason why it was so valuable to us was so people could see the other side the farm,” she said.

They even held a drawing with the winner receiving a free side of beef. That winner was Sarah Reinstra.

Now, the Muzzalls can get back to the business of tending to the hundreds of cattle, hogs, lambs and chickens that roam their fields and the grasses they grow that feed them.

“I’m still kind of recovering,” Jessica Muzzall said Monday.

“It still hasn’t hit me yet. It was amazing.”