VITAL COMMUNITIES
Flavors of the Valley 2021: The Fun Goes Digital
Spring must be here, because it’s time for Flavors of the Valley, our annual celebration of local farms. We hope we are together next year for Flavors, tasting delicious local food and seeing old and new friends in the Hartford High School gym. In the meantime, let’s celebrate the flavors of our valley in 2021!
Throughout May we are (digitally) celebrating spring, our local farms, local food, and our local place. Join us here, on email, Facebook, and Instagram for a lot of fun and a lot of local food stories, images, information, prizes, events, and FUN. It’s the perfect way to connect with food and farms in the Upper Valley.
Our thanks to the Richardson Farm in Hartland (syrup, milk, and split rail fence!) for the beautiful rainbow photo, above.
Do you like FOOD? You might like our weekly prize drawings throughout the month of May!
In our humble opinion no celebration is complete without fun (and easy) CONTESTS, and definitely no Flavors of the Valley is complete without FOOD. How to WIN: Each Monday in May we will have two random drawings for delicious local food yums.
Food & Farm Newsletter Prize: Each week a VC food and farm fan will win a prize! If you are receiving and have opened the Food & Farm enewsletter (sign up below), you’ll automatically be on the drawing list for the Newsletter prize. May 10: Win a Cheese Trio hand-picked by our staff cheese fanatics.
Instagram Prize: What is your #flavorsofthevalley? Dive over to Instagram and let us know your favorite #flavorsofthevalley, by @ the local food business involved and using the hashtag #flavorsofthevalley and each week we’ll have a prize drawing out of all the #flavorsofthevalley posts. May 10: Win a Hogwash Farm sausage sampler in the classic Hogwash tote bag. Fun fact: Hogwash Farm has been a vendor at every single Flavors of the Valley!
Join our Community
Sign up for our Food & Farm emails! Throughout May, you’ll receive weekly “Flavors” emails full of local food stories, images, information, prizes, events, and FUN. After May you’ll receive irregular but wonderful emails through the seasons.
#flavorsofthevalley on Instagram will get you a barn-full of luscious farm photos, connections, and joy.
Vital Communities is always your Facebook guide to the Upper Valley. In May, we’ll get you set for your local food summer.
Farmers Markets
Fresh food! Friendly farmers! Fun Music! Make your farmers market plans today with our handy downloadable schedule for summer 2021.
Recipes We Recommend
Spring Salad Made From Anything
I made this colorful crunchy salad on the fly on Memorial Day when the grocery stores were closed for the holiday and my parents, siblings, and out-of [...]
Kale Pesto
I diligently planted several basil plants a few weeks ago. A few days later a crazy hail storm arrived. Afterwards, my poor basil plants were dimin [...]
Mastering Perfect Spinach
When my friend Justin opened a restaurant in Maine, I fixated on his strategy to train kitchen staff: cooks would learn the best one or two ways to pr [...]
Slow Cooker Pork Ribs
This recipe is courtesy of The Beeroness. Cook up some Stout & Sriracha Barbecue Sauce to go with these for your next dinner.
Ingredients
2 [...]
Quick Kimchi
Photo Julia A Reed.
Cabbage, cabbage, everywhere - this is the time of year for the versatile Brassica. Napa cabbage (also called celery cabbage a [...]
Zucchini Chard Cakes
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve shared this zucchini chard cake recipe with folks this summer. I was sure that as soon as I mentioned [...]
Tomato Basil Chutney
Have you ever noticed that the right condiment or sauce can transform an average dish into a great dish? That’s the case with this tomato chutney [...]
Take Stock
Stock - essentially a long-cooked infusion of bones, meat scraps, or vegetables - embodies several of my favorite qualities: thrifty, healthy, old-fas [...]
Braised Pork Chops and Turnips
It seems the sun is having a difficult time finding its way to Vermont this spring. And while I’d rather be cooking out on a grill, the perpetual dr [...]
Creamy Barley Pudding
I always loved rice pudding as a kid, especially when warm off the stove, with a splash of cold milk, some raisins thrown in and cinnamon sprinkled on [...]
Reading in the Hay Loft
The Dairy Situation in 12 Pages
All your questions about the dairy industry in Vermont answered. We recommend these short, expert summaries of the state of Dairy, Cheese, Sheep, and Goats in Vermont. These are food system briefs, written as part of the new Vermont Agriculture and Food System Strategic Plan.
Meat Processing
Our 12 pages of reading will get you up to speed on livestock production, slaughter and processing in Vermont, and a little peek into how employees, consumers, business owners, and farming methods are all influenced by global forces as well as local concerns. Read the food system briefs on eggs, grass-fed beef, meat slaughter, processing, and products, poultry, sheep, and swine.
Local Foods! Local Farms! Local Stuff!!
You’re invited to #Farm24VT!
Sit back, relax, and enjoy all the behind-the-scenes photos, videos, and stories from the Vermont farming community. #Farm24VT is set to begin at 5:00 am on May 12 and run through 5:00 am on May 13. Throughout this 24-hour period, Vermont farmers and others in the agricultural sector will be sharing photos, videos, and stories showing the passion, commitment, and hard work that goes into producing food and other farm products in Vermont. Take the pledge today! Farmers and their partners are excited to share how we love and care for the land, our animals, and our communities. #Farm24VT is a project of the Champlain Valley Farmer Coalition and the Connecticut River Watershed Farmers Alliance (our local Watershed Farmers Alliance heart emoji. It is funded in part by a generous grant from Vermont Breakfast on the Farm.
Farm Stands and Markets are Open!
The Norwich Farmers Market opens for the (outdoor) season May 1, and so does Cedar Circle Farmstand, Honey Field Farm farmstand, and Harlow Farmstand! The following roll call of all Upper Valley open farmstands is thanks to the Vital Communities Guide (search it today, tomorrow, and every day for all your local needs!) If we know a farmstand’s opening day, we’ve put it into our calendar. These farmstands have been open all winter: AlpineGlo in Westminster, Berway Farmstand in Lyme, Earthwise Farm and Forest in Bethel, Hogwash Farm in Norwich, Kiss the Cow in Barnard, Norwich Farm Creamery, On the Edge Farm in Woodstock, Porter’s Finest in Lebanon, PT Farm in North Haverhill, Robie Farm in Piermont, Sweetland Farm in Norwich, and Westlands Farm in South Royalton. Now open for the year are Crossroad Farm greenhouses in Post Mills, Edgewater Farm greenhouses in Plainfield, Floating Bridge Family Farm in Brookfield, Hemingway farmstand in Charlestown, Morning Star Perennials in Rockingham, Spring Ledge Farm in New London, and Strafford Village Farm in Strafford.
Stay Tuned for More…
Calendar of Community Farm and Food Events
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Photo Gallery
