Scenes of Vermont Blog

Copyright 2006 Andy Richards

The nights are suddenly cool, the days sunny and crisp.  Corn and beans are turning yellow-brown in the fields.  While the trees are still mostly green, leaves are falling in my yard, and around the “stressed” fringes, there is “Fall foliage.”  The air has that fresh, but slightly musky, “Fall” smell to it.  Farmers in cash-crop-land are knee-deep in the harvest.  Fall is here, and with it, Fall, photography! This is just the kind of weather that gets my “photographic juices” flowing.  And there can be no better place to flex your photographic “muscles” than Vermont!

This is the time of the year that people flock to New England.  Its also the time of the year that the foliage sites and bloggers get busy, and the nightly newscasters  include foliage conditions in their reportage.

For my entire life, September-October has been my favorite time of the year.  On my own LightCentric Photography Blog, my current topic is gearing up for fall photography, and speaks of how I plan for a trip, “dust off the gear,” and some tips for Fall photography travel.  It also contains some of my favorite examples of unique fall photographs.  There are also some great Vermont Photography tips from renowned photographer, Arnold John Kaplan on the SOV photography forum.  Some of Arnold’s famous Vermont Photography can be seen on the new Kaplan Gallery and on his own section of the photos page of Foliage Vermont.

Copyright 2006 Andy Richards

4 years ago, in 2005, I came to the Foliage Vermont site, looking for accurate, up to date information about conditions in Vermont. I was delighted to discover not only a number of “in-the-know” resident individuals, but several fellow photographers, who shared quest for knowledge of conditions and places.  In the years that followed my late-summer registration on the forum, Foliage Vermont’s owner has graciously hosted a Vermont photography forum as well.  There, you can find a number of permanent threads dealing with great photographic locations in Vermont, as well as discussion, tips and general conversation about photography in general.

Maple trees, mountains, mountain streams, lakes and waterfalls abound throughout the state, making it truly one of nature’s great natural photographic studios.  Quaint, New England Villages with white church steeples and town meeting halls; pastoral farm scenes; and numerous covered bridges make great photographic subjects of man’s interaction with nature.

October will soon be here and with it, arguably the best time and place to be outdoors with camera in hand–Vermont in its Fall splendor.

My Favorite Autumn Tree, Peacham, VT Photo by CTYanky

Stop. Look. Listen.

Our Glorious Season Is About to Unfold! 

As I gaze upon this tree in its full autumn glory, my heart can’t help but skip a beat. Fall is around the corner. Visual snapshots of the season race before me. Dazzling leaves of red, orange and gold, autumn canopies over winding back roads, and colorful, misshapen gourds stacked like mountains at the farm stand. Fields of towering haystacks and scrambled corn mazes. Rustling leaves twirling down the sidewalk – a sandstorm of flickering colors.

Harvest fairs and foliage festivals, hay rides to apple orchards and pumpkin patches. Hot cider with sticks of cinnamon served with warm cider doughnuts and apple fritters. Colorful mums cascading down my front stoop with Indian corn, a fall wreath and dried corn stalks at its entry.

Clear, cool nights and warm, sparkling, crisp days. Heavenly smoke from fireplaces and wood stoves saturating the air on an evening stroll. The first hard frost. Scarecrows on the town green, Halloween and October’s Harvest Moon. Vermont.

If I close my eyes, I can just smell the autumn air laden with a bouquet of fermenting earth and fallen leaves. Ahhhhh, that musky aroma of the season; invigorating and nostalgic. With all my senses, I savor this delicious season most of all. Its evocative smells and visual delights challenge New England’s remaining three.

Memories of my childhood come flooding back. I am jumping in piles of leaves in the front yard with my siblings, lying in the middle, looking up at the deep blue autumn sky in silence. My Dad is burning leaves in the stone fireplace pit behind my house. The wood chopping and stacking have begun. Our faithful wood stove stands sentinel, waiting to provide warmth to our home and to our souls.

Last year about this time, I came home to find a single, red maple leaf lying on my door mat! I stood in awe for a moment and sheepishly looked around. Did someone put this leaf here to play a joke on me knowing that I am a lover of fall? Or better yet, was this a personal gift from Mother Nature herself? Did she cause this solitary leaf to slowly drift down from the tree to land on my porch, a sign intended for me and me alone?

It dared me to squeal in delight like a child who had just discovered a hidden treasure in the woods! I cradled this tiny leaf, my precious harbinger of fall, and proudly stuck it in my foliage wreath. Oh, how it stood out like a shining star amongst the rest! It welcomed me for days to come…

Then, the smile of contentment appeared. That yearly “aura of autumnal glow” had begun to take form. My favorite season cometh…

Keep your eyes peeled upward and look around you. Hints of the season are here. The days are shortening, an occasional flock of geese is flying overhead, honking as if to herald in the change, the crowns of trees are dulling, a single cluster of leaves that has turned in color catches your eye as if to tease you. A sudden chill in the air has warranted a sweater or jacket. Squirrels are scurrying about in the search for their coveted acorns.

The subtle signs of fall have arrived. Mother Nature has begun her master plan: ‘Awesome Autumn’ will soon take center stage.

How has this magical season captured my heart in such a way? The secret is locked within. Perhaps someday, I will share this story with you. In the meantime, I’ll admit the obvious. I will always be in love with fall.

Mother Nature, you can open the curtains. I am waiting for you in the front row.

My favorite quote:

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedding to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns

. ~ George Elliot

As I study all things Vermont, I am constantly amazed at this geographically tiny little state’s ability to produce big and truly unique phenomena.  Up in quiet little Derby Line, The Haskell Free Library Straddles the United States and Canadian Border.  Yup.  Straddles.

With its classic Vermont “Windsor Chairs” and hardwood floors, the Haskell Free Library and Opera House was built in 1904 by American sawmill owner Carlos Haskell and his Canadian wife, Martha Stewart Haskell.  In a saner, safer time, their intent was to benefit both border communities.  The front door of the library is in Derby Line, Vermont.  The parking lot is Stanstead, Canada.

There is actually a black line painted on the floor which marks the international boundary.  Thus, if you enter the library through the main entrance, you would be, as expected, standing in Derby Line, Vermont.  But walk to the desk to check out a book and you are now in Stanstead, Canada!  The stacks are all in Canada so I guess you have to emigrate (temporarily) to browse and check out books.  And, there is a recently renovated Theatre upstairs from which viewers can sit in the U.S. and watch the performance on the Canadian stage.

Sound like a really cool, fun experience?  It does to me.

Traditionally, Canadian citizens were allowed to walk across the border on Church Street to enter the front door of the library, and U.S. residents have driven to the Canadian parking lot without the need to clear customs if they were going to the library.  In a post 911 era, however, this has changed, making a quaint and neighborly custom and a very unique venue much less accessible to its resident-patrons. In the works is heightened security plans, which will probably include customs for pedestrians.   The exigencies of the day may well someday mean separate entrances and separate parking lots.

I resent watching our world rapidly deteriorate because a few extreme unbalanced persons resort to gratuitous violence which they wrongly justify as a means to an end.  As a younger person, I used to love to fly.  Now I rue flying–because of the hassle, restrictions, and general unfriendliness of the process (don’t get me wrong.  I appreciate the need for, and support the TSA officials in what is an obviously stressful and difficult job.  I just resent that it has been made necessary by those few who have commandeered our freedom).  I have spent the majority of my life in two significant border states (Michigan and Vermont) and in more nostalgic times, crossing into Canada was and easy and friendly affair.  We have always been friendly neighbors and allies.  Today, it is simply a monumental hassle!  Sad.  And just wrong.

Under current customs law, a patron may cross the border in a building without reporting to customs (though, presumably, if they exit the building in a country different from where the entered it, they would be obligated to report).  This is similar to crossing into Canadian waters from the U.S. or vice versa.  In a recent sailing trip into Canada, we were boarded by the Canadian Customs Service for a “spot inspection.”  They were very polite and spoke with us at length about the rules.  According to them, you must report to customs the moment you either drop anchor in Canadian waters or dock in a Canadian Port.  However, while these experiences were traditionally more known for their courtesy, they have become more stressful as world tensions have built.

This very unique situation raises many more questions for the numerous communities that border these neighboring countries from Washington to Maine.  Just a few miles west of Derby Line, for example, the town of Beebe Plain, itself, straddles the border of the two nations!  Canusa Avenue goes East and West on the U.S. Canadian Border.  Residents on the South side of the street are in the United States, while just across the centerline to the North, the residents are Canadian.  Presumably, if you walk across Canusa Street to visit a neighbor, you have illegally entered another country (indeed an Article in the Seattle Times a couple of years ago asserted that a person could be prosecuted for crossing the street).  Think about that.  If your children play together, ride bikes, play ball, etc? Wow.

I wonder, will residents of Derby Line someday soon have to produce their Passport along with their library card in order to check out books?  I long for simpler, friendlier times, but fear that my longing is but an unrealistic ideal.  Every time I research and write about something like this, I add to my list of “must visit” places in Vermont.  I will carry my Passport with me on my next trip, no matter how I travel to Vermont, in hopes of being one who has had the unique experience of crossing the border into our friendly neighbor, while inside a building.

Vermont - Dairy State

I thought it would be appropriate to follow CTinVT’s “Running of The Heifers” Blog with a look at the industry that no-doubt is responsible for that frolic.  An internet search will consistently rank Dairy Farming among Vermont’s dominant industries.  Many of Vermont’s dairy farmers also produce what is arguably Vermont’s second most important agricultural commodity (see “Its Sugaring”, blog archive, March).

My own personal connection to Vermont began with my Aunt meeting a Vermont farmer on a mission trip both thousands of miles from home.  He was from Vermont; she was from Bay City, Michigan, a contiguous community to my home city, Saginaw, Michigan, and the Vermont-Michigan connection between our families was born.  For 8 summers, I went to Vermont the day afer school was out, often returning to Michigan only days before school resumed in the Fall.  I spent those years on my Aunt and Uncle’s dairy farm in Franklin County, Vermont.  Our daily routine began early each morning as one of us would go out into one of the pastures, round up the herd, and bring them in to the barn for milking.  Afterward, we would turn them out to pasture again, for the day.  After cleaning up after them, we would usually spend the days preparing for and bringing in baled hay or chopped grass silage.  Rainy days and times between crops were busy with trimming along the fence lines, weeding, repairing fences, painting and whitewashing barns, maintaining equipment, cutting and piling firewood for firing the arch during sugaring.  There was always something to do and the days were busy.  My memories of those days are fond.

Vermont was not always dominated by dairy farming.  Vermont’s early farmers raised Merino Sheep. However, dairy farming eventually overtook sheep farming as the demand for wool dropped and the production of milk proved more profitable.  When I graduated from Law School in 1984, I traveled back to Vermont to interview with several law firms.  I was consistently treated courteously, but there just wasn’t a high demand.  One interviewing lawyer’s comment that Vermont was a state where cattle outnumbered people by a significant proportion, that until cows started paying legal fees it was going to be difficult for young people to find jobs in the legal profession in Vermont.  Whether or not that was good advice, it has always remained in my memory.

In spite of its dominance in Vermont’s economy, the number of Vermont dairy farms has inexorably decreased over the past 50 years.  In 1947 there were11,206 dairy farms in the state. Today there are fewer than 1,500.   But as science marches on.  The total amount of milk produced by Vermont farms has nearly doubled in that same period!

Vermont is the largest milk producer in the New England states, producing over half of New England’s total milk production, and 4 – 5 times the production of each of its neighboring states. Vermont dairy farmers export over 90% of their milk, mostly to Southern New England’s population centers.

In 2001, Vermont was home to 153,000 dairy cows.  The most common breed is the familiar, black and white Holstein.  My uncle, in the years I was there, had one of only a handful of registered Guernsey Cattle herds in Vermont [link to Guernsey Breed].  Today, they milk Holsteins.  My Uncle was raised on a Centennial Farm in Bakersfield, Vermont, which his brother owned and operated (my uncle bought his own farm).  The milked the Jersey Breed there.  I worked there for two years, before returning to colleged.  The centennial farm had an interesting quirk that basically guaranteed that they would milk Jerseys, which are a physically smaller breed.  The centennial barn was not built to accommodate the much larger Holstein breed.  The barn is still there today, and the owner milks Jerseys.

There are at least 6 dairy Cattle Breeds in Vermont, including it own unique-to-Vermont even has its own unique breed of Cattle –the Randall Lineback breed.

The most numerous and common dairy cow in the United States is the Holstein.  The U.S. Registered Holstein Association’s National Headquarters are in Brattleboro, Vermont (the venue for the Heifer Parade.  You had to know I would get there sooner or later).

The first Holstein-Friesian Association office was actually in Iowa City, Iowa, the home of the first Secretary, Thomas B. Wales from 1885 to 1894. In 1894, F.L. Houghton, the second Holstein-Friesian Secretary, set-up office at his home farm in Putney, Vermont.  In 1903,the association offices were relocated to Brattleboro.  In 1917, the association built the building that currently houses its offices as built.  There are 3 persons with the last name “Holstein” listed in whitepages.com for Vermont.  There are no cities in Vermont named “Holstein.”

Like all varieties of farming today, Dairy Farming has become a sophisticated, high-tech business.  My former employer reminisces about how many cows he could milk by hand in an hour, while today’s dairyman often stands in a pit at “udder-level” (a “milking parlor”) and watches the milking machines drop off automatically when the cow is done.  Feeding is often computerized and feeds are mixed to scientific proportions.  Milk is piped into a bulk tank through shiny stainless piping.

Strolling of the Heifers: Brattleboro, Vermont June 2009

A Fun-Filled Family Summer Event – A Venue To Raise Consciousness for Vermont’s Struggling Dairy Farms

Strolling of the Heifers Parade, Brattleboro, VT, June 2009: Photo, Carol Smith

Another picture-perfect day for the Strolling of the Heifers Parade, June 6, 2009. Nary a cloud in the sky and 70 degree temperatures under azure-blue California-like skies, brought throngs of parade goers to watch the beautiful heifers strut their stuff down Main Street.

To the delight of the crowd of over 40,000, bands, floats, clowns, antique tractors and bagpipers joined the lovely bovines. Smiles, laughter and excitement unfolded for adults and children alike, as they stood or sat four and five deep from the curb to clap and cheer on the marchers and animals. It was a day made in heaven!

Strolling Bovine by Carol Smith

Agricultural parades are few and far between these days and Vermont has certainly cornered the prize on this showcase of cows, farm animals and Vermont’s future farmers. If you have not yet had a chance to attend the Strolling of the Heifers Parade, plan on June, 2010. It will capture your heart!

But there is more to this “cow parade” than meets the eye. More than the razzle and dazzle of decorated heifers. The goal of the festival aims to raise funds for Vermont’s agricultural programs, as well as bring attention to the struggling dairy industry in the state. “More than 30 Vermont dairy farms have gone out of business since January, thanks to the lowest dairy prices and the highest production costs in years.” (Rutland Herald, June 7, 2009).

This issue should give one pause. Have you ever asked yourself what our lives might be like without our dairy farms? The thought of it not only alarms me but saddens me. Next time you pick up your gallon of milk, reflect on how really low the price is for such a delicious and nutritious component of our diet. And, while you are putting your dairy products into your cart, take a moment and think of the intensive labor that goes into the care and maintenance of dairy cows along with the wee morning and late evening hours of milking. Rather than raise an eyebrow when milk prices increase, keep our struggling dairy farms and farmers in mind and, in the alternative, contribute to or support the funds, grants and efforts that sustain them.

A very timely article appeared in the Boston Globe on Sunday, June 28, 2009, which highlighted this very topic. It focused on the fight for survival of Vermont’s organic milk producers. It is certainly worth a read and I have linked it here. It features Kimball Brook Farm in North Ferrisburg.

 http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2009/06/28/vermont_farmers_struggle_as_demand_sours_for_organic_milk/

Black Beauty by Carol Smith

I have also saved a very powerful op ed piece written on March 5, 2009 in the Burlington Free Press, by Beth Kennett, who owns Liberty Hill Farm in Rochester with husband Rob. In her “My Turn” essay entitled “Nation Must Stand Behind Farms“.  Mrs. Kennett states, “Farm milk prices are collapsing rapidly. Based upon dairy commodity prices falling record amounts, the nation’s dairy farmers will soon be receiving the same milk price they received 30 years ago. An average-size farm milking 110 cows, like the one my family operates in Vermont, will see its marketplace annual revenue fall more than $95,000. That is a 20 percent reduction in our income. This does not leave enough money to pay daily operating expenses for the farm and our family.”

…”Supporting small businesses, like dairy farms, is one of the best ways to help the entire economy. Each dairy cow generates about $13,000 in economic activity from the farm, through the processing facility, to the consumer. Every nine cows support one job in the economy. There are 65,000 dairy farms in this country milking over 9 million cows. That’s over $117 billion in economic activity and over a million jobs. In Vermont, the dairy economy contributes over $2 billion and is a key employer in the state.”

She continues, “We are losing the future of agriculture because of the financial instability of our farms.” In her conclusion, and very poignantly stated, she says “Vermont lost 11 farms in January. If nothing is done, we stand to lose not only the dairy industry in Vermont, but an essential part of the American way of life. This would be a tragedy for farmers, rural communities, consumers and the country as a whole.”

And here’s  my two cents:

The disappearance of our dairy farms would be a national disgrace.

“Drink Milk”

“Support Our Dairy Farms and Farmers”

Dazzling Dairy Cow by CTinVT

On a lighter note, have a “MOOVELOUS” summer and a very Happy Fourth of July! I will be back blogging in September for the grandest season of all! Andy, my co-blogger, will entertain you this summer in his usual thorough and entertaining style. I will be traveling around my own great state of Connecticut, and in my spare time, cooking up some exciting ideas for Vermont’s Autumn splendor.

My sincere thanks to Carol Smith for her beautiful photos of the heifer parade which have appeared in this piece. I am grateful to her for her willingness to contribute to the Scenes of Vermont Blog with her stellar photos once again.

 MOO!  I’ll be back SOON!

Vermont has had, no doubt, its share of talented and famous photographers, including such notables as Richard W. Brown and David Middleton.  Though not a Vermonter himself, one special member of this group, however is Arnold John Kaplan.

Those of you who know me are aware that nature still photography is something I feel passionately about.  In Summer, 2005, I planned an October trip to Vermont to re-connect with this magical place where I had spent much of my youth.  As a serious photographer, I come at the process of planning a trip differently than others.  On a pure photography trip, I plan to be up long before the sun rises, and often will not eat dinner and quit for the night until long after it sets.  My quest is to find “photogenic” places and I am often looking for a certain “iconic” scene or scene type to photograph.

The internet is an amazing place.  Not long ago, our research would have been relegated to the library, the bookstore, and word of mouth.  With the internet we can find things we never would have found.  Using the popular “Google” search engine with phrases like “Vermont Photography” ultimately bore fruit.  I found a Yellow Book by a New England photographer named Arnold John Kaplan, entitled “How To Find (And Photograph) the Photo- Scenics in Vermont.”  The write up on the website promised detailed directions to “iconic” scenes of Vermont Villages, Churches, and Farms.  It looked promising, and at $16.95, was certainly worth a look.  The website is not an Amazon Bookstore experience.  Rather, in his unassuming way, Arnold gives out his personal e-mail address with instructions on how to contact him.  He then responds with an address, instructions for payment.   In quick time, my “book” arrived.

To call it a “book” may–at first glance–seem a stretch.  It is more of a booklet, inexpensively printed, with black and white illustrations. But oh, the content!

I own many expensive, slick printed books replete with the author’s own beautiful photos.  Arnold’s book is not in any way self-promoting or aggrandizing.  Rather, it is as advertised–an extremely useful guidebook for the photographer in serious pursuit of great photographic locations.  Arnold gives directions to the site and how to get to the spot to get the photograph, as well as local knowledge and best times of day.  It is a planning tool any photographer planning a trip to Vermont should have.

There was a problem, however.  As I have alluded to in my own freely downloadable PDF guide to “Photographing Vermont,” Nature, and conditions are ever-changing.  Arnold’s guide was first published in 1978.   30 years later, many of the locations he described have become more of a challenge to shoot because of the new growth trees, urban sprawl (some might say blight) and other conditions.  Some have simply become no longer viable.  For reasons now inexplicable to me, I was unable to maintain communication with Arnold, to give him the information from my visits to some of his locations.  What started as my own notes, ultimately became my PDF Guide (which wasn’t intended to supplant Arnold’s book in any way).  I lost contact with Arnold, and judging from his photo on the original book, he wasn’t as “young” as I.  I wondered if he was still with us.

Recently, through the intercession of one of our regulars on the SOV Foliage and Photography Forums, Arnold and I were put in touch.  At 93 years young, I am happy to report that he is still actively photographing Vermont!  He is in the process of another update of his book which will include some interesting new additions and should be at or near the same price.

Arnold John Kaplan began traveling to Vermont to find and photograph the scenics in the 1970s.  His passion to share how and where to capture the photos made him the hero of many photographers, amateur and professional alike.  Born in 1916, by the 1950’s, Arnold was a well-known advanced amateur and part time professional photographer.  A member of the Photographic Society of America, he received honors from the Photographic Society and the Federation Internationale de la Photographique of Europe for his contributions and his photographic images.  In the 1970s, he began giving workshops on creative photography, and in 1978, opened Cape Cod’s first photography school.  Though I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting him, I am told by those who have that Arnold is a gentle, enthusiastic person who was born to teach and share his talents.  More about Arnold and examples of his photographic images can be viewed at Foliage Vermont’s page dedicated to Arnold’s works and on Arnold’s own website.

Other than direct sales through his website, Arnold only sells his book in one location — fittingly, in Vermont, at the Yankee Book Shop in Woodstock Vermont.  Arnold notes that “the Information Center in the Village Green in Woodstock Vermont has had a copy of my book for the past 30 years and use it when people ask them where to find the photo-Scenics.”

Arnold tells me that as a result of his Vermont Photography Book, he has made friends all over the world!  One touchingly funny anecdote Arnold told me recently:  A couple years back, he was approaching one of his famous Vermont Photo Scenic locations with his camera gear and another photographer shouted across the road to him, “do you have Kaplan’s Book? ”  To which, Arnold replied, “No.  I am Kaplan!”

Arnold has recently visited the SOV forums and will be joining us there.  Watch for an announcement for something special from Arnold soon.

Farmer’s Markets and Farm Stands:

Connecting with Vermont’s Farmers While Supporting the Local Economy

Waitsfield Farmer's Market

One of the most enjoyable aspects of my Vermont excursions is to visit the state’s numerous farmer’s markets and farm stands. Although mid-May typically begins the official “season” and continues well into the heart of October’s razzle and dazzle of color, many farmer’s markets now operate throughout the winter months (indoors of course!). As the seasons turn, so do the selections. In the summer months, you can pick from locally grown vegetables, fruits, cheeses, flowers, baked goods, meats from local herds, maple syrup, flowers, breads, hand-crafted jewelry, crafts, wines and more. As autumn approaches, apples, jams, pumpkins, gourds, mums and Indian corn make their grand entry and enhance this bountiful display! To coin a favorite phrase of mine, another “feast for the eyes”, not to mention the palate!

As more people become concerned about the quality of their food, the trend towards visiting markets and stands has increased substantially over the years. Moreover, supporting local farmers is paramount. The “Buy Local” movement is gaining in popularity and everyone benefits: sellers and buyers alike. “As of the 2008 season, there were 64 farmer’s markets throughout Vermont. In addition, there are 11 winter farmer’s markets in the 2008-2009 season.” (NOFA – Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont).

Last fall, 2008, I happened across the Waitsfield Farmer’s Market. What a find!!! Not only was the day picture-perfect, the sights, smells and sounds of Vermont enveloped me in every “sense” of the word. The scene goes like this: A blazing autumn backdrop, a jazz band echoing against the hillside, cascades of perfectly arranged colorful goods and wares, tantalizing smells of delectable edibles from local vendors and restaurants and a crowd of joyful folks and frolicking pets as your constant companions. What more can you ask for on a sparkling fall day? The Waitsfield Farmer’s Market was surely a memorable event and one of the finest in the state.

http://www.waitsfieldfarmersmarket.com/ (If you click on entertainment, you can see who is performing now through October 24^th, 2009).

If you happen to miss the scheduled farmer’s market, perhaps you can visit the many farm stands that are open almost every day during the summer and fall months. For me, farm stands are more personal in nature. Away from the pleasant hubbub, crowds and fanfare of the farmer’s markets, you now have a one-on-one opportunity to connect with the farmer who has cultivated, harvested and carefully presented his produce and other goods for your viewing pleasure. You can find these farm stands along the main or side roads, smack in front of someone’s farm, home or growing field, or when you least expect it, there it is before you, as you ‘round the bend of a winding country road.

Farm stands are a perfect chance “to meet the heart and soul of Vermont.” I have listened with great interest as farmers talk about the sweat and tears put into their product, their farm’s history or stories of their Vermont roots.  I have even met their families on occasion.

Look down at your basket full of produce and perhaps you will observe, just beyond the farm stand, the same field from which it was grown or is still being harvested. What better way to see precisely where your food has come from! On my way through Eden last fall 2008, I passed a farm stand called the “Garden of Eden”. Although we didn’t have time to stop, it is on my itinerary for fall 2009!

"Garden of Eden" Farmstand, Eden, VT

Below is the website from the Vermont Agency of Agriculture in Montpelier.  They have lists of the farmer’s markets, farm stands, winter’s farmer’s markets, pick your own and also, the harvest dates! It is excellent! You can toggle back and forth to find exactly what you are looking for in every corner of the state.

www.vermontagriculture.com/buylocal/buy/farmersmarkets_map.html

The Vermont Farmers Market http://www.vtfarmersmarket.org/index.html states: “These markets not only provide an opportunity for you to ‘Buy Local’ and meet the grower/producer/creator face-to-face, they also create a festive, family-friendly place to shop, relax, listen to music, eat and enjoy the sunshine (with the occasional dash of rain).

Next time you are in Vermont, STOP, get out of your car and enjoy a farmer’s market, farm stand or farm store. Join in on the community spirit! You will be sure to come away with:

“Buy Local, Buy Vermont”

Vermont Agency of Agriculture 

Autumn Farm Stand