“Agriculture is our wisest pursuit because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness.” Thomas Jefferson.
When it comes to the Lake Champlain Region, agriculture and the lake go hand in hand, and with countless farms stretching across the open land, finding an opportunity to stop by and explore the farms can be difficult. Lucky for us, Adirondack Harvest has created the first inaugural Adirondack Cuisine Trail Open Farm Weekend which begins this Labor Day weekend. Events will be happening all weekend long highlighting local farms and businesses. If you're a lover of locally grown food, beautiful flower pastures, live music, and cheese tours, then this is perfect for you.
Kicking off the weekend is the Self-Guided Culinary Lavender Exhibit and You-Pick. You will get the opportunity to explore how to use culinary lavender in your life. The Adirondack View Vineyard also includes a you-pick lavender field so you're able to harvest your own and hopefully later experiment with your own different cuisines. AND the best part, there are fresh baked goods inspired by the lavender to influence you. No one can say no to a fresh pastry! The tours begin on Friday September 2nd and run through Monday September 5th, 8am-5pm.
The Adirondack View Vineyard will also be hosting yoga in the lavender fields on Saturday September 3rd at 9am! Join yoga instructors for a little pick me up while you stretch out and enjoy your morning in the lavender fields, afterwords don't forget to stop by the farm store and grab fresh picked lavender, sunflowers, zinnia, and even grapes!
If lavender doesn't inspire you, perhaps doing a guided farm tour with you-pick flowers is more your style. Enjoy the beauty and vastness of the Mossbrook Roots Flower Farm where they grow hundreds of different flowers for people to enjoy. This weekend they will opening up their farm to guided tours and flower picking! They will set you up to pick your own flowers for a dollar a stem or stop by their flower bar and make your own bouquet for just 25 dollars. Farm tours are running from Friday September 2nd to Monday September 5th, 9am-5pm.
While in the area be sure to stop at the Ausable Brewing company on Friday September 2nd, where they will have live music, food trucks, and free activities for your kids! Enjoy a locally crafted brew, a non-alcoholic ginger soda or root beer while munching on delicious food from Dubbs BBQ.
Start your Saturday off with fresh made cheese! North Country Creamery is doing a dairy farm tour and cheese tasting from 8:30am-10:30am. You will get the opportunity to tour the farm, see the cows being milked, a first hand look in their creamery and then perhaps the best part, taste their lineup of artisan cheese made directly on the farm. Never forget to stop into their farm store where they have sandwiches, baked goods, all local produce, beverages and of course CHEESE, perfect for a picnic on the farm!
Essex farm tour is the next stop on your journey through the Boquet Valley Cuisine Trail. Perhaps one of the larger farms in the Lake Champlain region, Essex Farm is offering a deep dive tour Saturday at 11am, into their acres of vegetable fields and livestock pastures for you to learn about and enjoy. Afterwards you may take a self guided journey along their farm roads which lead to remote areas of the farm! And once again never forget to stop at the farm store. You don't want to pass up on fresh and local produce, there is nothing quite like it!
Finishing off our tour is a Low Waste cooking class, Monday at 5pm, located at the Hub on The Hill. Learn how to take your leftover lemon peel and carrot tops and turn them into a world class meal! You’ll do your part to decrease the amount of waste in the landfill while making a yummy meal. Sounds like a win-win situation!
The 2022 Open Farm weekend is created to highlight local farms and cuisines. Attend one event or all events! As a thank you Adirondack Harvest is giving away a $100 credit to be spent at any of the member businesses, and all you have to do is sign up on the Adirondack Harvest news email list at each location hosting an Open Farm Weekend event. The more events you attend the more entries you receive, the drawing will take place on September 6th! For more information on local farms in the Lake Champlain region be sure to check out our website at https://www.lakechamplainregion.com/eat-drink/farms-flavors
