Photo of the Champlain Valley Fair taken in 2011 by Stephen Mease. The Champlain Valley Fair is just one of many events happening in Vermont over Labor Day weekend.

Labor Day is one of our beloved long weekends, and has
almost become synonymous with fairs in American culture.  Vermont
has a few great fairs and festivals scattered through out the state to help you
celebrate this weekend.

Northern Vermont:
The Champlain Valley Fair, located in Essex Junction (about
15 minutes outside of Burlington)
began on Saturday, August 25th, and will continue through Monday, September
3rd.  This fair is packed with concerts,
rides, animals, and of course, fair food!

Central Vermont:
The Vermont State Fair is located in Rutland,
Vermont.
The 167 year old family tradition will run from Friday, August 31st to
Sunday, September 9th.  There will be
demolition derbies, concerts, tractor pulls, a carnival, food vendors (ever
tried fried dough with maple syrup?), and much, much more!

Southern Vermont:
The 17th Annual Southern Vermont Garlic and Herb Festival is
located in Bennington, Vermont.
This outdoor festival will be open on
Saturday, September 1st, and Sunday September 2nd, from 10am-5pm.  Join
fellow garlic lovers in visiting over 100 different vendors, joining workshops,
and listening to live music.  Kids will
be happy to tag along when they learn about the hay maze, face painting,
inflatable fun jumps, and the bean bag toss!

Another Southern Vermont event
happening Labor Day weekend (September 1st and 2nd) is the 18th annual Mount
Snow Brewers Festival.  Mount
Snow is located in West
Dover.  With 35 breweries,
there will be over 80 beers and ciders for sample and sale.  In addition to the beverages, there will be a
large music tent and food vendors. Scenic chairlift rides will be available,
allowing people the unique experience of seeing the Mount
Snow view during the summertime.

This Labor Day weekend, there is an event for everybody in Vermont.  What are your weekend plans? Tell us on our
Facebook page.

Heather Barrett is a Marketing Assistant at Vermont Woods Studios, an online furniture gallery which showcases Vermont’s finest wood furniture. Follow our blog to learn about Vermont fine furniture, Vermont happenings, our mission, and our team.

The post Vermont Events for Labor Day Weekend appeared first on Vermont Woods Studios.

Summer noodle bowl from the Humble Kitchen, a food cart serving Vietnamese street food in the Harmony parking lot, Brattleboro Vermont

Yesterday Shannon suggested take-out food from Brattleboro's newest restaurant, The Humble Kitchen.  It's a food cart in the Harmony parking lot that serves Vietnamese street food, sourced locally where ever possible.

Wow, is it delicious and worth the trip, even if you're travelling from NH,  MA or anywhere in Southern Vermont.

Fried mango wontons with a sugar lime sauce might sound a little exotic but you have to try them.  I can't even begin to describe how wonderful they are.

In addition they have specialty dishes for meat lovers, vegetarians and vegans, like the  Banh Mi sandwich, Hot Noodle Soup, Summer Noodle Bowl and a salad with local greens & ginger-lime or toasted sesame vinaigrette.

Today was opening day for The Humble Kitchen and by all accounts they had a nice turnout of support from the community.  If you live in the Southern Vermont area, be sure to take advantage of this great opportunity to enjoy authentic fresh, Vietnamese cuisine.  I guarantee you'll be glad you did.

Vermont Woods Studios Fine Furniture

The post The Humble Kitchen – Brattleboro’s Newest Restaurant appeared first on Vermont Woods Studios.

Shannon and Kendall have been very consistent at reminding us to buy local, organic food at the Brattleboro Farmers Market and Co-op whenever possible.

I guess we tend to take these opportunities for granted in Vermont because there's such an abundance of local, all-natural food. 

Our good friend Annette has been raising organic, grass-fed beef on her Malhanna farm just down the road for many years.  Some photo-journalists from the Vermont Center for Photography chronicled Annette's farm last weekend and I'm trying to get permission to share some of their photos with you.  In the meantime, I thought you might enjoy this beautiful video about Lilac Ridge, an organic family farm in Brattleboro, Vermont.

It's good to stop and think about where your food comes from.  Check out our Vermont Woods Studios Pinterest board on Vermont's Organic Farms for more photos, info and inspiration.  Bon appetit!

The post Vermont’s Organic Farms appeared first on Vermont Woods Studios.

Well, here's another way do something great with your holiday shopping.  How about donating to local food pantries and shelters in honor of the people on your Christmas list?  Instead of scrambling around trying to figure out what on earth to get all those people who already have everything, why not honor them by helping someone who's hungry or cold? 

Give the gift of hope to those who have lost hope.  How many parents who were in a position just like you and me very recently–  have no job today?

In our area we have many local organizations in need of donations, including the Reformer Christmas Stocking, Feed the Thousands and The Vermont Food Bank, in addition to local churches that each have a program to give hope and help.  This year the need is more critical than ever.

What's interesting is that when given a choice, all of the people I polled said they would rather have this kind of donation given in their name than receive another pair of gloves for Christmas.  I bet your friends would say the same.  What do you think?

The post Giving Hope For Christmas appeared first on Vermont Woods Studios.