Yak It To Me!

Yak It To Me!
Vermont Yak Wagon & Mobile BBQ

Did you know yak meat is one of “the planet’s greenest red meats”? Red meat does get a bad rap because of it’s high use of energy, pesticides, land, water pollution and overall impact on global warming. But yaks are smaller than cows, eat less grass and take up less space. And the meat itself? well it’s lean, nutritious and tastes delicious too. If you love red meat, why not switch to sustainable yak meat?

Now after a successfully funded Kickstarter campaign and meat from yaks around New England, Yak It To Me! is bringing yak meat to Vermonters around the state.

Doesn’t a yak-burger on a Vermont bun with Vermont cheese and locally grown veggies sound good? Or how about a yak-dog or a yak-sausage? How much more local can you get?

Look for the Yak It To Me! mobile cart at the Waitsfield Farmer’s Market on Saturdays as well as around Burlington and festivals around the states. Follow them on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to find their summer schedule.

As they say, “Once you go yak, you never go back.”

vert mont perfumery

Vert Mont Perfumery
artisanal botanical perfumes

Based in the Mad River Valley, Vert Mont Perfumery makes fragrances that are designed, blended and bottled by hand. Their perfumes are made from pure organic plant essences from around the world. Each fragrance is blended to compliment a specific human experience:

• SOMA (body) – surrender to lightness of being  (pink grapefruit, fresh ginger, petitgrain bigarade, amyris & high elevation lavender)
• PSYCHE (mind) – heady intrigue & effortless travel (lemon peel, ginger lilly, clary sage, himalayan cedar & bergamot)
• EROS (desire) – An elegant notion of a love potion (mandarin, coriander, orris root, patchouli, juniper & jasmine)
• ANIMA (soul) – instinctually sensual. unleash your possibilities. (persian lime, spikenard, melissa, frankincense & ylang ylang)
• COR (heart) – tune into core emotions (sweet orange, vetiver, rosewood, cypress & moroccan rose absolute)

How can you not love the names and each tag line? So clever. These perfumes have no synthetics and Vert Mont Perfumery is committed to being environmentally friendly as well. Each perfume comes in a Miron Violet Glass bottle with a Biostone label in a hand stamped canvas bag for sleek, minimal packaging that is all recyclable or reusable.

Visit VMP’s Facebook page and website for background stories and more day to day activity. Currently available at the Warren Store in Warren Vermont, Proud Flower in Waterbury and more to come.

Vert Mont Perfumery is one to watch – with Mother’s Day around the corner, how about a bottle?

mad river food hub

mad river food hub
supporting local food producers

The Mad River Food Hub in Waitsfield is a fully licensed, 40,000 sf storage, processing and distribution facility. Within Vermont, it was the first:

• for profit food hub
• shared use state-inspected meat processing facility

This is just the kind of partnering that Vermont needs to support our producers so they can continue to make and sell their made in Vermont foods for us all to enjoy. It allows small scale producers to share costs and grow their businesses. Producers can:

• rent a room by the day or weekly
• rent dry, refrigerated or frozen storage space
• become part of the weekly distribution to retail markets in vermont

Currently, the following producers are taking advantage of what the hub has to offer, you probably know of a few these and notice many are outside of the Mad River Valley:

• Kingsbury Market Garden
• Lawsons Finest
• The Vermont Meat Co.
• Knoll Farm
• Gaylord Farm
• Vermont Raw Pet Food
• Vermont Bean Crafters
• Vermont Yak
• Screamin Ridge Farm
• Starbird Fish Co
• Tannery Farm
• Rookies Root Beer
• Tonewood Maple
• Vermont Salumi
• Apple Cheek Farm
• New Village Farm
• Tangle Town Farm
• Liz Lovely Bakery
• Vermont Pub & Brewery
• Zero Gravity
• Prime Restaurant Group
• Bobcat Brewery
• Luna Bleu Farm
• North Branch Farm
• VT Whey Fed Pigs
• Winter Moon Farm
• Grow Compost

This food hub is a win win for producers, consumers and the Vermont economy.

Thank you Mad River Food Hub for doing your part in supporting local business and bringing these made in Vermont products to a store near us!

i am vermont strong

i am vermont strong
 
a year ago today, irene, a category 1 hurricane hit vermont. irene cost the united states more than $65 billion and killed 67 people.

here in vermont, irene was mean:

• worst flooding since 1927
• >500 miles of state road damage
• >2,000 municipal road segments damage
• 100’s bridges were damaged or even completely destroyed
• >100,000 power outages
• >1,000 displaced households
• 6 deaths
• $733+ million in damages

to see more specific numbers related to irene click here. and to get a better understanding of how many roads were damaged and the repair work, look at this list of road closures and reopenings by date or for a visual approach – look at these maps of road closures throughout vermont.

within hours, the outpouring of community support was not only visible in communities throughout the state but also on the internet, especially on facebook. if you needed help or wanted to help – facebook or sites like #vtresponse were the places to go! as days turned to months vermonters and vermont companies did their part for irene too, such as:

• grace potter and the nocturnals’ “goodnight irene’
• long trail’s good night irene ale
• i am vermont strong t-shirts
• i am vermont strong license plates

one year out, vermont is still repairing, rebuilding and raising funds. recovery continues. if you haven’t already, why not buy a license plate?

irene was awful as she ravaged through our state (photos) . she was costly, very costly, but she did manage to bring vermonters together in a way we hadn’t seen before.

vermonters are strong.

yes, we are vermont strong.

sources: http://www.anr.state.vt.us/anr/climatechange/irenebythenumbers.html, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/27/hurricane-irene-damage-statistics-2011_n_1832342.html,
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2012/06/17/251882.htm

july 4th in vermont

july 4th in vermont
celebrations 

independence day. america’s beginning.

vermont has lots of fun ways to celebrate the 4^th. check out some fireworks, parties & parades in these towns (date of fireworks in parenthesis – some are on the 3rd, some on the 4th and some on the closest saturday to the 4th):

brandon – (6th)

burlington– (3rd) see the fireworks on the waterfront of from the lake

burke – (6th)

hartford – (4th)

hinesburg – (4th)

jay – (4th)

killington – (4th)

manchester center – (4th)

montpelier – (3rd)

plymouth – celebrate the birth of calvin coolidge – yes, his birthday was on the 4^th fireworks here (4th)

shelburne –  vso at shelburne farms (4th)

stowe – parade in moscow is vermont’s shortest parade (4th)

warren – definitely a crazy & wacky parade – a must see, at least once. find them on facebook  too. (4th) 

woodstock – (4th)

happy 4^th!

tonewood maple

 

tonewood maple
maple tree adoption program and premium-branded line of maple products

do you love maple syrup? want to spread the maple love – then tonewood is for you. these maple products are “single-sourced unblended and free of additives.”

everything maple, creative, innovative and sustainable are the words that jump to mind when we think of tonewood maple. how can we not love this concept and their amazingly sleek packaging and design.

tonewood has teamed up with local sugar makers  in the mad river valley and when you adopt one of their maple trees you’re not only getting to enjoy the maple goodies from their trees but you’re supporting these producers, their future and the maple industry as a whole. this is a win-win for all.

tonewood is committed to preserving family owned sustainable maple farming.  unfortunately small producers are threatened by both environmental and economic factors.  climate change is disrupting the harvest season and reducing collection.  to protect future maple production, tonewood supports the proctor maple research center, a leader in maple research and education.

adopt a tree for yourself (hey, who wants to share maple syrup), your family or give adopt a tree as a gift – it’s a gift that keeps on giving. look at what your adoption benefits include, you get:

1. to learn about your tree
2. to learn about maple production
3. to support local sugar makers and their tradition
4. to support vermont’s maple industry
5. FOUR GRADE COLLECTION – 4 bottles of maple syrup of different grades
6. SWEET PAIRINGS shipment that includes a maple cube, eight wafers, two of their sweetest delicacies.

how can you beat that? and by the way – did you know you can buy all tonewood’s amazing products each on their own as well:

four grade collection
maple wafers
maple cream
maple cube
maple flakes
maple seasoning

do you know how good maple is for you? maple syrup is considered to be the next superfood!

buy local first vermont

 

Buy Local.
buy local vermont first.

not sure what to get someone for the holidays? this resource guide & coupon book  will cover anyone left on your list.

this project of vermont businesses for social responsibility is just packed with info and great deals from businesses around the state of vermont (addison, chittenden & washington counties).

here’s their list of 11 reasons (from the book) to support the vermont businesses included in the guide:

1.   keep money in vermont I
2.   embrace what makes us different
3.   get better service
4.   create and keep good jobs
5.   promote competition & diversity
6.   help preserve the environment
7.   support community groups
8.   put your taxes to good use
9  . keep money in vermont II
10. invest in the community
11. bank around town

note: to see explanations of each item listed above, buy the book!

the list of companies/coupons is just too long to post here – but there are coupons to some of our favorites: dakin farm, danforth pewter, vermont cookie love, city market, conant metal & light, healthy living, lake champlain chocolates, new moon, outdoor gear exchange, shelburne farms, small dog electronics, the flying pig, the skinny pancake, good news garage, old spokes home, the chubby muffin, onion river sports and the store to name just a few (ok, well, that was more than a few – but you get the idea).

for a full list of all companies click here (there have to be more than 500!!).

convinced? want to buy one? here’s the list of places where you can buy one, or two or….

this is a feel good gift all the way around – you can’t go wrong.

vermont

vermont is a cool place with a lot of cool things

our hope is that we’ll give you a reason or two (or three) to come and visit sometime. or at least buy vermont if you can’t make it up our way.