On Sunday, September 19th, 2010, CT NOFA held the 10th Annual Taste! Organic Festival at Manchester Community College. This year, the event brought in over 1,000 attendees, along with 100 volunteers, 30 farmers and vendors, 6 live music and performance acts, 14 workshops, and plenty of kids activities. So what did people see when they got there?
- Helpful farmers and other vendors from all over Connecticut selling organic products, including free pints of ice cream from The Farmer's Cow
- Delicious, prepared food by John Turenne, including beef, mushroom, and lamb sliders
- Custom-made smoothies using local fruit and dairy products
- Wonderful performances from the ArtFarm’s Circus for a Fragile Planet, Trainwreck Jerry, Deborah Simmons with Dawnie Love and Friends, the Whiskey Boys, and Adam Matlock (the strolling accordionist)
- Informative workshops including: Pickle This!; Brewing Your Own Organic Beer; Useful Weed Walk; Sustainable Sushi & Sake Tasting, Demonstration, and Discussion; Natural Beekeeping; Amateur Artisan Baking; Keeping a Small Poultry Flock; Extended Sesason Gardening; and Making Foolproof Country Wine – phew, that was a mouth full!
- Fun activities for the kids – including face painting, story telling, corn husk doll making, and a hay ride behind a bio-diesel tractor!
- Hoop dancing for the young and old!
Thank you again if you attended or participated in any way. The day was a huge success, thanks in part to our volunteers and everyone at Manchester Community College. We hope that you had as much fun as we did!
Here's one of the rows of farmers and vendors!
A gorgeous display of some veggies for sale
And here's the end product!
Thank you to Shira for submitting these photos. You can find more photos and follow her blog: In my Garden (country edition)
If you were able to attend the event, what was your favorite part of the day?
Thanks for the mention! Sunday was an absolutely beautiful and enjoyable day!
ReplyDeleteHere's what Debbie Sopchak had to say:
ReplyDelete"Just wanted to send a quick note to let you know how much my family enjoyed the Taste Organic CT in Manchester last weekend. The sliders were fantastic - my favorite was the mushroom on the brioche bun - it was like dessert! We also enjoyed a yummy peach smoothie and some of the free vanilla ice cream from The Farmers Cow. Well worth the admission price. The free pony ride, farm animals to pet, and tractor hay ride were an added bonus. We are enjoying our fresh produce, bread, balsamic vinegar and honey all this week. We couldn't have had a nicer Saturday. Looking forward to attending again next year!"
Thank you Debbie for such kind words!!
I missed it this year - the first time in several, it seems. Yet, I am grateful for posts like this, that help me to feel connected despite my absence. Thank you.
ReplyDelete