Lavalley House Farm Market

Opening Weekend

2010-06-06T12:50:00.000-07:00

We had a great first weekend at the farm stand. We were happy to have so many of the "regulars" from last summer stop by to welcome us back. It was fun catching up on what's been going on over the long winter.

blueberries, melons & cookies, oh my!

Mike's "famous" tomatoes.

local garden lettuce (there's nothing like it!), radishes, and scallions

If you haven't had a chance yet, come by and see us. Every week that good Vermont soil gives us something new to celebrate. This week we are hoping for Strawberries! We'll keep you posted.

Special Thanks...

2010-06-03T12:12:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the big day and we would like to send special thanks to the following people for helping us get ready.

♥ Dave Anderson for putting in the great new floor in the back so we would have more space.

♥ Mike and Nancy Merrill, who shared so much of their knowledge and wisdom with us last summer, and who have been instrumental in getting us started this year. Happily, Mike will be a major supplier for us this summer.

♥ Beth Karnes Keefe for all of her encouragement and support.

♥ Jim Rubright for allowing us to use his beautiful counter and bakery case.

♥ Barney Hodges for allowing us to use his cooler.

See you soon!

In Search of the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie

2010-05-10T10:13:00.000-07:00

We are getting ready for the opening day of our Farm Market, and one (delicious) thing we have been doing to prepare is testing out chocolate chip cookie recipes. It can't just be any old chocolate chip cookie that we sell at our farm stand- those farmers are hungry, and our cookies need to measure up to the Monument Farms milk that we will also be selling. Seriously, with a house full of boys there is A LOT of milk drinking going on, and they DO notice if I bring home something other than Monument Farms.

We are only on our third recipe, and while they have all been good we haven't found a winner yet.
If you have a favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe I'd love to try it! You can add any recipes you would like to share to the discussions tab on our Facebook page, or e-mail me and I will post it here. In the meantime, I'll keep baking AND hitting the gym!

It's not too early...

2010-04-23T16:55:00.000-07:00

It's not too early to start thinking about all those favorite seasonal recipes you have been dreaming about all winter long. The asparagus is just beginning to peek out, and before you know it the stand will be full of delicious, local produce.

If you have a favorite recipe, please let us know. It would be wonderful to share how we are all making the most of our fresh, local ingredients!

Okay, well cookies count too!

The Cornwall Town Plan and the Lavalley Store

2010-04-22T14:12:00.000-07:00

The Cornwall Historical Society is especially interested in using the Lavalley Store, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, to promote interaction among town residents and to establish activities in the store that would contribute to a town center. This notion flows from the Cornwall Town Plan as adopted by the Cornwall Selectboard and approved by the Addison County Regional Planning Commission.

    While the many of the goals of the Town Plan support using the Lavalley Store as a gathering place that also offers services, three goals are especially relevant to the project under consideration.

Promote community activities and interaction among town residents

Strengthen the sense of community among Cornwall residents and revitalize the town’s village center with homes, businesses and public spaces that promote public gathering and interaction between people

Work to ensure that Cornwall’s public buildings can continue to accommodate the services needed by residents and actively plan to meet future demand for community facilities

    Of course the Town Plan was informed by the results of the Cornwall Planning Survey which had a very respectable response rate. Of those responding, 98% were year-round Cornwall residents. Some of the items are worth re-visiting as the Town continues discussion of this project. The greatest percentage of those responding to the question, “Is it important to you that Cornwall residents have a strong sense of belonging to their community?” said it was “Very Important.” In a related question, “How important are the following characteristics to giving people a sense of belonging to their community?” 86% said local gathering places like a general store, post office, coffee shop or tavern was “Important.” Those responding to the survey were asked “How well are these elements that give people a sense of belonging to their community provided in Cornwall?” and only 6% said they felt that the town provided local gathering places….

    When asked “Do you think the following should occur in Cornwall’s village center?” the number one response was “Development of a general store” followed closely by “Restore and re-using historic structures including the DAR building and the 1920s store.” Item 28 on the survey asked “If you had $100 dollars to allocate towards the following activities how would you divide the funds?” “Support the development of a general store.” and Rehabilitate historic buildings.” were among the top three and the majority of respondents said they would approve of spending town funds to take these actions even if it meant raising their taxes.

     Many activities and services have been suggested for within and around the Lavalley Store. They have included a mail drop, ACTR stop, coffee and newspaper service, dry cleaning drop-off/pick-up, FedEx/UPS drop, outlet to display work of Cornwall artisans, Wi-Fi service, farmers’ market and many other possibilities. All require further exploration. Some will be determined to be unachievable at this time. Other options will emerge. What do you think should be offered? Please share your ideas and comments with any member of the Historical Society, e-mail your thoughts to us at lavalley2008@gmail.com or contact Sue Johnson at the Town Hall. Also, if you have old pictures of the Town Hall or the Lavalley Store they would be of great interest to the Historical Society.

                                David L. Anderson, Member
                                Cornwall Historical Society

Historical Photos of the Lavalley Store

2010-04-22T13:59:00.000-07:00

Check out these historical photos of the Lavalley Store.

The bottom picture looks like Route 30 is still a dirt road. It is so fun to look back and learn about the history in our own back yard. If you happen to come across any old photos of the store, or town center we would love to see them!

Opening Date!

2010-04-09T12:07:00.000-07:00

Our goal is to open up shop on Saturday, June 5! In the meantime, we would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions. Send us an e-mail, become a fan of our Facebook Fan Page, take the poll at the right, reply to this post, or do all four!