Did you realize that it's already October?? How did that happen so quickly? I think I mistook September for summer and then forgot it was almost fall. In any case, two of the best food events of fall are soon upon us! Plan now to attend them both since they're thankfully on different days. Here's the deal:

Saturday, October 6, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
The Hoes Down Festival at Full Belly Farm, Capay Valley
This is the 20th edition of this annual festival, and last year was a gorgeous day for it. Hopefully this year will follow suit. It's $20 to get in; children 2 to 12 are $5; children under 2 are free.
If you want to camp there that night in the orchard, it's an additional $20 per car.
There are lots of activities, many geared toward teaching kids about food, such as grinding corn and making tortillas by hand. There's live music on a stage, a variety of organic food for sale, crafts to make and buy, and lots of farm animals to visit and watch (but NO dogs allowed). To learn more, visit the Hoes Down Web site and get the full schedule.

Saturday, October 13, 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The 61st Armenian Food Festival, Sacramento
This yearly and very long-running festival is held at the Greek Hall, on Alhambra at F Street.
I found a great Web site last year that tells you all about Armenian food, so you can study up before you go. I'm definitely going for the lamb kabobs and lamajoon, which is a kind of Armenian pizza.
The festival is sponsored each year by the St. James Armenian Apostolic Church at 32nd and B. According to their Web site, there are more than 300 Armenian families in the Sacramento area! It's like a little United Nations around here, isn't it?