We’ve wanted to have a Farm to Table Dinner on our farm for some time and it finally came to fruition last Friday. What a joy it was. I enjoyed showing guests around the farm, talking about lavender and other herbs, as well as dining on the delicious food.

We partnered with Chef Grant Buchanan of GB Culinary to do the dinner. Grant has much experience doing farm to table events and he sourced the ingredients from local farms (including ours). They brought a crew of about 5 people and handled all the details.

We spent a good deal of time pulling weeds in the area where the dinner was held, so it looked great. The timing with lavender bloom was perfect and diners sat beside one of our lavender fields just as it was beginning to bloom.

Guests mingled and walked around the farm as appetizers were served. As is typical for a farm to table dinner, many guests brought their own bottle of wine, but there was also strawberry lavender lemonade and lemon balm water to drink.

Herbs from the farm decorated the table centers and tables were arranged next to one of our lavender fields. The culinary crew came late afternoon to set up. They had an area to the side with their truck where they set out tables as a staging area for food prep.

Almost on cue the sun set behind the mountains as guests finished eating.

Sharing our farm  (and our view) with people, helping them understand what we mean by Farm to Skin and seeing the variety of herbs we grow besides lavender is important to us. Farm dinners are a good way to do this. Other ways we do this is with  farm tours, having  volunteers work on the farm, having the herb school students do a day on the farm as part of their coursework and participating in local art events.

Here is the menu from the dinner planned:

Passed Hors d’oeuvres:
Peachtree Farms Pork, Pimento Cheese, Potato Chip
Buttermilk Biscuits, Haystack Goat Cheese, Pickled Blackberries, Basil
Blue Corn Pancakes, Fried Pastured Chicken, Sorghum, Red Scallions
Salad:
Ollin Farms Skyphos Head Lettuce, Fresh Herbs, Shaved Apple, Strawberry, Quinoa, Cucumber, Pistachio, & Basil Vinaigrette
 Entrée:
La Dolce Vita Family Farms Lamb: Wood Fired Lamb Cuts, Hyssop, Cherry Balsamic BBQ
 Ollin Farms Sugar Snax Carrots, Tarragon Carrot Top Pesto
Grilled Baby Bok Choy, Roasted Potatoes, Fennel, Bee Balm Oil
Dessert:
Pistachio Cornmeal Cake, Sour Cherries, Lavender Cream
Non-Alcoholic Beverages:
Strawberry Lavender Lemonade
Lemon Balm Water

 Grant is flexible about dietary needs too and prepared a separate vegetarian dish with zucchini and peas that was delicious.  Most guests were local but there were quite a few who drove from Denver for the event.

Our goats also enjoyed the extra attention. Have you ever been to a similar event? What was it like?