It’s not every day you get to visit a local farm, much less eat dinner on-site in a heritage barn, including ingredients harvested from the fields right outside.
But that’s exactly the idea behind the first-ever Farm to Fork buffet-style dinner July 16 at Whispering Winds Farm, 24008 Valde Road, Stanwood.
The 20-acre certified organic farm has been selling its bounty of fresh vegetables as part of a community supported agriculture program or CSA — known as Freshly Doug Vegetables — since 2004.
Over the years, the owners, Doug and Char Byde, age 50 and 60, respectively, have made the farm into a destination with pastured chickens, rabbits, alpacas and pygmy goats.
This year, they’re adding an on-site farmstand, food preservation classes, tours for kids and the big farm dinner, Char Byde said.
Dinner on the farm will be served at 4, 5 and 6 p.m., but visitors can hang out on the farm from 3 to 8 p.m., and the band, Cabin Fever, will play from 3 to 7 p.m.
Choose a time and RSVP by July 10. Email bydenmythyme@hotmail.com or call 425-220-3903.
Admission is $45. Kids 12 and older are welcome.
Menu items include halibut mixed with grated potatoes, fresh green salad, carrots with fennel, Romanesco broccoli and strawberry shortcake, harvest permitting.
Some of the recipes featured in the meal will come from “The Northwest Vegetarian Cookbook: 200 Recipes That Celebrate the Flavors of Oregon and Washington” by Edmonds author and blogger Debra Daniels-Zeller, who will be there to sign books.
Chef Devra Gartenstein, owner of the Patty Pan Grill, a frequent hot-food vendor at Seattle farmers markets, will prepare the meals.
Byde said it’s hard to think of herself as a farmer after 30 years of gardening for food, even though they have about 1½ acres under cultivation.
“I’m actually not a farmer. I’m a gardener,” she said. “I just have a large garden.”
Indeed, gardeners might enjoy touring the farm, which includes raised beds as well as traditional rows and myriad types of produce.
“If people are interested in gardening, we have a lot happening,” Byde said. “We’re going to have stuff labeled, so people will know what they’re looking at.”
Learn more about the event and the farm at http://freshlydougvegetables.blogspot.com.
Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037; sjackson@heraldnet.com.
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