CSA Farm Dinner

Rusty & Kate returned from their road trip on the 6th so had plenty of time to settle in (and clean the car) before I got back from Amsterdam! They had a great time — I know some of you follow one or both on IG (Kate | Rusty), so have followed along.

That means my foodie daughter is back in town! And perfect timing, since I signed us up for my CSA’s farm dinner which was held on Saturday.

My CSA farm is Park Ridge Organics in Fond du Lac. I don’t actually receive a veggie share this year, but I have a Farm Store Share — I pre-loaded a gift card & can use that money for anything in the farm store. It’s great because the store is growing & getting better all the time — loaded with all sorts of goodies from Wisconsin, including pasta, pickles, tortillas, shrub, meats, honey, jam, popcorn, syrup, and eggs. Not to mention vegetables.

The dinner was made by Braise, a restaurant/food truck in Milwaukee, using produce from Park Ridge and pork from Golden Bear Farm in nearby Kiel.

It’s been a few years since I attended a farm dinner, for one reason or another — last year’s reason being that there wasn’t one because the farmer, Robyn, got married! A benefit of that celebration is the new pavilion (though I did love the field-side tables), offering shade & shelter.

We were offered a beverage & appetizer upon arrival — a lovely gin smash, and beets & goat cheese on a homemade cracker. What a combo. Then we took a little “farm tour,” which I’d never done before. It was fun to learn a bit more about the history of the property.

So many tomato plants! Behind me was another house full of cherry tomatoes and we were invited to pluck & enjoy a ripe one right from the vine.

The menu was wonderful, as were the wine pairings, and there was plenty of food! We chatted with old friends and made some new… it really is the most wonderful kind of event! There was just enough of a breeze that bugs weren’t a problem, and offered some relief from the heat & humidity.

But weather was coming…

We’re the blue dot, just before departure, heading almost due north.

We stopped a few miles up the road to take some photos (there’s a little sheep farm to my left). Then about 3″ of rain fell in no time at all! I know y’all have had endured some heat waves in the east, as have we, but we’ve also had rain! So much rain!!

Anyway, it was really fun & I can’t wait until next year!