A Tea Party: South Florida Style

The Fruitful Fields recently had a tea party in their community garden. It was a fundraiser event to bring in money to expand and improve their six-acre Pompano Beach, Florida, property.

Here is a short window into the elegance and community feel of the day.

The next tea-in-the-garden is in 2013. To find out more you can go to their facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/TheFruitfulField

Outstanding In The Field Honors Khouri's Goat Farm, Redland,Fla.

I am not a fan of goat cheese except for Hani Khouri’s. His is a fresh, raw goat’s milk variety that has no musky taste. When I heard that Khouri was having a dinner on his dairy goat farm in Redland, Florida, I ran to buy a ticket.

Gabriele Marewski (Paradise Farms) and Hani Khouri (goat
farmer) at Hani Khouri and Outstanding In The Field
farm-to-table dinner, Redland, Fla.

Outstanding In The Field (OITF), a California based, a travelling farm-dinner promoting group, and Chef Alejandro Pinero of Sustain Restaurant, Miami, organized the dinner.

100 plus seat table outside, set on driveway of Khouri's goat
farm at Hani Khouri and Outstanding In The Field's
farm-to-table dinner, Redland, Fla.

It was really cold when I arrived in Redland for dinner. I was surprised to see a really long table, set for over a hundred people, running the full length of Khouri’s outdoor driveway. It was set with white linens, silverware, and glasses of ice-water, brrr.

Smiling servers glided between guests offering tasty treats. I tried a steaming cup of Calabaza soup made with pumpkin. It was a sweet, spicy, creamy tummy warmer.

Leah Scafe and Jim Denevan of Outstanding In The Field at
Hani Khouri and Outstanding In The Field's farm-to-table
dinner, Redland, Fla.

Khouri and OITF organizers--Jim Denevan and Leah Scafe--gave a history of how each got started. Then everyone visited Khouri’s Nubian milk-goats before grabbing a plate and sitting down to eat.

Florida sourced 50-Mile Salad at Hani Khouri and
Outstanding In The Field's farm-to-table dinner,
Redland, Fla.

Fifty-mile salad was first, made with ingredients sourced within 50 miles of Khouri’s farm. The Paradise Farms crisp Brassica lettuce mixed well with Teena’s PrideCSA (now called Nana's Green CSA) sweet multi-colored heirloom tomatoes, crunchy watermelon radishes, and earthy roasted beets.

Florida sourced raw goat cheese stuffed squash blossoms at
Hani Khouri and Outstanding In The Field's
farm-to-table dinner, Redland, Fla.

Next came my favorite dish: breaded, deep fried, squash blossoms (from Paradise Farms), stuffed with raw goat milk fromage blanc (white cheese) and topped with a spicy, creamy sauce.

Sustain Restaurant staff serve beef shanks at Hani Khouri and
Outstanding In The Field's farm-to-table dinner, Redland, Fla.

Followed by the biggest meat-on-the-bone dish I have ever seen. It was steaming braised beef shanks (from Jackman Farms) the size of basketballs. The meat fell apart in savory, tender, juicy chunks. Corona Farms wax beans came on the side but they were stringy and tough.

Bone marrow and toasts plate at Hani Khouri and Outstanding
In The Field's farm-to-table dinner, Redland, Fla.

There was also a bone marrow side with crispy toast but due to an oven malfunction it came out as its own course.

Florida sourced strawberry cobbler with raw goat-milk
creme fresh, Hani Khouri and Outstanding In The Field's
 farm-to-table dinner,
Redland, Fla.

Dessert was a sweet, colorful strawberry (from Knaus Farm) cobbler topped with a green basil reduction drizzel and dollops of Khouri’s goat-milk crème fresh (similar to sour cream).

All the courses came with wines that perfectly accompanied them.

At $190 a person, it was the most expensive dinner I had ever been to but one of the most delicious.
UPDATED March 17, 2016

Worden Farm, Fla: Organic Farm Open-House

Worden Farm, Punta Gorda, Florida, is an ideal organic farm. This year, their end-of-season open-house event was full of hayrides, goat petting, cooking demos, and organic vegetables sales.

Chris Worden giving guided hayride tours of his farm, Punta Gorda, Fla.

There were families, single people, members, non-members, and goats at the event. The activities included guided hay rides with Chris Worden, cooking demos, cover-crop seed sowing, vegetable sales, and pick-your-own flower cutting.

Melted Tatsoi, Mint, and chocolate frozen coconut-milk
dessert, Worden Farm, Punta Gorda, Fla.

At the cooking station there was salsa and a frozen dessert or semi-frozen by the time I got there. The dessert was made with Tatsoi spinach, mint, and coconut milk. It was very tasty with no hint of vegetable.

Cover Crop seed sowing event using frame on field as
guide, Worden Farm, Punta Gorda, Fla.

At the cover crop sowing activity, guests were invited to scatter the contents of small containers, filled with cover-crop seeds, onto a field where wooden frames had been laid. Cover crops are grown through the summer to enrich the nitrogen levels of the ground.

Eva Worden next to bins of organic vegetables for sale
at Worden Farm's end of season open house,
Punta Gorda, Fla.

There was plenty of organic vegetables for sale at very reasonable prices. Eva Worden said the event was held each year to give nonmembers a chance to see what was available at the farm. It is also a chance for members to meet each other and the Wordens.

Extra produce on its way to local food bank, Worden
Farm, Punta Gorda, Fla.

At the end of the day all unpurchased food is donated to a local food bank.
To find out more about Worden Farm go to their website at www.wordenfarm.com