I wrote about Blooming Hill Farm in a spring post when I was on my search for ramps! I’m all RAMPED Up! I was all ramped up not only because I found my favorite spring vegetable but also because I had just found what is now my favorite local farmstead and farmers market!
Blooming Hill Farm is very near my home and it’s such a welcoming rustic retreat that offers all organic produce as well as brunch on the weekends with a farmhouse outdoor seating area set along a creek.
Turnips, carrots, potatoes, yams, radishes and kohlrabi! Plenty of autumn root vegetables to go around! And pumpkins!!! It makes me feel good to buy their produce as it’s local, it’s fresh, it’s so tasty and beautiful, and the farm itself is family run and owned!
They serve Brunch on Saturdays and Sundays which I like to bring the kids to. We eat, they explore the outdoor area, they love the dog and the cats, they walk along the creek as I pick up my fresh farm grown organic vegetables and fruit!
Every month, they host a dinner event with a different chef using their own produce! I’ve always wanted to attend, but they sell-out! Fast! Finally I was able to book the event scheduled for Saturday October 28th. Dan and I went along with our good friends Ashley and Mike. It was perfect as Ashley was the one who sent me to Blooming Hill the very first time! Here Dan and I are! Enjoying not only a night out together, but with great friends at a fantastic organic farm dinner, such a wonderful part of our Well-Defined selves! And very soon we’ll be very Well-Fed, everything about this evening contributing so much to our Whole Well-Being!!!
I love the lights strung across the back seating area of the farmstead! They had a fire going with tables set around it. Autumn crisp air at twilight!
Dinner wasn’t outdoors though, we went over to their newly built dining area across from the farmstead, it was decorated perfectly for fall and the menu to be featured was written on the chalk board.
The owner, Guy Jones, introduced himself and explained his farming methods, organic and grown in the black dirt region, and because it was abnormally warm for fall this year, he had a lot of vegetables really still flourishing and joked he’d be growing bananas soon. A radish salad was our first dish and I didnt get a pic of it, but it was one of the produce he said he had a ton of different varieties!
And that’s something that is actually very unique about Guy Jones himself. He is known for growing different varieties of many different vegetables and fruits! And supplying them to NYC chefs! Here’s the link to their About Me Page and below a snapshot:
A few articles found across the internet, the photo below is from a great write-up from when he hosted one the Outstanding in the Field dinners! I’ve always wanted to attend one of the many farm-to-table dinners they put on, and this evening at Blooming Hill was probably very similar I believe! Here is the link —> Outstanding Ovation Article from Gluttonforlife.com
This time here’s a video of him being interviewed:
And my favorite from Hudson Valley Magazine a snapshot shows a little girl holding… RAMPS! If you don’t recognize her, it’s because she actually doesnt look like that at all, it’s Kali and she’s sucking in her lips in shyness.
I love Guy’s motto “Don’t buy food from strangers” It is a perfect way to be more well-fed, as you’re choosing a much better product when it is produced locally, especially when you can talk to the farmer personally! That’s something incredible! You’re knowing exactly what isn’t in your vegetables and fruits! You’re getting firsthand information on how the vegetables are grown and how to store them as well as a few recipe ideas! When my husband saw Guy Jones speak at the dinner, my husband realized he has known him for many years! Guy has a farmer’s market set up in Ramsey NJ and Dan maintained Guy’s mother’s home for landscaping with Guy often being the communicator, having Dan meet at the farmers market. Wonderful small world we live in!
So prior to every course of the meal Guy would speak about the ingredients in the meal and then would allow the chef to elaborate on how he prepared it. The chef this evening was Chef Matt Casino and you could tell he was passionate and knowledgeable about his recipes and meals! I really appreciated and enjoyed how they explained the meals, as I’m always wanting to try my own versions of what I have eaten out somewhere. I mentioned above our first course was a radish salad, which we all devoured. I picked up some Kohlrabi and made a salad from that which I will share with you after this post!
Our second course, a nut encrusted egg over spaghetti squash! Not sure how they did this, but I love to add eggs to many different meals and this really did the trick of adding some additional tasty flavor and protein in a different and delicious way! Pasture raised chicken eggs and farm-to-table squash!
Next was the Potato Fennel Vichyssoise, a velvety soup that I didn’t get a photo of, but was very good… and I only think fennel is okay tasting. The flavors together in the soup were perfect! Below they are discussing the next course, Horseradish Cavatelli which had some roasted brussel sprouts and a horseradish pesto. It was soooo good! It was a meal I’d usually never order at a restaurant, as I’m not a big pasta person and I wouldn’t know what this would taste like, so I’d skip past it. And that’s why going to this dinner was great, I was there to enjoy new and different recipes, all vegan! I’m always impressed with full vegetarian meals.
On a side note, all the apples and grapes on the table are fresh! As well as the pumpkins and squash scattered about and the fresh herbs everywhere! I LOVE how everything was fresh! Gives you the real farm feel and purpose, everything is growing abundantly and alive!
Lastly was dessert! Apple-Pecan Bourbon Pie with ice cream, perfect for a fall evening in apple country where dairy farms are also very abundant!
At the end of the dinner, our bellies so wonderfully full, Guy mentioned the garlic on display on the tables as well as on the bar area in front. He wanted everyone to take plenty of garlic home and then explained how to plant the cloves, now, so by spring everyone will have their own black-dirt-originated-garlic growing for themselves to enjoy! I was so excited! I loved how the tables were decorated with fresh rosemary and garlic, it gave the sitting area such a pleasant aroma and rustic farm addition!
Garlic to Go! There’s Ashley! Something to add to the amazingness, Ashley is Celiac… and she was able to enjoy every meal! They altered them a bit for her, but really she didn’t miss out! This was GREAT!
Got my garlic, about to grab some pumpkins to go too! A bunch of pumpkins for the kiddies ; )
And the next day it was warm so we were able to dig into the soil with ease to plant our Blooming Hill Garlic!
Break off each clove but leave the outer shell on.
Dig individual holes, and place each clove in them about 6 inches, covering them back up with plenty of soil.
Kali is helping as she’s holding a fresh picked hot pepper!
Hopefully come spring or summer next year we’ll see some garlic growing!!! Great for our Well-Fed diets for our Whole Well-Being!
