Recently Forbes Magazine, among other publications, has reported that our area is a great place to live! There are so many cool things going on around here as a community on a regular basis. Sunday afternoon, I was able to experience one of the coolest.
Randle Farms (www.randlefarms.com) is a local family who started a farm off of Society Hill Road in the 1970’s. The owners Frank and Pat Randle, along with their two sons, Franklin (fiancé Anne) and Zachary (wife Ashley) have put together what is called a CSA Program, Community Supported Agriculture. The idea is that members of the CSA help share some of the risk that the farmer takes by paying a fee to be a member, and in turn, receive a share of the freshly grown local produce each week. Knowing how your food is grown and what goes into it, as well as knowing you are supporting your local economy, is a pretty neat thing that Forbes hasn’t reported on yet! My husband Brycen and I were members of the CSA two years ago and plan to rejoin.
So back to Sunday evening…Randle Farms hosted a Harvest Dinner. Chef David Bancroft of Amsterdam Café, and Andrew Clark of Fine Beer and Wine by Gus took the bounty of Randle Farms and created an amazing feast! The Randles were so kind to invite us all to their home for dinner, and they were wonderful hosts. You can find out about more similar events and how to be a part of the CSA on their website. www.randlefarms.com.
As an appetizer, we toured the farm! This is Zachary Randle showing us the cool season crops, such as broccoli.
I am not sure what this is, but I think it is some sort of greenhouse? Will have to find out, but I thought that the lighting was gorgeous!
In the distance you can see one of the Randles’ Jersey milk cows. Just thought the shadows made a neat photo showing the beauty of the evening. The weather and the lighting were perfect for this event.
More cool season crops….
The locals….
We dined by candle light underneath a big pecan tree.
The tables were set with white linens, mums, burlap place mats, & lots of candles.
It was quite cozy and felt almost magical!
The dishes included an amazing salad with Randle Farm produced greens and tomatoes, butternut squash soup, French dish with rabbit, lasagna with lamb, pork, collard greens, sweet potato bread pudding, blueberry cobbler, homemade bread. I wish that I had grabbed a menu to get the names of these dishes right, because they were amazing! Everything was freshly made, including the pasta noodles, and everything was delicious! No one in attendance left hungry, and the chefs even sent us home with boxes of food for a fabulous meal the next day. Brycen and I are hoping that another dinner is on the calendar soon with the Randles! We will definitely attend. There is a lot of information on the Randles’ website about the CSA and events that they will host during the year if you want more information about their family and what they are doing. I highly recommend checking it out! –Annie
