UW Farm Weekly Dirt: New Tastes and Tours at the Annual UW Farm Harvest Dinner
In eight days, the well known UW Farm Harvest Dinner will be held at the UW Botanic Gardens Center for Urban Horticulture. An event that grew from humble beginnings in 2014, run by the farm manager and students, has expanded from a simple community meal to a farm-to-table annual fundraiser.
Combined with the traditional celebration of the the harvest season, the event marks the beginning of the 2022-23 academic calendar and an initiative to ask for support and learn about the UW Farm. During the meal attendees will discover the history, achievements, steady growth and future opportunities of the campus farm.
Historically CSA shareholders, the general public, farm volunteers, UW faculty, students, and staff all come together to dine on savory dishes featuring the campus farm’s ingredients, a classic farm-to-table event. This year, chef Seth Fernald of Januik Winery/Novelty Hill fame will be one of the main events. The chef will also source from Puget Sound Food Hub, to support area farms. For the 21+ event wine, champagne and beer have been generously donated by Treveri Cellars, Andrew Januik, 4Good Hard Selzter For A Cause, and Burke Gilman Brewing
What is different this year? The elevated menu, a pre-event farm tour with champagne and appetizers, plus a look at the farm’s recent completion of a Strategic Plan and Community Survey. Attendees will hear from students and volunteers, Chirstina Owen, Director of the UW Botanic Gardens, Farm Advisory Committee Co-Chairs Professors Eli Wheat and Yona Sipos and more.
It is my hope that this year we can come together to find permanent support for the farm as a living laboratory that serves:
- cross-discipline hands-on learning
- courses in multiple academic departments
- UW Dining plant-based food menus and sustainability goals
- area food banks and the UW Food Pantry
- UW Sustainability Action Plan
- the general public, as an all-access urban green space for learning and community-building
I invite you to purchase your ticket today. Thank you and I hope to see you there!
Sincerely,
Perry Acworth
UW Farm Manager
