Harvest Feast at Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture
If you're ever in the New York City area, please plan a visit to Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture in Pocantico Hills, about 45-minutes outside Manhattan - it is one of my favorite places.
Stone Barns Center is a four-season nonprofit farm and educational facility whose mission is to celebrate year-round farm-to-table agriculture and to promote the connection between farming and eating. The center works to increase awareness of seasonal and sustainable food, trains farmers in restorative farming techniques, educates children about edible sources, and prepares them to be stewards of the land. Last weekend, I attended Stone Barn's annual Harvest Feast, a one-of-a-kind outdoor meal hosted by the center's farmers and chefs. This event offers visitors a tour of the farm’s growing spaces and a feast of small bites, plated dishes, and beverages by Blue Hill at Stone Barns owned by renowned chef, Dan Barber.
It was a beautiful day and a wonderful event, enjoy these photos. And please go to their web site for more information - there are still tickets available for Harvest Feast this weekend!
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- Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture is a laboratory dedicated to improving and spreading resilient and sustainable farming practices. The Center was originally created on 80-acres of property, but also incorporates more than 300 additional acres for livestock grazing. Stone Barns Center occupies these beautiful interconnected Norman-style farm buildings, which were originally built by John D. Rockefeller in the early 1930s for use as a dairy farm. (Photo by David Hechler for Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture)
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- After his wife, Peggy, died in 1996, it was David Rockefeller’s wish to turn the property into a center dedicated to sustainable agriculture, a cause Peggy had embraced throughout her life. The Center was established as a non-profit organization in 2004.
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- The farm at Stone Barns Center is a four-season operation with approximately six-acres used for vegetable production. It features a half-acre greenhouse as well as a terraced winter garden with unheated movable greenhouses. This greenhouse is where farmers conduct most of their seed breeding and seed-saving experiments. Harvest Feast guests enjoy refreshments and small bites while learning about the growing practices. (Photo by Mike Falco for Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture)
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- The greenhouse is soil-based, meaning plants can access the natural soil of the farm.
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- The minimally heated greenhouse is also home to many unique or experimental varieties of vegetables. There are many different seeds growing on sliding tables. Varieties are evaluated based on many factors such as taste, texture, color, yield, pest resistance, and many more. (Photo by Lori Berkowitz for Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture)
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- The gardens and fields stretch far and wide. The cattle, ducks, sheep, goats, and turkeys are raised on pastures kept healthy and productive through carefully managed rotational grazing. Strategies for maintaining the pastures include intensive paddock management so the grazed area has ample time to recover and provide a natural refuge for birds and other wildlife. (Photo by David Hechler for Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture)
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- At the start of the Feast, all the visitors to Stone Barns are offered a refreshing botanical cocktail.
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- Some of the small bites offered include these celery root skewers. Celeriac, also called celery root, knob celery, and turnip-rooted celery, is a variety of celery cultivated for its edible stem and shoots. I love celeriac and grow it every year in my own garden.
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- Here, a guest enjoys a roasted 898 squash grown at Stone Barns. The 898 variety packs concentrated sweetness, flavor, and beta-carotene into a single-serving. (Photo by Mike Falco for Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture)
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- Here I am with Stone Barns Director of Agriculture, Jack Algiere. We’ve known each other for many years and always enjoy discussing various gardening topics and practices.
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- This is a view of the grazing sheep at Stone Barns. (Photo by David Hechler for Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture)
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- And one of the guardian dogs that protect the sheep.
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- The farm grows at least 200-varieties of produce year-round, both indoors and in the outdoor fields and gardens.
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- Another delicious dish: Stone Barns waste-fed pork with nixtamalized Meg’s song barley and snap dragon apple. All the food and beverages are prepared by Chef Dan Barber’s farmstead restaurant Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Dan focuses on deriving the greatest flavor potential from all the ingredients he uses and is devoted to producing food with a low environmental impact. (Photo by Lori Berkowitz for Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture)
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- This is single-origin levain, or sourdough bread just out of the oven. (Photo by Lori Berkowitz for Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture)
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- Here, Jack stops to talk to guests and answer questions. (Photo by Mike Falco for Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture)
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- Visiting groups for Harvest Feast are limited to 16, so all can see the farming grounds by hayride. It was a very pleasant early fall day – perfect and very safe for this outdoor tour. (Photo by Mike Falco for Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture)
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- Some guests also walked through the garden fields. (Photo by David Hechler for Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture)
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- And sat for various lectures and discussions with the Center’s farmers. (Photo by David Hechler for Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture)
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- At another stop, guests gather at umbrella covered tables to learn more about the farm. The Harvest Feast lasted about three hours in all. (Photo by Mike Falco for Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture)
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- And for everyone’s sweet tooth, S’mores, a favorite campfire treat consisting of toasted marshmallows and a layer of chocolate on graham cracker. (Photo by David Hechler for Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture)
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- It was a very informative event – all to support the Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture. Here I am with Stone Barns Center Executive Director, Rick Parnell. I have been coming to Stone Barns for nearly 20 years and every visit is always so interesting – I encourage all of you to make a stop if you’re ever in the area. (Photo by David Hechler for Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture)
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