It doesn’t get more farm-to-table than dining at a historic farm overlooking the pastoral splendor where the herbs and greens you’re eating were grown. The freshly prepared food and views of Glynwood’s bucolic undulations are just part of what makes the organization’s farm dinner series so inspiring.
“Farm dinners are a way to celebrate regional Hudson Valley food, build community, and welcome people to the farm,” says Suzy Konecky, Director of Individual Giving at the Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming.
Part working farm, part teaching farm, and part advocacy organization to support growers and consumers, Glynwood’s overall mission is to ensure that “farmers prosper, food entrepreneurs succeed, residents are nourished, and visitors are inspired.” It’s located within Fahnestock State Park in Cold Spring—“in the doughnut hole of the park,” Konecky jests—across 250 acres of pastures, greenhouses, lakes, and historic structures, including the original home of the Perkins family who started the farm. The Perkinses worked the land from the 1920s through the ’90s, largely in dairy and beef production before selling it to the Open Space Institute. The Perkins House is where farm dinners are now held.
During these monthly events, guests enjoy a multiple-course meal made with as many local ingredients as possible by a guest chef. Dinners are served family-style at rustic tables where strangers break bread to become fast friends.
“The feedback we’ve received is that people love them and sometimes feel inspired to become more involved with the organization after,” Konecky says. “Overall, the dinners offer a chance to meet like-minded people and make friends, whether guests attend as a group or arrive solo.”
The events typically start with a cocktail hour featuring passed hors d’oeuvres and a signature drink. Prior to that, optional farm tours are available for guests who want to see the grounds and learn more about Glynwood’s regenerative farm practices and food access programs. Join the tour and you’ll see sustainable practices at-work, like a no-till field and a shed that houses both a bike-powered root-vegetable washer and an upcycled washing machine permanently set to its spin cycle as a means of drying salad greens in bulk—essentially, a massive salad spinner.
In addition, you’ll learn about the organization’s food access programs like the Food Sovereignty Fund. For this initiative, Glynwood coordinates between donors, farms, and food pantries to distribute farm produce while ensuring farmers are fairly compensated. Last year, the Food Sovereignty Fund assisted in the delivery of 25 tons of food and more than 44,000 meals.
After a tour and cocktail hour, the event heads indoors for the meal. Dinners are often themed; for this month—which took place May 12—the theme was “green”. Guests were encouraged to wear the springtime hue and chef Brian Arnoff from Beacon’s Kitchen Sink was challenged to create a menu featuring green foods.
He rose to the occasion by serving a first course of olive and rosemary focaccia alongside warm asparagus salad made with greens grown at Glynwood, before a family-style second course of wild-caught salmon topped with a fennel and Glynwood kale soubise and a Tivoli Farm ramp chimichurri. Sides of roasted broccoli with Old Chatham Creamery cheese and Glynwood chives, plus pea-puree risotto with more Glynwood greens, added to the verdant vibe. A dessert of parsnip chocolate cake was green in spirit.
The dinners are capped by a short discussion with a guest speaker. In April, Glynwood president Kathleen Finlay conversed with author/filmmaker Raj Patel, and in March, author Giada Scodellaro read from her recently published book, Some of Them Will Carry Me. During
May’s dinner, board member Dr. Sezelle Gereau interviewed Glynwood’s associate director of vegetable Production Jarret Nelson about some of the farm’s impressive initiatives, like the innovative Climate Battery. This system of winter greenhouse heating utilizes fans that pull excess daytime heat through underground pipes; the hot air is stored in the soil, which acts as a battery holding the heat. When the greenhouse cools at night, fans turn back on to push air up into the space. “In the Northeast, it’s hard to grow greens in winter so it’s typical to heat greenhouses with propane,” Konecky explains. “This allows us to grow beautiful greens all winter, like kale, Swiss chard, and lettuce, without using fossil fuels.”
In June the farm dinners will pause, as Glynwood’s third annual benefit picnic takes place on June 10. They resume on July 13, with the Midsummer Flower Fete—floral attire encouraged, a menu featuring edible flowers, and a speaker not yet confirmed, but likely fitting of the theme. Ticket cost options and additional events can be found online.
“The impact of Glynwood’s work is really tangible and significant,” Konecky says, “and our farm dinners are a fun way to celebrate Hudson Valley agriculture during the beauty of summer.”
