We’d love to see you at the farm any time Sunday, July 11, between 2 and 6 p.m. Stay for a few minutes, or hang out and enjoy light refreshments and the birds singing the whole afternoon. It’s free and open to anyone interested in the farm. However, it is a fair weather-only day.

Here’s a tentative schedule:

~ 2:15 p.m. Short farm talk

~ 2:30 p.m. First farm tour

~ 3:30 p.m. Second farm tour

~ 5 p.m. Final farm tour

Find the farm:

We’re 1 mile down Dingman Road, off state Route 27. You’ll see our Plot Twist Farm sign and house. But this is NOT the farm. Keep driving just a few more seconds until you reach a blacktop driveway, on the right, with a sign that says Hickory Hill. If using GPS, look for 9276 Dingman Road, Guys Mills. Go up this drive. A sign will point you toward the farm. You’ll drive through the woods, up a dirt path, and wonder where in the heck you are. This path opens to the farm.

Please note: There’s no bathroom at the farm, but we’ll have shuttle rides to a bathroom several times during the afternoon.

~ Stella

Every season, Chef Jason Puryear hosts Farm Talk & Tasting nights, when he invites local farmers to speak, and he creates dishes featuring their ingredients. It’s a way to connect growers to the community, and it also forces shy farmers to get off the farm for a night, take a shower, and go socialize.

When we eat a meal out, or pick up carry-out, it’s from Chef Puryear’s ZEST Kitchen & Pantry. Unlike so much restaurant food, his lunch bowls help you get through the second half of your day full of energy, and with a pleasantly full and content stomach. You can order from the chef here. Chef Puryear is a grower now, as well, and operates Orange Dot Homestead, so he’s not only the host on farm talk nights, he’s a part of the conversation.

For our farm talk, Silas, who astoundingly has almost zero fear of public speaking, told us he wanted to present about Lil’ Plot Twist Farm, so we put together a mini slideshow for him. He walked in with his “fancy” shoes on and his straw sheriff’s hat, to greet the always friendly small audience of friends and neighbors. Afterward, Chef Jason and Silas worked out a sales deal. On Silas’s way out the door after dinner the other night, he called over his shoulder, saying to let him know if any of his CSA members (his grandmas) or Chef Jason calls and needs anything. Take a message for him. And if we let the machine pick it up, let him know.

Thanks, as always, Chef, for a nice night in Meadville. Keep an eye on ZEST’s Facebook page for the July farm talk with our friends from Strawberry Lane Produce.

Here are a few photos of creations by Chef Puryear:

Pasta salad with radish green pesto and sun-dried tomatoes and green onions.

~ Stella

Open Farm Day July 11!

A nice night off the farm with ZEST Kitchen & Pantry