by Jessica Wilson (Photos courtesy Marte Media and Suzzanne Cromwell)
On September 28, the eve of the full harvest moon, Mill City Grows hosted their first formal Farm to Table dinner fundraiser.
The small, special event, with just 50 seats available, offered a delicious local and sustainable meal to all attendees. While “bigger is better” had been MCG’s motto with their Farm to Cocktail event for many years, the staff felt strongly since 2020 about hosting a more intimate event, and creating a real community feel.
The evening’s festivities were held on the 5th floor of the historic Wannalancit Mills, with many thanks to Farley White Interests for donating the space. The space was dressed for the evening with long tables set with vintage china, flowers picked fresh from the MCG farm and arranged by MCG Education Manager, Daphnne Ekmanis, and beautiful pictures of Mill City Grows’ community gardeners. Music was provided by Will Laughlin. Of course, nature was part of our décor, with the beautiful Harvest Super Moon shining in through the large mill windows.
The dinner featured ingredients fresh from many local farms including Mill City Grows, Nallie Pastures (Dracut), Wright-Locke Farm (Winchester), Hutchins Farm (Concord), Liberty Hill Farm (Bedford, NH), and other ingredients from Shaw Farm, Brew’d Awakenings, and Purple Carrot Bread. Everything was expertly prepared by Chef Kelcy of Wright-Locke Farm. Chef Kelcy told her story of how she fell in love with food education after sharing and teaching a recipe at a very early Mill City Grows’ Farm to Table cooking class nearly a decade ago. After that experience, she realized the kitchen was where she wanted to be, and she pursued a new career as a chef. She now offers her services as chef and food educator through her own business and has served as Head Chef at Wright-Locke Farm for more than 2 years.
Some of the menu highlights included: leek and goat cheese tartlets, curried sweet potato and carrot soup, marinated tomatoes with herbs, burnt miso roasted eggplant, lemon pepper cauliflower, herb roasted chicken thighs, risotto, sugar and spice potato donuts, and poached pears. A selection of sustainable wines was donated by Emma and Gary Campbell, and served with each course.
The evening was an opportunity to spend time with friends new and old and hear exciting news about Mill City Grows urban farms and gardens, which produce over 120,000 servings of produce for Lowell’s residents each year.
Attendees also learned about the progress of the new Pawtucket Farm Wildlife Sanctuary Project (PFWS). Working with partners Lowell Parks & Conservation Trust and Mass Audubon, Mill City Grows plans to purchase and open the space to the public starting in early 2024. PFWS will be MCG’s largest project to date, bringing 22 acres of publicly accessible green space to the community, including urban growing space, a farm stand, outdoor classroom, all-persons hiking trails, and more.
To learn more about Mill City Grows and their Lowell-based programs, visit millcitygrows.org.
