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About Coast river business journal. (Astoria, OR) 2006-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 2022)
10 • AUGUST 2022 BUSINESS NEWS COAST RIVER BUSINESS JOURNAL Elegant dinners off ered on Blackberry Bog Farm A farm-to-table experience By ALEXIS WEISEND Coast River Business Journal Nestled in a blanket of trees east of Astoria sits a tranquil, family-owned farm. Visitors who come down the driveway are greeted by the farm stand’s sea of fl owers and maybe a rub on the legs from “Dusty,” the farm cat. Farmhands carry pitchers and boxes of produce to prepare for the upcoming dinner. The dinner tables will be full of fl owers, glasses of herbal sodas with fresh fruit, blue cheese and steak crostini, Pacifi c Northwest salmon, freshly baked goods and more. “There’s nothing that tastes better than something OFFERING BUSINESS MEMBERSHIPS Includes: • Museum and Theatre Admission & Guest Passes • Recognition in Museum and Member Communications • Recognition on Social Media Channels and crmm.org To join today visit: crmm.org/joingive or email members@crmm.org C olumbia R iver M aritime M useum 1792 Marine Drive, Astoria, Oregon • crmm.org PORT OF ILWACO Full Service Marina Self-Service Boatyard Waterfront Walkway Retail Shops Restaurants Lodging Fishing Charters www.portofilwaco.com 360-642-3143 that was literally picked that morning and made well,” Bonnie Thompson, one of the farm’s owners, said. Blackberry Bog Farm takes eating locally to the next level. It has hosted farm-to-table dinners for the p ast year that feature dishes with ingredients that come directly from the farm whipped up by a local guest chef. Whatever the farm doesn’t have comes from a local provider. At $100 per person with a limit of 25 guests, the dinners begin with an optional tour of the farm. Attendees can stroll through the berry patch and vine- yard, smell the fragrant fl owers in the farmstand and visit the farm’s fl uff y Scottish Highland cows. After the guests settle at their outdoor tables underneath a tent, the chef will detail where the din- ner’s ingredients come from. Over the course of the night, they will enjoy fi ve courses while listening to live music. The menu can change at any moment, but that’s how it works when all the food depends on the local environment, Thompson said. The farm is compet- ing with birds for its blueberries that are planned for one of the dinners’ salads and the weather can impact crops. Communicating the intricacies of eating locally is part of the goal for the Thompsons. People have asked them at farmers markets if they grow avocados, man- gos and guavas without realizing those don’t grow on the Oregon Coast. “It’s really nice to be able to support people that are growing things locally and have people under- stand that it does taste better, you know, a strawberry that’s fresh-picked,” Thompson said. “You can’t get that at the grocery store.” Her son, Andrew Thompson, said it can be hard for people to understand that they can buy produce grown in Clatsop County, even though people don’t think of it as an agricultural county. The dinners help draw people in to learn about local farms. “There’s not really anywhere that does that around here,” he said. “So, they come out here and then they know that there is a place where they can get fresh berries that are from here.” Bonnie Thompson said she had wanted to start these dinners for a while when the coronavirus pan- demic presented an easy opening. In 2020, the farm was packed with 450 hanging baskets full of fl owers with nowhere to sell them. They lined their driveway with the baskets so people could drive down and pick one from their cars. But people wanted to stay and wander around. “We realized how much fun it was having people on the farm,” Thompson said. With outdoor, separated tables, the dinners off ered people an opportunity to safely eat out in the comfort of nature. Thompson thinks the pandemic made peo- ple appreciate social events and eating locally. “It’s really trying to help people feel like they’ve got a place that they can come to that’s part of their community, that they’re going to enjoy and hopefully make some good memories as well,” she said. ABOVE: Andrew Thompson, of Black- berry Bog Farm, picks a blackberry. LEFT: Blackberry Bog Farm hosts farm-to-table dinners. Blackberry Bog Farm 40271 Old Highway 30, Astoria, OR 97103 503-717-3676 www.black berrybog farm.com
