Artist's Date: Bear Creek Organic Farm
In her book The Artist's Way, author and artist Julia Cameron describes an Artist's Date as, "...a block of time, perhaps two hours weekly, especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artist."
In honor of all our inner artists, I'm going to add Artist Date blog posts to the rotation. Recently, I went on an Artist's Date to a beautiful organic farm in lower northwest Michigan. Hopefully, this post will provide you with some inspiration of your own.
A Farm Visit Near Petoskey
When I'm in the Petoskey, MI area, I love to visit Bear Creek Organic Farm. They have a wonderful farm stand full of freshly harvested, in-season produce sourced from their farm, as well as from local farmers.
Food Truck at Bear Creek Organic Farm. Their menu is full of amazing farm-to-table dishes made fresh, using ingredients grown on site. Photo credit: Trace Kingsley
Most days of the week, you can visit their food truck. If you subscribe to Margin Notes Monthly, you know how much I love soup. Their food truck always has at least one delicious and amazing in-season soup. Recently, I had their potato-bacon chowder and an order of zucchini fries. Yum! I also love their salad. They make their own dressing. Oh! And they have delicious pasties too.
The week I visited Bear Creek, I was in town for the Harbor Springs Festival of The Book (HSFOTB). I stopped by the farm for some groceries and picked up two beautiful mum plants for our front porch.
Entrance to the Organic Pumpkin Patch. So many beautiful pumpkins. Photo credit: Trace Kingsley
They had an organic pumpkin patch set up in their greenhouse. Everything is always so vibrant and beautiful there, especially in the summer and fall. You can tell that everything is well tended and the staff love what they do. I'm so glad this local farm is thriving.
Beautiful Organic Gourds in the indoor pumpkin patch at Bear Creek Organic Farm. I love the colors, textures, and shapes. Photo credit: Trace Kingsley
Finding Inspiration in Seasonal Food
Back in July, I made a delicious potato leek soup using their potatoes and leeks. I also, for the very first time, made French onion soup using onions and shallots from their farm store. At the time, I could only buy shallots by the quart. That's a lot of shallots! So, my French onion soup was more like French "shallonion" soup. LOL. But oh, it was delicious!
Potato Leek Soup made with potatoes and leeks from Bear Creek Organic Farm. I took this photo before the final step of blending it in a food processor. Photo credit: Trace Kingsley
You don't have to be an amazing cook to make delicious in-season meals. Beautiful, fresh ingredients do the heavy lifting. Once you taste fresh fruits and vegetables from your local farm or farmers market, it'll change the way you view the produce from chain grocery stores.
I realize not everyone has the access or luxury of being able to go to a farm where ingredients are grown. In some areas, you can purchase a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box from a local farmer. You pay ahead, then they deliver fresh produce to your neighborhood on a regular schedule. I found a national directory of CSA listings in the United States.
I'd love to eat farm-to-table all the time, but it's not possible or realistic, especially during January in Chicago. Knowing that, I make the best of things when I can.
In the fall, the shallots are much bigger so you can buy them individually, instead of by the quart. This gorgeous one traveled with me to Illinois and is currently in a delicious chicken vegetable soup that I just made. Photo credit: Trace Kingsley
Farm visits make a great Artist's Date. I'm always inspired to create a new dish using whatever the earth has ready. The colors, textures, and shapes of the produce are mesmerizing. When eaten, it's nourishing. I'm also reminded how amazing the natural world is, and it gives me a sense of belonging.
Until next time, Dear Reader. Thank you ever so much for reading.
xo Trace
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