Once a month the IT department makes dinner together. We pick someone’s house and the theme then we plan our menu. Last month we did seafood. Other previous themes included fall harvest, Mexican, grilling, breakfast foods, and Southern cuisine. This month we wanted to try something different. Brian suggested just eating out at the Roadhouse. Then Elph had the idea of going straight to the source. Cornman Farms, located 5 miles west of the city, is where Chef Alex Young and Mark Baerwolf grow the vegetables that they serve in the restaurant. This afternoon we drove over to meet Mark and learn more about where our food comes from.

Mark launched right into a hands-on tour of the farm. We tasted two kinds of spinach by plucking leaves straight from where they sprouted up from the ground. At the same time Mark was telling us about how he recently chased away rabbits that enjoyed chewing on these very same plants. It was an intense experience, chewing this simple leaf in isolation, away from the busy atmosphere of dinnertime, without even a layer of dressing to mask its flavor. Then there were four kinds of carrots, each with their own distinct flavor, that we tried after pulling them from the earth and rinsing them off. It was fun digging up a treasure trove of potatoes from under six inches of dirt. We snacked on turnips, radishes, leeks, three kinds of celery. At the same time we were filling up a crate with all these root vegetables.

On the other side of the field were rows of peppers, shining bursts of red in the glare of the sun. The farm also had a hoophouse to grow tomatoes and a greenhouse where they dried racks of chilies and oversized sunflowers. Nearby was storage for squashes of different shapes and sizes.

Growing vegetables seemed to me a complex science having to deal with innumerable variables that are impossible to control. The produce we get in the supermarkets are grown, one could almost say manufactured, in large facilities with controlled environments, fortified with various chemicals, picked before they are ready, and shipped across the country in a manner that guarantees a product that wholly consistent yet lacking in flavor.

Cornman Farms uses organic practices and takes it even further by employing their own creative and natural farming methods. Mark talked about ideal soil temperatures, natural and noninvasive ways to protect the crops, which plants work best next to other plants, how many frosts are best before harvest, and other bits of farming expertise.

Afterwards we trekked back to the city to make our dinner reservations. Mark arranged for the kitchen at the Roadhouse to prepare our vegetables with our meal. Our bucket of potatoes transformed into the best french fries I have ever had. Then out came out a dish of our roasted root vegetables, only lightly dressed with olive oil salt and pepper. Each bite with so flavorful, we looked at each other across the table amazed that we had picked these only three hours before.

I will admit that before today I never gave much thought into where my food came from. This experience made me appreciate how much better food can be when care is taken from the time it’s planted to the moment it comes out on a plate.