Farm Dinners
In an effort to fully include customers in the mission of Blackbird Gardens, we host occasional meals on-site. For parties of 20 or less, we can plan a variety of menus to prepare and serve, while you overlook Little Traverse Bay and enjoy lush garden surroundings.
For example, we collaborated with See-North, a local environmental education non-profit, to host a dinner focused on wild foods and early spring foods from the garden. The participants visited two sites to see where some of the foods had been wild crafted. They then toured Blackbird Gardens and enjoyed a beautiful meal and short talk by Michael Everts.
If you are interested in more information and available dates, please contact us.
Garden Tours
Blackbird Gardens welcomes groups interested in garden tours.
We have hosted several school groups, such as two fifth grade classes from Petoskey’s St. Francis elementary school. The classes came for a harvest-to-table student-created garden lunch. We divided into groups, and with the help of three staff and a couple CSA participants, we harvested, prepared, and feasted on carrot-apple juice, pasta with basil pesto and roasted tomatoes, deluxe salad mix with all manner of garnish veggies, and applesauce.
After the hot pepper eating showdown, several of the children commented that no one had ever trusted them to use a sharp knife before, and it seemed they felt empowered to make more of their own food after learning some basic prep skills.
If you are involved with Master Gardener courses, area schools, local foods tours, or other organizations, please contact us for details about planning such an event. The fun part about touring our gardens is that participants always remember the tasting aspect!