Gracie’s Farm Dinner Series brings community together after summer flood

WANSHIP, Utah — Gracie’s Farm held their most recent Dinner Series event focused on tomatoes Thursday, with 110 guests attending. Farm manager Lyndsey Gammon expressed her gratitude for the love the farm has felt since a flood destroyed a large portion of their crops in July. With the outpouring of help and love, they are on their way to recovery.

The setting for dinners at Gracie’s Farm is stunning. Raised flower beds are awash with colors from a mix of flowers and vegetables. A long row of tables creates seating for everyone between the raised beds and a stream.

The guests are a mix of long-time and seasonal residents and tourists. Everyone has a seat assignment, and once they have a beverage in hand — at this event a tomato-inspired cocktail, cider from Dendric Estates or beer from Templin Family Brewing — guests mingle and find their name on the place cards. Blankets hang over every seatback for guests to use as the evening temperatures cool down.

Dendric Estates was also affected by weather conditions this year. Along with most fruit growers in the northern Utah region, they lost their apple crop to the late frost. Luckily, they said, their partner orchard in Idaho has a great crop this year and will be delivering apples to them in a few weeks.

Gracie’s Farm will be holding their Harvest Dinners Sept. 10 and 11. The final dinners of the season, toasting the bounty of the land and the connections made through the shared experience of farming and dining, will be served family style.

Proceeds from the Dinner Series help fund the farm operations and now their recovery.

Guillermo Tellez, the executive chef at the tomato dinner, certainly made the 5-course meal a memorable experience, starting with chilled clear heirloom tomato gazpacho and ending with candied tomatoes and strawberry pavlova. Every course featured tomatoes and so did the paired beverages.

After the initial flood on July 22, Gracie’s Farm held volunteer days for a few weeks to get the farm back into working order. After last week’s rain, Lyndsey Gammon said, “The rain did indeed cause more flooding on site, but nothing compared to the first round.”

They are likely to host more volunteer days as the season wraps up and they prepare for winter.