Near the end of each growing season, I throw a Garden Party for my wonderful client gardeners and everyone who helped me grow my business this season. Bringing all my Patio Produce people together in one place easily makes this one of my favorite days of the year!
I loved watching my favorite new gardeners meet each other and walk through my garden, with a fun herb-based drink in hand. So many of my clients this year have really leveled up their garden games; either having a new garden built, expanding their gardens, or trying new varieties of veggies. And we had so many photos of our gardens to share with each other!
Gardening is a great solo hobby. You soak up the sun, move your body, eat truly organic food, and connect with nature in a truly special way as you work with nature to harvest.
But gardening is also a community activity. The Garden Party was my chance to feed those who have poured into my business directly from my garden. Sharing my harvests was my way to say thank you. And we all saw, in real time, how we built up the Patio Produce community by sharing stories of our own gardens, successes, and trials. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.
A Garden-to-Table Meal
One of the best parts of gardening is being able to feed people from your own garden, and the Garden Party was no exception. The Garden Party has grown so much that I needed help with the meal so that I could spend more time with my gardeners, and Ashley and Heidi at the local Gamboard Company came to my rescue. From the moment I reached out to them, they saw what I wanted to accomplish with the Garden Party and executed that vision better than I could have on my own. It’s the reason you hire experts (like garden coaches) to help you!
Ashley came to my garden a few days before the Garden Party to harvest most of what would be served and turned it into the most wonderful, delicious meal. The menu included a Mixed Green Salad (with lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and cucumbers from my garden) and Pesto Pasta (you guessed it – the pesto was from my garden!), along with grilled lemon and garlic shrimp, an incredible breadbasket with a garlic butter (garlic from my garden!), and the most divine orange ricotta cannoli cake (the uneaten layer of which I ate with abandon for a week after the party). It was incredible to see how a truly talented chef transformed my garden’s harvest into an incredible meal.
And the table. My goodness. While I can design a gorgeous garden, setting a beautiful table is not in my wheelhouse. Heidi to the rescue. She perfectly balanced the end of summer and the beginning of fall with plenty of greenery, pops of orange, and a few dried pieces in the arrangements. It was just gorgeous, and a perfect visual demonstration of how much my gardeners and everyone who poured into Patio Produce this year means to me.
Herb Mixology
And what would a Garden Party be without some fun, herb-inspired drinks? I met Adam and Jen earlier this summer through my booth at the Rolling Meadows Block Party, and when I visited them in their own garden a few days later, I learned that Adam makes absolutely divine cocktails out of the herbs and flowers from his and Jen’s garden. And when I say absolutely divine, I mean it. (Go check out Adam’s Instagram page @murph.adam for some incredible inspiration).
Adam graciously put together a drink menu for the Garden Party, and his drinks were such a hit. We had plenty of beautiful garnishes for the drinks too, straight from the garden! There’s really no end to what you can use the herbs and flowers that grow in your garden for.
Touring My Garden
After the incredible meal, my wonderful gardeners got a special tour of my gardens during the Garden Party. It was one of my favorite parts of the day! After gardening with them in their own gardens all season, it was such an honor for me to pull back the curtain and show them my own garden.
My favorite part was all the questions! Each of us garden a bit differently, so we exchanged so many wonderful ideas during the garden tour. I know that each of us is a better gardener now after all the wonderful ideas we exchanged.
And what an incredible bonding experience that sharing your own garden is. Your garden is a reflection of who you are as a person, and I loved sharing that with my gardeners.
If you weren’t at the Garden Party, I hope you’ll join me next year. And in the meantime, I hope you find a way to add an element of community to your garden. Whether you invite your family to help you harvest, or bring over a jar of fresh salsa to a neighbor, or even throwing your own garden-to-table party in your backyard, we all could connect with our neighbors more often.
*Gorgeous photos taken by both Gambord Company and Ryan Kenady
