Summer at Kelmarna Community Farm is shaping up to be something special for our local community with the revival of our popular Harvest Festival and an exceptional eight-night series of Farm Dinners.
Both events are our invitation to come together to share in the food that our land and mahi tahi have produced this summer.
Nothing much beats a summer’s evening in the garden eating and drinking with friends. Except, maybe, if that beautiful fresh food you’re eating is chef prepared and grown metres from your table.
Kelmarna Community Farm Dinners are back in February, with even more evenings and more chefs. Fresh, organic vegetables grown all around the diners will form the focus of the set menus, also drawing on flavours foraged from our food forest and additional ingredients sourced locally and sustainably.
This year we welcome four exciting new chef partners, each creating a one-off four-course menu.
First up on 14 and 15 February is Luntian, the first all-vegan Filipino food business in New Zealand. Marrying the flavours of Filipino cuisine with the freshness of New Zealand’s local produce, Luntian founder Angel Apun hopes to inspire New Zealanders to be more conscious of the impact of our food choices. For this special event, the Luntian team has created an entirely vegan menu with a special Valentine’s theme.
Chefs Joe O'Connell and Chino Salazar (ex Ozone Coffee Roasters) are joining forces with hospitality legend James Prendergast and the team at Kelmarna to deliver a four hands sustainable dining experience on 16 and 17 February.
With their ethos of close-to-zero waste cooking, they will look to showcase the best of the season with a relaxed and friendly vibe. Tom and the Orphan's Kitchen team have put together a bespoke menu for 21 and 22 February that celebrates the bounty of peak summer produce off the farm as well as wild line-caught kai moana and Fiordland wapiti.
Focusing on the social and sustainable significance of how we eat, the team hopes diners will be inspired to elevate the vegetable in their home cooking too.
This year we are thrilled to partner with another very special not-for-profit. Everybody Eats (23 and 24 February) run pay-as-you-feel dining in their restaurants in Auckland and Wellington, where food that would otherwise go to waste is turned into restaurant quality meals.
Drawing on the seasonal harvest from the garden, the menu will be inspired by Kelmarna's produce, both farmed and foraged, with other rescued ingredients.
Our Farm Dinners are our main annual fundraising events so come along and enjoy a unique summer’s evening out while supporting our mission to create a better food future.
We’re excited also to confirm the revival of Kelmarna’s much-loved community event – our Harvest Festival on Sunday 10 March.
A programme of workshops, live music and delicious food is on offer throughout the day. The Kids’ Field is back with a host of farm and outdoor activities for younger locals to get stuck into.
Entry is free for all, and guests are encouraged to bring picnic blankets or chairs and settle in for a fun day on the farm.
#ponsonbynews #iloveponsonby #ponsonby #auckland #aucklandshippestrip #onlyponsonby #ponsonbyroad #Greylynn #freemansbay #westmere #ponsonby #hernebay #stmarysbay #archhill #coxsbay #westernsprings #summer #KelmarnaCommunityFarm #luntianFilipinocuisineAuckland #everybodyeats. #JoeO'Connell #Chino Salazar #OzoneCoffeeRoasters #OrphansKitchen
February 2024