Harmony celebrated our first in-person major event in over a year this past weekend with our Harvest Fair - and we couldn’t have asked for a better time! The weather was absolutely perfect, with sunshine and blue skies, and being able to finally get together to have fun safely made it a truly special day. We painted pumpkins, sampled a great variety of local Bemidji culinary delights, heard some fabulous live music, and enjoyed each other's company and the gorgeous Minnesota autumn harvest.
Local talents April Aylesworth and Caige Jambor performed on our live stage this year, regaling us with catchy, heartfelt music in a variety of genres.
Our patio also featured face painting and pumpkin painting - and we were visited by some of the greatest artists in the Bemidji area, as you can see here!
This event was a showcase and celebration of LOCAL…locally grown food, locally produced products, as well as local chefs who know how to bring all the best local components together in a “local” recipe-dish to sample! We were so fortunate to have some amazing local folks joining us for the festivities this year.
One of our vendors was Strictly Mushrooms LLC, showing off assorted varieties of their specialty mushrooms. Locally grown in Pine River, MN, Strictly Mushrooms LLC take pride in providing northern Minnesota with the highest-quality gourmet mushrooms year-round. Enjoy the freshest and tastiest oyster mushrooms, shiitakes, lions' mane, and more, grown indoors in a controlled environment with no artificial chemicals.
Table for Seven and chef/owner Amber Lynne (who is teaching a Harmony education class on Tuesday the 21st!) brought refreshing watermelon gazpacho and einkorn flour cookies. Table for Seven is bringing Bemidji back to it roots, supporting local with Farm to table cuisine. The name comes from Amber's family of 7 and her love of cooking at home on the farm using what's available to create her menu.
Natural Way Mills brought their Pohonka waffle mix (topped with local maple syrup) - it smelled so good! Their products are not bleached, bromated or preserved in any way, nor do they enrich them. They are as natural a product and as pure as possible. Because of their milling method, they obtain a unique fineness and light color not found in other whole grain flours.
Bramble Bee Farm’s hearty, ever-popular multigrain sourdough breads (topped with Velvet Bees honey butter and fantastic Red Lake Nation Foods blueberry jam) were a clear favorite. Bramble Bee Farm offers the finest artisan and traditional breads, mixing simplicity with artistry and using their own homegrown honey.
Everyone loves talking with Harold Frenzel - about his chickens, their eggs, or anything else! Harold is a long-time Harmony vendor, supplying our community with locally raised, free range eggs. His birds are well cared for, with the opportunity to roam free on his property. Harold’s eggs are available for purchase in our dairy case!
Harmony’s own Good Food Deli presented two delicious housemade salads (Kale Quinoa and perennial favorite Enlightened Waldorf), while our store departments collaborated to produce some truly inspired snack combinations.
We are proud to be a part of this vibrant community and we want to thank everyone for coming out and celebrating our local harvest with us! Special thanks to the National Arts Honor Society members who helped us paint pumpkins (and faces!).
See more pictures capturing the pure joy of our community from our Harvest Fair here: http://ow.ly/ThJM50GbmLZ\