The Tiny Diner

Tiny Diner at Garden Farme is a small production site located in Ramsey, Minnesota, that strives to provide Kim Bartmanns restaurants (including Tiny Diner, Barbette, The Third Bird, Bryant-Lake Bowl, The Red Stag Supperclub, Pats Tap, Bread & Pickle and Gigis Café) with as much local produce as possible. Heading into the second season, I set out to find out how many vegetables two farmers can cultivate on one acre with nothing but seeds, shovels, and their bare hands. I was surprised at what I found; it turns out that amount is almost unimaginable. This years abundance was distributed to all eight of Kim Bartmanns restaurants, and at times in overwhelming amounts. Our spring harvest provided up to 300 pounds of salad mix, lots of kale, chard, a colorful bounty of root vegetables, and bucket after bucket of peas. Our crop of more than 20 varieties of heirloom tomatoes ripened in spades, and I was able to meet the majority of the chefs needs. I felt good sending the message, We have more tomatoes than we know what to do with! As fall is upon us, we are busy harvesting squash by the truck-full. Currently, there are thousands of pounds of winter squash stored away in the basement of Gigis Café that will be distributed to all the restaurants throughout the winter months, so keep an eye out for squash specials and other sweetly seasonal surprises. We give thanks to our soil for this years success as we lay our garden to rest. Next years planning begins as we top our beds with manure, compost, and mulch. Now that we know how much can be accomplished with just one acre and two pairs of hands, its time to start dreaming big. I will be putting my head together with the chefs during winter to come up with a crop production plan that will not only maximize yields from the garden, but also will inspire seasonally delicious menus for next year. The diversity of the garden allows for almost endless potential for creativity in the kitchen, and were looking forward t