Harvest Gathering Farm-to-Table Dinner
An Intimate, Locally-Sourced, Small Town Dinner
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Each fall, we gather around the table for our signature Farm-to-Table Dinner, an evening rooted in community, connection, and celebration. This authentic, locally sourced five-course dining experience brings together friends, family, neighbors, and supporters to honor our agricultural heritage while showcasing the very best of our local food community.
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More than just a meal, the Farm-to-Fork Dinner is a celebration of the people, partnerships, and programs that make our community thrive. Hosted at Bricker-Price Block in Earlham, Iowa, the evening reflects our commitment to preserving our rural roots while creating meaningful experiences that bring people together year after year.
About
Meet Chef Jessica Baldus
Award-winning Chef Jessica "Jes" Baldus is an entrepreneur, restaurateur, and nationally recognized advocate for Iowa's farm-to-table movement. With a passion for showcasing the people and products that make Iowa agriculture exceptional, Chef Jes creates memorable dining experiences that celebrate the freshest seasonal ingredients and the stories behind them.
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Her culinary journey began while studying entrepreneurship at Des Moines Area Community College, where she built a successful dessert business serving restaurants throughout central Iowa. As her business grew, she returned to her hometown of Osage and opened several acclaimed ventures, including taste., Piggyback Smoke Shack, Blind Pig, The Bakery, and The Market-Osage. Throughout each endeavor, her mission has remained the same: to highlight locally grown ingredients and support Iowa farmers and producers.
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Chef Jes has earned statewide and national recognition for both her culinary talent and community leadership. She received the Iowa Restaurant Association's Small Community Restaurant Neighbor Philanthropy Award in 2018 and was later named one of the Association's 40 Women to Watch.
Nationally, she has competed on Food Network's Guy's Grocery Games and Supermarket Stakeout and was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Emerging Chef Award. Most recently, she earned the Superior Chef Award at the Taste of Elegance Competition and was selected as one of just 20 chefs nationwide to participate in the Culinary Institute of America's prestigious CEIP culinary enrichment program.
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Today, Chef Jes continues to champion Iowa's food supply chain by working directly with local farmers, ranchers, and artisans to create unforgettable culinary experiences rooted in seasonality, sustainability, and community. Whether she's in the kitchen, traveling to learn from agricultural traditions, or building relationships with producers, she believes the most meaningful thing she can create is a genuine connection between people and the food they share.
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We are honored to welcome Chef Jessica Baldus as the featured chef for Harvest Gathering Farm-to-Table, where she will craft an unforgettable dining experience celebrating Iowa's rich agricultural heritage and the exceptional flavors of the season.
Our 2026 Sponsors
Social Hour Sponsors
Harvesters:
Cultivators:
Seed Sowers:
Our Mission
The mission of our farm-to-table dinner is to not only honor our agricultural roots but to also celebrate all of the programming and events that take place in our community event venue at Bricker-Price Block.
This much anticipated event sold out in nine minutes in 2019.
The History of our Harvest Gathering Farm-to-Table Dinner
On October 20th, 2019, our very first farm-to-table dinner was set in the middle of our small town under farm-style lights in the middle of Chestnut Avenue in front of Bricker-Price Block in Earlham, Iowa. Since then, the Harvest Gathering Farm-to-Table Dinner has become an annual event that celebrates our community’s rural roots and encompasses a genuine sense of fellowship.
“What a great sense of community and fellowship to be a part of! The food was fantastic, the service was impeccable, and the company was perfection.”
– Megan, Harvest Gathering Guest
Photos by Harvest Photography