Banquet in a Field
It's official! I'm married, moved and settled in North Dakota. I picked up my camera for the first time in about 1.5 months to photograph a "Banquet in a Field". And boy, was I excited! Yet at the same time, I had no idea what I was about to experience...
This event is put together by CommonGround ND and various other sponsors. The goal? To stimulate conversation between ag and non-ag folks.
They grow a plot of ND crops, which I had an absolute heyday with, of course.(several pretty crop pictures ensued)
Barley... 
...wheat... 
...flax...
...sunflowers... 
...canola......and many, many more! But I can't totally inundate the blog with them!
Each crop had a high-top table next to it, containing labels, facts, food and store-bought products. When the guests arrived, there was also a farmer/rancher standing by each table, ready to answer questions!
I had the opportunity to create the images in these picture frames as well! 
CommonGround volunteers have a quick meeting with coordinator Katie Pinke, before guests arrive. 
The event was held at Peterson Farms Seed - such a gorgeous place! 
CommonGround volunteers began the conversation with guests as they were escorted in. 
Once they arrived, they were personally greeted by the Petersons... 
..and were treated to live music.
From there, the non-farm guests were free to explore and capture! The guests are hand-selected "conversation-starters". They're bloggers, conventional media and other thought leaders.
They get to talk to real farmers and ranchers and ask any questions they might have, in addition to sampling appetizers made with the crop highlighted in each plot! 
The Petersons gave a warm welcome and prayer. Just one of the things I absolutely adore about agriculture.
Pasta, made with ND durum wheat.
ND meat..
...and ND potatoes make me a happy girl! 
How ND does dessert, made with it's own honey.
In addition to the CommonGround volunteers, ND FFA members served, cleared and washed dishes.
And at the end of the day, we were treated with one of those famous ND sunsets, full of orange and full of haze. What a beautiful way of life we have to share. :)
