July 17 at Aqua Green Farm near Middleway

Reservations are now being taken for a July 17 “Fresh Feast on the Farm” dinner at Bill White Grantham’s Meadow Green/Aqua Green Farm near Middleway in southern Jefferson County.

The Fresh Feast on the Farm program was launched by Jane Tabb of Kearneysville in 2008, with the help of funds from the West Virginia Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program.

The program is intended to help promote the local food movement and agritourism in Jefferson County. It provides unique dining experiences that highlight delicious, locally produced foods served in beautiful farm settings.

Each dinner features a multi-course meal that varies with the seasons. The dinners are country elegant-held in a tent, barn or other farm building with white tablecloths and linen napkins.

Meals are served plated and are accompanied by West Virginia wines.

Ten percent of each event’s gross revenues are donated to a partnering local non-profit organization that provides volunteer wait staff. The host farm also receives ten percent. The remaining proceeds cover event and program costs.

The July 17 event will start at 6 p.m. with appetizers and a walking tour of the farm. Dinner will follow at 7 p.m.

A new hay barn will be the dinner venue.

The partnering nonprofit organization for this event will be the Potomac Valley Audubon Society.

The cost to attend will be $75 per person. Space is limited so early reservations are recommended.

For more information and to make reservations on line, go to the program’s website at www.feshfeastonthefarm.com. Or contact Jane Tabb at (304) 725-4325 or vinemont@frontiernet.net.

The Meadow Green/Aqua Green Farm is a diverse, conservation-minded operation on 186 acres off W.Va. 51. Bill White Grantham, a seventh-generation farmer, owns and operates it with his wife Kerry and nephew Andrew Upright. They raise free-range cattle and hay, and have converted a hog-farrowing barn into a facility to raise rainbow trout.

The conservation practices on the farm include stream bank fencing and limited access areas to protect Turkey Run, which flows through the property.