I Will Miss You, Asparagus

Patrick and I got some of the last asparagus of the season from the Rutgers Gardens Farmers' Market. Mmmmmm it was good. Smelly pee does not deter me. I will miss you, asparagus. I await your return next year.

Valley Shepherd Creamery

Did you know we have a sheep creamery right here in NJ? Patrick and I found out when we visited the Rutgers Gardens weekly Farmers' Market on Friday. Valley Shepherd Creamery is located in Long Valley, NJ, between routes 46 and 78 (exit 24 off route 78).

We sampled some cheese and were tempted to take more home, including some yogurt, but we didn't have our cooler with us. The Nettlesome cheese with real stinging nettle was delish! We only tried a small amount but I would love to go back next week for more.

If you live near the creamery, take some time to check it out. You can tour the farm, taste their products and maybe catch an event at the right time. It sounds like a good place for a family outing.

Most importantly, if you live in the area, giving Valley Shepherd your business is better for the environment, and most likely your pocketbook. Let me know if you've been there or plan to visit soon.

Pictures of our Wedding Site

We visited a farmers' market today that just happened to take place at Rutgers Gardens, the site of our upcoming September wedding. While there I took a few pictures to give an idea of how beautiful this place is. However, as always, pictures don't do the real thing justice.



1. The view of the log cabin and pavillion from the parking lot.



2. The patio and pavillion


3. A nice sitting area


4. A closeup picture of the pavillion.


The cement floor in the pavillion is in perfect shape so we won't need to rent a dancefloor. We will have a tent extending the pavillion out to the side to accommodate more seating.

There was a couple having their wedding photos taken while we were there so we weren't able to take any pictures of the garden where our ceremony will take place (I'll try again next week). But you can go to the Rutgers Gardens website to see the layout of all the gardens. We will be married in the Roy H. DeBoer Evergreen Garden, which is letter E on the map.

Wedding Venue Take Three

We originally thought we'd have our wedding at Alba Vineyard. Alba is beautiful but the caterers aren't fitting our style. So we thought we'd have our celebration at Alstede Farms. Alstede would be perfect for us because we could use food grown right on the farm in our dinner and even cut our flowers grown on the farm without having to resort to a florist. However, the event manager (whom I thought was very nice and extremely helpful) has not been in touch with us for follow-up. This could be due to many reasons but I, as the bride, cannot wait around forever while other venues are getting booked up.

So here we are more than two months after our engagement and we've finally decided on a venue that I think (keep your fingers crossed for us) will stick. Rutgers Gardens is a beautiful area of preserved land used by students studying horticulture. It is also host to a variety of events, such as weddings. They have a log cabin and pavillion perfect for our wedding!

What Makes it Green?

Rutgers Gardens and Pavillion is green because it is a non-profit venue. All proceeds go toward maintaining the gardens. We are able to use the caterer of our choice and we're happy about that. Patrick's mother gave me the name of a caterer that has worked some of their big family parties. One was even a wedding. This caterer has done numerous weddings at Rutgers Gardens so we can feel confident that she will do a good job and we will be happy at the end of the night.

A Friday Wedding

Due to the fact that September is the new June when it comes to weddings, all Saturdays are booked so we had Fridays and Sundays to choose from. I got all excited thinking we could take the Sunday before Labor Day but, of course, that was the ONE Sunday that was booked. So....after much deliberation (and tears on my part), we decided on having a Friday evening wedding. We figured after all is said and done a Friday night would be easier on our guests than a Sunday because our close friends and family won't want to have to go to work the next day.

So Rutgers Gardens it is. I'm writing this at 10pm Wednesday night. I will be officially booking the site tomorrow morning. I'll keep you posted but in the meantime, please keep your fingers crossed that nothing goes wrong with this one. I don't think I can take starting all over yet again.