Chef Aaron Nichols and Agriplex director Rachel Dawsey.

Why thank just one farmer when you can thank a whole bushel all at once? At this year’s Harvest to Home Dinner, an annual celebration of home-grown agriculture hosted by the North Alabama Agriplex, the fruits of many local labors weren’t just a topic of abstract discussion: They were actually on each guest’s plate.

From sweet potatoes to pork loin to parsley and much more, nearly two dozen area growers and their edible bounty contributed to the Alabama-raised meal that greeted diners at the Sept. 14 event, which serves as the Cullman-based nonprofit’s signature annual fundraiser. Elevated from simple comfort cuisine into a bespoke meal that highlights just how far each ingredient can fly, fresh foods grown right here in Cullman County joined a culinary medley curated with a flourish by Wallace State Community College Culinary Arts program chair and chef Aaron Nichols.

The list of local farmers who pitched in for the event is long, and illustrates the direct connection between food’s final destination at the dinner table and the unseen, everyday agricultural effort that plays out to make it possible in poultry houses, hatcheries, pastures, orchards, forests and produce fields.

Among the locals who contributed to this year’s Harvest to Home dinner — some of whom already have shared their stories in previous “Thank a Farmer” features — are Brickyard Meats (pork loin), Champion Farms (jalapeno and tomatoes), Clark Haynes Farm (sweet potatoes and watermelon), the Foundry Farm (eggs), Glover’s Produce (red onion), Humble Heart Dairy (goat cheese), J. Calvert Farms (cucumbers, pepper, okra, and zucchini), Marilyn Williams (herbs), Steele Orchard (apples), the Farm at Hidden Springs (pork loin), Thompson’s Orchard (peach pepper jelly), Mulberry Hills Farmstead (thyme, zinnia), the West Elementary School outdoor classroom (basil and thyme) and more.

“We have so many wonderful food resources in our area, and chef Aaron Nichols has a contagious enthusiasm for delicious, local, fresh foods,” says Agriplex director Rachel Dawsey, noting that this year’s dinner — a sold-out success — raised close to $20,000 for the Agriplex’s capital campaign to fund a new community hub building.

On the menu, local and regional farmers’ food contributions emerged as delicately-crafted dishes. Appetizers featured zesty bacon figs and heirloom tomato tartine, followed by a first course of vegetarian Wellington, with an entree of smoked center-cut bone-in pork loin (with strawberry summer pepper glacé and a crispy zucchini caprese, served alongside a green chile cavatappi).

Apples provided the aromatic centerpiece for dessert, which featured a baked apple tart with toasted marshmallow fluff and candied apple — an appetizing and attention-getting way, as with all of the evening’s edibles, to demonstrate that food raised down on the farm affords the careful cook an almost infinite measure of versatility.

“This dinner is unique in that the meal is prepared by Wallace State culinary students under the leadership of chef Aaron,” says Dawsey. “The students were extremely accommodating and hard-working — They worked for two solid weeks prepping and cooking all of the regionally-raised food. An event like this really showcases just how big the possibilities are for foods that are raised here in Cullman County and across Alabama, and we definitely have a lot of local farmers to thank for that.”