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Stewing Hen

06/17/06 - Dry Creek Farm Stewing Hens

While we were buying eggs at the Port Angeles Farmers' Market, Harley informed us that Dry Creek Farm will be selling stewing hens this coming Friday, June 23rd Monday, June 26th, after 3PM at the farm on Rife Road. These are tough old birds, literally, but properly braised they are amazingly flavorful. They also make wonderful chicken stock, so get one while you can.

Keywords: birds, farms, dry creek farm, food, port angeles, farmers' market


04/26/06 - Dungeness Valley Creamery Is Open for Business

We just got word from Dungeness Valley Creamery (see their email below). They are open for business and selling raw milk. Apparently, they have taken the big jump and left the milk marketing co-op and are going it on their own. If you have never tasted raw, milk, drop by and try it. It is clearly the inspiration for ice cream, and it will make just about any other milk you have tasted seem washed out and watery.

 

Dear raw milk supporters,

Thank you so much for your patience! We know how
excited many of you are about finally getting access
to wholesome raw milk. We can now say we will open on
Wednesday, April 26th! Our hours are 7:30 am - 1:00
pm Monday through Saturday.

Dungeness Valley Creamery is now certified raw by the
state and the building has been checked off by the
county! This is a big step of faith for our family
and we invite you to be a part of it! Please come and
see our beautiful new Creamery and enjoy the view of
the Olympic Mountains from the front porch. Oh yeah,
and don't forget the fresh raw jersey milk on your way
out! We are offering quarts, half gallons, and
gallons ($2.25, $3.75, $6.75 respectively). Cash and
checks only. Other local products soon to come.

Look for our products soon in the Port Townsend Food
CO-OP, Sunny Farms, Good to Go, Country Aire, and
Marlenes in Tacoma and Federal Way. We have purchased
a refrigerated truck and are able to deliver.

Also, our milk is going to Mt. Townsend Creamery to be
made into wonderful cheese (which we have tasted and
love)! This too, will soon be availabe in our on farm
store.

Thanks again for all of your support!
Sarah Brown

Dungeness Valley Creamery
1915 Towne Rd.
Sequim, WA 98382
(360) 683-0716

 

For our earlier notes on Dungeness Valley Creamery,
click here.

For more farms and wineries in Clallam County,
click here.

Keywords: milk, dungeness, farms, food, port townsend, wine, maps, tacoma, good to go


04/01/06 - Farmers' Market Nettle Soup

We were pleased to see more farmers and more spring vegetables at the Port Angeles Farmers' Market. As one might expect, things were slow this winter, especially with the market moving from downtown back to the Clallam County Courthouse parking lot. As usual, we went to town, buying carrots, salad greens, flowering arugula, blue hubbard squash and farm fresh eggs. As we always say, "Round up the usual vegetables". (You can tell we are big Casablanca fans).

One big surprise was a bunch of plastic bags marked with a big sign saying DO NOT TOUCH. Needless to say, we did not touch. What was in the bags? Nettles!

One of the local farmers has been gathering the nettles that bloom in the spring and are the despair of all too many gardeners. It is a very good idea not to touch nettles, at least not without a pair of good gloves. Of course, cooked nettles are another matter entirely.

We bought a bag and boiled up some heritage breed turkey stock. Using a pair of ultra sturdy, bright blue silicone rubber gloves, we washed the nettles and popped them into the boiling broth. We also cut up and added some potatoes, and some salt and cracked pepper. A half an hour later, we were in heaven.

Nettles taste somewhere between artichokes and snails. They taste little like kale or collards. Their flavor is much deeper and darker, with a little musty, minty twang. Needless to say, we won't get to have a soup like this very often, but it was rich and hearty, and a definite harbinger of spring.

 

 

Port Angeles Farmers' Market

The Farmers' Market on a rainy Saturday

Nettle and Potato Soup

Nettle and Potato Soup

 

Keywords: farms, port angeles, spring, winter, farmers' market


03/18/06 - First Salad Greens of the Year

We've tasted our first salad greens of the year from the Port Angeles Farmers' Market. We'll keep you posted as the season progresses.

Keywords: farms, port angeles, farmers' market


Map for the Port Angeles Farmers' Market

03/07/06 - The Farmer's Market Has Left Downtown, Peace and Quiet Return To Our Dying City Center

We've been putting off posting this, since it is kind of a downer. We've been big fans of the Port Angeles Farmers' Market for years, even before it moved downtown. Then, we were even bigger fans after it moved downtown, since we almost never got downtown, except to have dinner at Bella Italia, visit Port Book and News, or see a movie at the Lincoln Theatre. Now we had an excuse to shop downtown, and we did.

Let's face it, downtown Port Angeles is dying, what with a Walmart a bit to the east, Sequim, even further east, turning into a down market mega-mall, and the changes in the lumber and fishing industries, the traditional mainstays of the town. There are some great 19th and early 20th century buildings downtown, but all too many empty lots and closed stores. The Farmers' Market brought us, and many other shoppers into town. There were even a few businesses that chose their locations to take advantage of the market, and now we'll see how well they do.

While we may have liked the Farmers' Market, it apparently bothered a small group of local merchants, even though there were many merchants in favor of it, and others who didn't care one way or the other. These anti-market merchants seem to have gotten stuck back in 1952, but it's not 1952 anymore. The big timber is gone, and one man with a chain saw and a self-loader can do the work of an entire team back then. Rural downtowns have to compete with their own suburbs, and everyone owns a car. If they don't find what they need in town, they can drive to Sequim, or Silverdale, or Seattle, or whatever. Some will even shop on the internet. Rather than embracing the Farmers' Market and the foot traffic it brought, these merchants felt that it interfered with their ability to park in front of their own stores, that it interfered with what little traffic flowed along the truck route through downtown Port Angeles, and quite possibly that having spent their money on a head of cabbage, few people would still be able to afford any further shopping.

In any event, there was some politicking. There was the Port Angeles Planning Commission meeting that ran into the wee hours. There was the shutdown, more politicking, a reprieve, and then the market was moved back to its old location at the Courthouse, as shown on the map above. We like this location too, and we'll be there most Saturdays. There is lots of parking near the Courthouse, and it's a bit closer to our house. We often walk down the block to the big Safeway on Lincoln Street to buy what we can't get at the Farmers' Market. But, we don't get downtown as often, and we don't spend as much money there.

 

Keywords: farms, port angeles, seattle, shopping, maps, farmers' market


Ugly Ripe Tomatoes

03/01/06 - Ugly Ripe and Delicious

We had heard about Ugly Ripe tomatoes, so called because of their wrinkled appearance. They are known for their taste and for being banned for export from the state of Florida where they are grown. We found these organically grown Ugly Ripes at Nash Huber's farm stand, and we have to admit that they are a bit ugly, but they are indeed delicious. They have a meaty texture and are nice and tart.

Apparently, being organic, they are not subject to the same export restrictions as regular tomatoes. Most tomatoes nowadays are genetically modified to taste better, and they do. Even inorganic tomatoes are much better than the old box car tomatoes developed in the 1950s to be safe from "anything but a direct hit". These Ugly Ripes are even better than the premium supermarket brand, so we are looking forward to seeing more of them during the off season.

Keywords: food, nash huber, farms


Mural in the lobby of the General Administration Building

11/17/05 - On The Wall In Olympia

The above mural is in the lobby of the General Administration Building in Olympia, Washington. It represents the great economic output of the state. You can see Paul Bunyan standing in for forestry, the air control tower for Boeing and aerospace, an apple tree and a ladder for the orchards, cattle, deer, streamlined trains, and unfortunately, a symbol representing the pre-quantum theory model of the atom, presumably representing the atomic facilities at Hanford. These murals are wonderful, but they are a thing of the past.

What would the modern version of this mural contain? A cup of coffee for Starbucks, books, and perhaps delivery trucks, for Borders and Amazon. What about Microsoft? Perhaps it could show a personal computer or a security patch download. Medical research at the Hutch and elsewhere should be easy. It could still have a test tube and stethoscope, but the doctor might be a woman. Who knows what real research gear looks like today? Probably it looks like a bunch of computers, sans 1960s tape drives, with tubes coming out of it. How does one portray insurance? What is the instantly recognizable symbol for a web farm?

There is still ship work, and aerospace, and timber. There are still farms out there, and deer and birds. Unfortunately, there do not seem to be any artists producing more modern versions of this type of mural. In the 1930s, Fortune magazine was full of this type of art, representing resources and industry. Nowadays, fewer people think this kind of thing is interesting. This is sad because it is still important to think about where things come from, and not leaving such knowledge to a handful of presumed experts.

Keywords: art, birds, farms, fortune


11/07/05 - Eggs, Poultry and the Plague

We were out at one of the local farms the other day to buy some eggs, and since this was a chicken farm, we also learned something about about the H5N1 virus. It was odd to consider something as mundane as buying eggs put as at the public health frontier right. It was almost something out of The Microbe Hunters. We've been buying chickens and eggs, actually first eggs, then chickens, from this farm for years, and all the while we've been taking certain things for granted. It turns out that chicken farmers are first responders, and our local chicken farmer was concerned enough to contact the State of Washington to ask them what they are doing about the risk of an epidemic and, more importantly, what he should be doing.

Washington State does have a program to test for H5N1 in eggs and poultry, so now he is awaiting instructions for sending in egg samples as part of a program to catch any H5N1 invasion early. Unlike many government programs these days, this one has money for testing, and there are plans for controlling the virus if and when it appears. Being a first responder, he asked what to do if one of his chickens dies of a respiratory ailment, and was told that they would want some samples from the dear departed. Apparently, it isn't always obvious when a chicken has a cold, or the flu. They don't sneeze the way people or dogs do. It takes a bit of watching, we were told, to realize that chickens with head colds keep their heads pitched back, most likely because this makes it easier for them to breathe.

Most of the chickens we see are in the pot, but it is nice to know that people in the State of Washington are keeping there eyes open and watching for any signs of H5N1. The first signs of West Nile virus in New York City a few years back were dead birds discovered at the Bronx Zoo. We civilians can afford to ignore a few dead birds, but with the H5N1 virus out there, it's nice to know that someone is watching out for us.

 

Keywords: birds, food, farms, new york city


Check out our Clallam County Agritourism Google Map

10/11/05 - Google Maps Come to Clallam County

We've been playing around with Google Maps. This is a rather neat interactive mapping system developed by Google. It uses a road database like Mapquest and a false color satellite database so you can see not only the streets and roads, but also get a sense of the land usage and urban density. The interface is neat too. It's the old electronic light table idea. You just put down your mouse and drag, and your web browser loads in the image tiles as you go.

Our map of Clallam County shows farms, lavender growers and wineries. If you click on one, it will tell you a bit more about the destination. It also shows the growing suburban sprawl in the Sequim area. If you look carefully, you see housing developments and golf courses. For some contrast, drag the mouse upwards, and you'll see the Olympic National Park and National Forest boundaries. Those park and forest boundaries are more than just lines on the map.

Keywords: science, farms, wine, maps


10/05/05 - The First Annual Clallam County Farm Tour

We went on the Clallam County Farm Tour this past Saturday and we checked out one of our old favorites, the Johnston Farm, and we finally found out what was in that big red barn at the corner of Kitchen-Dick Road and Old Olympic Highway. We also got to try out some of the Bella Italia pork and lavender sausages that we had heard so much about, and they were delicious.

Shown below are the farm stand at Johnston Farm, with tons of tomatoes and other harvest goodies. We bought the last of her romano beans and a pile of tomatoes for making sauce, and the big red barn, at the much less mysterious Adolphsen Farm.

The bounty of the harvest at the Johnston Farm  The big red barn

 

Keywords: farms, food, johnston farm


07/10/05 - Lamb On A Spit: The Motion Picture

We recently cooked up some lamb on a spit and have posted the video. We are only sorry that we do not have a scent track, but this doesn't seem to be one of the new Tiger Mac OS X features. (Maybe, they'll introduce it when Apple moves to Intel hardware).

We bought a lovely leg of lamb at Sunny Farms in Sequim and butterflied it, and then marinated it in cheap white wine, garlic, salt, pepper, and a whole bunch of herbs we have growing out back like parsley, sage, rosemary and oregano. Then we tied the whole roast up and stuck it on a spit. Check out the rotary action.

After an hour and a half it tasted as good as it looks.

Keywords: movies, food, farms, wine


Potato, red pepper, broccoli and onion omelet

06/20/05 - Our Dry Creek Piperade

We really like this omelet, and we haven't made it for a real long time. It is a good hearty breakfast, but also makes a good lunch or dinner. It uses Yukon Gold potatoes, red peppers, sweet onions and the magic ingredient, at least around our house, broccoli. We try to use farm fresh ingredients, but this time of year, we just settle for organic. Later this summer we'll try it again with local produce, but we always use Dry Creek Farm organic eggs.

Click here for an illustrated how to guide.

Keywords: food, farms, dry creek farm



06/19/05 - West Wind Farms We've updated a few things in our gallery of local farmers, so now Westwind Farm has its own page. Stay tuned while we improve our Farmer's Market web page.

Keywords: farms, westwind farm


05/21/05 - Pea Shoots Stir Fried

The first pea shoots of the season are in at the Port Angeles Farmers Market. Johnston Farms sold out early today, and we were the guilty party. They claim that lots more are on the way. They are also expecting an early tomato crop and have fruit already ripening, so do check out their stand next Saturday.

RECIPE FOR PEA SHOOTS STIR FRIED
  • 1-2 lbs pea shoots
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
Rinse the pea shoots.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and blanche the pea shoots until they turn dark green.
Sautee the pea shoots over medium high heat in sesame oil.
Cook for a fair while, then remove from the heat and add the soy sauce.
Pea Shoots

Keywords: food, farms, port angeles, johnston farm, recipe


Stewing Hen Page

03/01/05 - Stewing Hen

We've mentioned Dry Creek Farms and there wonderful eggs on our website before. And, we've mentioned our recent acquisition of three of their hens in our column on Too Much Poultry.

You can think of this column as a follow up to our Too Much Poultry column. We were talking with Harley at the Port Angeles Farmers' Market the other day, and he mentioned that he had sold a good number of his hens. We were telling him how delicious they were, and he recounted that one of his customers had found the bird to be too tough.

"How did they cook it?", we asked.

"They roasted it.", he replied.

"Well that explains it. Old hens are stewing hens. You have to braise or stew them for hours to get them tender. We cooked one of ours in red wine and it was stupendous."

We promised to provide him with a recipe or two, and we've posted our favorite online. Check out our Stewing Hen page for a great coq au vin recipe, perfect for the chicken of a certain age.

Keywords: food, farms, birds, port angeles, wine, farmers' market, recipe


05/11/04 - Johnston Farms

Have we mentioned Johnston Farms? They are regulars at the Port Angeles Farmer's Market and have some really good vegetables. The pea shoots and salad greens are already coming in. We can hardly wait for their poblano peppers and have included a recipe for them in anticipation.

Keywords: farms, johnston farm, recipe


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