Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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“Waiting for harvest”, This month you can see more of Bill Rodgers’ stunning photography of the area he calls “The Wallouse”. The exhibit will open on Tuesday, July 28 at the Wenaha Gallery at 219 E. Main St in Dayton. Learn more about local barns on page 10....
My vegetable epiphany happened after I purchased a bag of Hayshaker Farms Wild & Fancy salad mix from The Market by Andy's in Walla Walla. I have been trying to eat a mostly vegetable-based diet for a year now, and these veggies exploded my tastebuds. Wild & Fancy is a veritable festival of green, each bite tastes unique, with some surprising, zesty flavors. Maybe some fennel, certainly some spicier greens, some kale, and spinach, too? The bright flavors shamed those supermarket salad mixes I ha...
The farm-to-table movement has been sweeping across the nation in recent years. From farmers’ markets to roadside produce stands, fresh ingredients are becoming readily available and affordable. The farm-to-table movement’s roots go as far back as the 1960s. In 1971, chef Alice Waters opened Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif., one of the first farm-to-table restaurants. Waters wanted to use fresh, local produce because the flavor was better, which meant tastier dishes. The restaurant was very suc...
The Touchet Valley is home to a handful of farm to table operations, like the Breathe Easy Farm, and Crooked Fences. Nestled on the edges of Dayton, farms like these provide fresh fruit, vegetables, baked goods, and more to residents. The Breathe Easy Farm owner/operator Mindy Holmberg has big plans for her little slice of heaven, including a retail front and eventual farm-to-table suppers. Holmberg sells baked goods, like chocolate zucchini bread, preserves, various pickled vegetables, fresh...
DAYTON-Step inside the cool interior of an old barn on a warm summer day, and as your eyes adjust to the dark interior, and your senses are assailed by the locked-in aroma of hay, livestock, and old timber, present-day focus can easily transport you to the past. According to County Extension Agent Paul Carter, there could be fifty, or more, barns, of all ages, styles, and conditions, in Columbia County. Two of the county's older barns are standing taller, and two more will be, soon, thanks to...
Farmers feed the world, but with the high demands they face, they usually need a little help from companies like The McGregor Company, who supply crop nutrients and crop protectants, machine rentals, crop insurance, and more. The McGregor Company started as a sheep farming operation more than 100 years ago in the tiny town of Hooper, WA. In 1948, after Washington State College agronomist Harley Jacquot spent years researching and experimenting, the McGregor Company stepped into the fertilizer...
The image of a red barn in a golden field of wheat is a favorite sight in eastern Washington. There are many stories about the origins of this American tradition. One tale claims that barns are red so the cows can find their way home, definitely a myth as cows are color blind. According to the National Park Service, barns weren't originally red. Since early farmers in New England didn't have extra money for paint, their barns remained unpainted. In the late 1700s, farmers began looking for ways...
Seth Small of Small's Family Farm took some time during a busy harvest season to talk about his family's approach to farming, and his marketing efforts to bring his single variety flour to restaurants and bakeries throughout the Northwest. The restaurants and bakeries in the Walla Walla area have also embraced the local flour, and Small says "we work with almost all the restaurants locally in Walla Walla." Although for a time, savvy grocery shoppers could find bags of Small's flour on the...
When Mark Brucks and Susan Monahan were getting ready to retire after living and working in Austin, TX for twenty years, they carefully developed a list of criteria for their new home town. The list included walkability, a place with a college or university, and room to garden. For years they spent summer and Christmas vacations on the road, visiting towns "Colorado and west, "looking for just the right spot. A friend in Centralia asked, "Have you ever heard of Walla Walla?" So of course, they...
Harvesting carrots took longer than I expected as a first-time grower, even when it says "easy to pull" right on the seed packet! You pull up the root vegetable to find it inundated with dirt and, well, roots. Far from the clean, peeled, consistently shaped and sized carrots you see bagged and ready at the grocery store or produce market. It occurs to me now that all the carrots I've been buying have been glamorized. Even more plentiful than the orange (or purple or white) "meat" is the carrot...
Greetings from the garden! Salutations from the places 'twixt the thickets where the deep-rooted weeds grow. I've been busy. The store-bought tomato and pepper "starts" we sowed in May started up alright, and they took off. Though current harvest totals are low, jalapeno, anaheim, lunchbox, banana, and red bell peppers are swelling. There are a fair few baby peppers, yes, but there are even more flowers. More are coming. Pretty soon we'll be back in that special time when you've got to lock...
