Zest for Life!

Published by Anonymous on

By the time January rolls around, winter cooking styles begin to feel a little heavy and I am ready for something with some zing! Oranges, lemons, grapefruit, and limes to the rescue. It's the high tide of citrus season and it's going to last for another month or so. There is a great little tool called a zester that is specifically designed to take off just the outer citrus peel and leave the bitter white pith on the fruit.

Citrus Flavor Ratings for January 2012

Published by sdavidson on

In the dark of winter, we are saved by citrus!  Their unique flavors and juicy flesh are a joyful relief from dreary grey days and cooked vegetables.  If you have the time, buy one of each of the varieties listed below and discover the unique flavor profile each has to offer. It’s rather like enjoying a box of chocolates when you don’t know what’s inside.  The ratings shown below are for January 2012 and will likely change as the citrus season progresses.  Most citrus crops first come to market from desert groves in Arizona and California.  Successive crops mature moving toward the California coast with the most flavorful fruit generally coming from the coastal harvests.

What's in Season: Swiss Chard

Published by admin on

If you were on a quiz show and they asked you, for a million dollars, where Swiss chard came from originally, what would you say? Well, it’s kind of a trick question, because it sure sounds like it’s from Switzerland. To win the big pot, you’d need to know that Swiss chard came to us from the Mediterranean region. The Swiss moniker came about when 19th century seed catalogs took to calling the chard plant “Swiss,” to differentiate it from French spinach varieties.

Is It Time to Make Local Passe?

Published by editor on

Have we over sold the idea of buying local? Should regionalism become the new localism? Not to take away from small local farms, but our entire Pacific Northwest Region is a vital production food shed. It provides potatoes from the Klamath, fruit from Hood River and Eastern Washington, winter squash and summer melons from Hermiston, pears from the Rogue Valley, on and on.

Farm to School Fuji Apple Program

Published by editor on

Now you can buy a 3 pound bag of Fuji apples and support your local Farm to School Program at the same time! This program is a partnership between Organically Grown Company, the Pacific Northwest’s largest Organic produce distributor, participating northwest retailers like Ashland Food Co-op, and participating organic Fuji apple orchards. The purpose of this partnership is to raise funds to support Oregon and Washington Farm to School programs.

Radiation and You

Published by editor on

We’ve had many, many customers/owners ask us about what to do in case radiation from the nuclear disaster in Japan comes our way. First off, it is very unlikely and even if it does, it will be in very small amounts. Our state, the EPA and radiation experts are monitoring the atmosphere and so far nothing over the background has been found.