Northwest meats and produce available in the winter

With the main growing season behind us, it's important to remember that eating locally in autumn and winter is still possible. This simple guide will help you plan your meals.

If you're not sure where to find a specific product, please contact us for recommendations.

Recipe for Pear Bread

Posted by T.C. Savage

September is a good month for pears which are part of the rose family and are related to apples. You can dry them, jam them, sauce them, and make them into delicious treats. This recipe for pear bread comes from the California Bed and Breakfast Cookbook and I don't see any reason to try to improve on it.

Recipe for Cherry Nut Bread

by T.C. Savage

Cherry season is in full swing. July is National Ice Cream month, so try some cherry ice cream! Or, you can make this cherry nut bread I developed. I picked cherries with Salem Harvest last year and had some left over after making jam, so I decided to create this bread recipe. You can eat this bread toasted with butter, or you can wrap each loaf in tinfoil and place in a plastic bag to freeze.

Wild fruit inspires wild ideas

by Nate Rafn
(Originally published September 2008, Salem Weekly.)

Blackberries are not your typical fruit. They are nutritious, yet often neglected. They are ubiquitous, yet difficult to obtain. Their abundance is unquestionable, yet they are rarely sold fresh in grocery stores.

Salem Harvest kicks off season with cherries

Royal Ann cherries.

Photo Essay by Nate Rafn

Salem's all-volunteer gleaning group, Salem Harvest, started the 2011 season with a 30-acre cherry harvest. 200 pickers gathered on Wednesday at a picturesque orchard just east of Salem. At the end of the night, 2000 pounds of cherries were picked.

E.Z. Orchards shortcake stand opens with arrival of fresh Oregon strawberries

by Nate Rafn

The opening of the shortcake stand at E.Z. Orchards Farm Market seems to signify the official start of summer. June brings strawberries and raspberries, followed by blueberries in July, and peaches in August.

Fruit Cocktail Crumble, a simple and delicious dessert

by T.C. Savage

May 13 is National Fruit Cocktail Day, so it seems appropriate to offer a recipe using the once-ubiquitous fruit blend. There are two men credited with creating fruit cocktail, out of a need to use fruit that wasn’t good enough for canning in halves, due to bruising and such. By chopping up the good parts of bruised fruit and mixing it with other fruits, you get fruit salad in a can. Pretty clever. This recipe was shared by my friend Laura.

Fruits, vegetables, and pesticides: Rating the best and worst of conventionally grown produce

The Environment Working Group (EWG) has compiled a list of 49 fruits and vegetables, and arranged them in order of "best" and "worst" with regard to pesticide use. [View the List]

Chemical pesticides are often used in agriculture, horticulture, forestry, and in home kitchens and gardens. But it's important to minimize exposure to them whenever possible. Pesticides are known to cause cancer, neurological disorders, and reproductive problems in humans. Pesticides also have harmful effects on groundwater when used persistently.

Five reasons to eat an apple every day.

Here's an interesting article from newsmaxhealth.com about the cancer-fighting properties of apples.

An Apple a Day Keeps 5 Cancers Away
by Sylvia Booth Hubbard, October 2010

Apple Links

All About Apples - Oregon Orchard Listings
E.Z. Orchards Farm Market
State-by-State Apple Production

Golden Delicious apples at E.Z. Orchards Farm Market, Salem, Oregon.

Late Season Anomaly.

It's almost October and we still have raspberries.

Several years ago my parents planted a raspberry bush in their backyard. It provides a nice crop every summer. But in the last few years I've noticed that their raspberry bush produces a second, much smaller crop in the fall. Two years ago I picked ripe raspberries as late as mid-November.

I'm not sure how unusual this is, but I'm happy to have fresh berries any time of the year.

Ripe raspberries in autumn.

Fruits of late summer.

I think grapes are one of the overlooked fruits of late summer. Obviously, a wine-maker would disagree. But when most people think of fruit at the end of the growing season, apples and pears are the first thing to come to mind, followed by blackberries and maybe plums.

Our neighbors planted a grape vine several years ago that clings to fence separating the two yards. The grapes, which usually ripen in September, are thin-skined, seedless, and white. While these grapes are perfect for fresh eating, we've been trying to utilize them as best we can in our culinary creations. We squeezed them for juice a few times, which turned out pretty good. We made grape jelly one year. My mother has also dehydrated them to make raisins.

I might make white vinegar this year...

White seedless grapes on the vine.

Grape vine along our fence.