Harvest Celebration Issue

Harvest Celebrations are a time to honor, celebrate and share in the bounty of local agriculture. Throughout the months of September and October, local agricultural groups throughout Washington work with farmers and other community members to host a wide variety of fun and educational events.

The primary goals behind these yearly events are to encourage people to reconnect to the land and the seasons, and to understand the benefits of having local farms and of eating locally grown food. As farmer/writer Wendell Barry says, "healthy community includes an acquaintance and connection between urban and rural people and the loyalty of people in cities and towns to locally-grown food."

The events are also a time for people to experience some of the fun that can be had down on the farm. Activities include farm tours, harvest markets, educational displays, chef demonstrations, corn and hay mazes, pumpkin patches, hay rides, food, music and lots of fun.

In 2008, over 100 farms, ranches, shellfish farms, farmers markets, and food and farm businesses in 12 Western Washington counties welcomed visitors for tours, food, music and fun. Approximately 29,000 visitors participated in last year's events. Attendance at this regional extravaganza has grown steadily since it started in 1999, when 9,000 visitors took part.

This September and October, make a special effort to visit local farmers near you. Find out what is truly good about local food and farms, and the benefits of having these resources in our communities. There is no better place to learn about local agriculture than at the farm.

Special thanks to Washington State University's Small Farms Team for all their hard work in making Harvest Celebration Day a great success each year!

FARM SPOTLIGHT: Farmer Spotlight Video Interview

UPCOMING EVENTS: Enjoy a "Haycation" with Puget Sound Harvest Celebrations & Farm Tours

As autumn leaves return, so does the time-honored tradition of celebrating the harvest

Seattle, WA—September and October are picture perfect months to bask in the scenic beauty of Puget Sound's rural farmlands and just right for adding a "haycation" to your list of fall activities. With the bounty of the season comes a bumper crop of self-guided farm tours and harvest festivals offering ample opportunities for down-on-the farm fun and unique connections with the farms and farmers who grow our food.

Regardless of whether you're a gardener, foodie or urban homesteader, these free, family-friendly weekend events are a great way to savor the richness of Puget Sound's agricultural diversity and value of our precious farmland from Whatcom to Whidbey Island, Snohomish County, Skagit and Pierce County.

Spend the day tasting delicious local foods and farm fresh treats, roam the fields and orchards, test your cider making or cow milking skills, say hello to farm animals, and enjoy chef demos, hay rides, catapulting pumpkins, corn mazes, live music, kid's activities, or put the pedal to the metal and add a biking adventure to your farm tour escapades.

For a complete list of harvest events & activities: http://cascadeharvest.org/community/harvest-celebrations

Harvest Jubilee
8 AM — 10 PM
Saturday, September 19
http://www.harvestjubilee.org
Explore the agricultural richness of the Northwest corner of Snohomish County and Camano Island with a leisurely day of self -guided farm tours. Festival hub in downtown Stanwood includes an old-fashioned farm breakfast, afternoon BBQ, savor fresh local eats, shop for produce, plants and crafts, enjoy live music, and evening barn dances. For the kids - tractor locomotive rides, theatre, critter races, games and prizes.

Tour of Clark County Farms
10 AM — 3 PM
Saturday, September 19
http://clark.wsu.edu
Make the farm connection with a visit to 14 local farms throughout picturesque Clark County. Greet friendly chickens, donkeys and goats, taste heirloom tomatoes, onions and honey, indulge in the beauty of over 450 varieties of U-cut Dahlias, indulge in scrumptious lavender treats, take home tasty jams, jellies and pies, tap your toes to live bluegrass music.

WSU Jefferson County Farm Tour
10 AM — 4 PM
Sunday, September 20
http://ag.jefferson.wsu.edu/
See and taste the best of Jefferson County with 13 local farms. Love pedal power? Join the Tour Des Fermes http://www.ptbikes.org and see the sights by bike while reducing your carbon footprint. If you're interested in spinning, weaving and other crafts, check out the Fiber Farm Loop, focusing on four local farms producing fiber from sheep and llamas.

Harvest Celebration Farm Tour
10 AM — 4:30 PM
Saturday, September 26
http://www.king.wsu.edu/foodandfarms/HarvestCelebration.html
Explore 26 of King County's most vibrant farms from Vashon Island to Carnation, to Redmond, Auburn, and Enumclaw. Chef demonstrations, live music, corn and bamboo mazes, hay rides, U-pick crops, alpaca fiber knitting, hard-pressed cider making, yummy samples and plenty of farm-fresh produce a farm stands along the way.

Grays Harbor Farm Tour
Saturday, September 26
http://www.elmachamber.org/
This 10th annual farm tour is offered via bus (no cars); with runs at 9 am and 1 pm. Farms on the tour include Mike Lamb's Show Horses, Briggs Nursery and Wild Thyme Farm, a private, 150 acre arboretum. Paid reservations are required, $5 per person or $10 per family. Features the Elma Harvest Celebration with a city-wide quilt show, farm demonstrations, displays, produce sales and lots of fun for the whole family.

Pierce County HarvestFest Farm Tour
10 AM — 4 PM
Saturday, October 3
http://www.piercecountywa.org/HarvestFest
Pierce County farms will open their gates for the 11th annual HarvestFest Farm Tour which includes 18 farms from the outermost tip of the Key Peninsula to the foothills of Mt. Rainier. Highlights of this year's tour included Nisqually tribal dancers at Wilcox Farm in Roy, several winery tastings and a Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off at Scholz Farm in Orting, as well as sheep herding and draft horse demos, cheese tasting, a pumpkin sling-shot, and much more.

Skagit Valley Festival of Family Farms
10 AM — 4 PM
Saturday & Sunday, October 3 &4
http://www.festivaloffamilyfarms.com
Explore the variety of 13 farms that make their home in the scenic, fertile Skagit Valley — including dairy, vegetable, livestock, organic, orchards, shellfish, berry and vineyards. Meet Clydesdale horses, alpacas, dairy and beef cows, longhorn cattle and sheep, view antique and modern farm equipment displays and horse drawn wagons. Kids will get to race veggie cars or crabs, milk an artificial cow, make veggie art, alpaca fiber crafts or build a scarecrow, explore a corn maze and ride a pony. Feeling adventurous? Join the Skagit Valley Farm Pedal on October 4, 10 AM — 2 PM, La Conner Flats.

Whidbey Island Farm Tour
10 AM-4 PM
Saturday and Sunday, October 3 & 4
http://www.whidbeyfarmtour.com
Tour 19 working farms and four farmers markets on beautiful Whidbey Island featuring locally grown food and products. Whidbey Farm Tour harvest dinner at Mukilteo Coffee Roasters on Saturday, October 3, 6 PM; tickets $40 per person.

Snohomish Festival of Pumpkins
October 3 - 31
http://www.festivalofpumpkins.org
The month of October is the time to hit the fields in Snohomish County! This year's festivities kick off October 3rd with the infamous 'pumpkin hurl' - Medieval trebuchets throwing 8 pound pumpkins over 1,866 feet. Throughout the month, you'll find all sorts of special events, family days; pumpkin patches corn mazes and haunted Halloween fields of screams.

RECIPE OF THE WEEK: End of the season corn dish

Tomato & Corn Pie

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 3/4 teaspoons salt, divided

3/4 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, plus 2 teaspoons melted

3/4 cup whole milk

1/3 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1-2 tomatoes, sliced crosswise 1/4 inch thick, divided

3 ears fresh corn, kernelled and chopped or coarsely puréed in a food processor, divided

1 tablespoon finely chopped onions, divided

1/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided

7 ounces coarsely grated Cheddar (1 3/4 cups), divided

• Whisk together flour, baking powder, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in a bowl, then blend in cold butter (3/4 stick) with your fingertips or a pastry blender until it resembles coarse meal. Add milk, stirring until mixture just forms a dough, then gather into a ball.
• Divide dough in half and roll out 1 piece into a 12-inch round (1/8 inch thick). Remove top sheet of plastic wrap, then lift dough using bottom sheet of plastic wrap and invert into 9-inch pie plate, patting with your fingers to fit (trim any overhang).
• Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle.
• Whisk together mayonnaise and lemon juice.
• Arrange half of tomatoes in crust, overlapping, and sprinkle with half of corn, 1/2 tablespoon onion, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.
• Repeat layering with remaining tomatoes, corn, onion, salt, and pepper, then sprinkle with 1 cup cheese.
• Pour lemon mayonnaise over filling and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
• Roll out remaining piece of dough into a 12-inch round in same manner, then fit over filling, folding overhang under edge of bottom crust and pinching edge to seal.
• Cut 4 steam vents in top crust and brush crust with melted butter (2 teaspoons).
• Bake pie until crust is golden and filling is bubbling, 30 to 35 minutes, then cool on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: Eat Local for Thanksgiving campaign

This fall we are running our third annual Eat Local for Thanksgiving campaign and we need your help. We are striving to motivate 5,000 people to take the pledge to Eat Local for Thanksgiving with the expanded goal of reaching 25,000 Puget Sound consumers. The public campaign will encourage consumers to purchase locally grown produce and value-added items for their Thanksgiving table. By eating locally, we have the opportunity to positively impact local farms, the environment and our regional economy.

Plus, it’s fun!!!

So we’re taking the campaign to the streets…or rather the farms. At each event we anticipate collecting hundreds of pledges. That’s where you come in. Will you please donate a few hours of your time to help us staff the events listed below? If interested, contact me – Alex Moore – at 206-632-0606 or alex@cascadeharvest.org.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Alex

p.s. if you like a challenge, you are welcome to collect video pledges at these events. See http://www.youtube.com/user/cascadeharvest for examples. Call or email for more info.

p.p.s. if you haven’t taken the pledge, take it now: http://www.eatlocalforthanksgiving.org