travel | East Sac Edible

August 4, 2014
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Farm Visit: Harley Goat Farm, Pescadaro

I took a little trip out to Pescadaro over the weekend. One of my most favorite stops is the Harley Goat Farm. I have been to this farm several times now and every time it is just as charming and well worth the stop! This working dairy farm is a perfect place to visit with some goats, sample their cheese in their cheese shop and enjoy the beautiful weather and scenery of Pescadaro. The farm buildings are painted with their own goat milk paint which they also sell in the store. They also are very water conscience and collect rain water in large cisterns. You can get right up to their herd of goats and they even had a 3 week old goat out for visitors to see. There is also a small herb and flower garden which they use to grow their own edible petals and herbs to add to their cheeses.

Inside the building they have a hayloft which they use for their seasonal farm dinners. The dinners are a communal five course meal prepared with ingredients from the farm or sourced locally. The loft is really a magical place and has a small deck that overlooks the farm. I would love to eat dinner here one day although it would have to be a special occasion at its price point!

Perhaps my most favorite part of the farm is the cheese shop. Enter through a vibrantly goat milk painted door and you are greeted by a row of baskets to fill with your choice of beautiful cheeses, infused oils, honey, or goat milk body products. Personally my favorite cheeses are their feta (which is on the salty side) and their apricot goat cheese round. They also sell freshly made goat cheese ravioli, farm eggs and cheesecake. If you do come to visit do bring a cooler to put your cheeses in for the ride home or bring your own baguette to eat your cheese right away on the beach (a 5 minute drive from the farm). The cheese shop doesn’t sell any crackers or bread so I always like to bring some along. You can also pick up bread at Arcangeli Grocery on the main road. I highly recommend the Garlic Herb Artichoke Bread. Yum!

If you are a cheese lover and you are looking for a little day trip, this is the place for you!

July 22, 2014
by East Sac Edible 2 Comments

Portland Farmer’s Market

I went to the Saturday farmer’s market in Portland at Portland State University. This is probably the best farmer’s market I have ever been to. The number of vendors was incredible and the array of their bounty varied. One of the best stands was the mushroom farm which also supplied mushrooms to their neighboring stand which had biscuits with mushroom gravy and the best sautéed mushrooms I had ever tasted. There was also a focaccia pizza and bagel stand which brought their own wood burning oven to heat their goods. Some of the stands were from the orchards we had visited on the Fruit Loop Trail. I think the main thing that stood out for me was the care and presentation of all the items on display. You could spend your whole morning here sampling local produce and eating your way through various food stands!

July 21, 2014
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Blueberry Picking on Sauvie Island, Oregon

We stopped by Sauvie Island for a little blueberry picking on our trip in Oregon. Sauvie Island is about 10 miles from downtown Portland and is predominantly a farming and wildlife refuge. The island is full of fruit and vegetable farms offering u-pick harvests. We stopped at Bella Organic Farm. The blueberries bushes were full of ripe blueberries and we picked almost 8 pounds of blueberries. We stopped just at one farm for picking but I would love to come back and explore the island a little bit more.

July 20, 2014
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Fruit Loop: Hood River, Oregon

We spent some time in Oregon last week and stayed a night in Hood River. The Hood River County Fruit Loop is about one hour from Portland located in the Columbia River Gorge. We spent one day exploring part of the Fruit Loop, a 35 mile loop which connects farms and orchards. There are about 32 stops along the way.

The first stop we made was to Cody Orchards Fruit Stand. We bought some cherries from the stand to enjoy throughout the day. You can also pick your own apples, pears and cherries here depending on the season. I really enjoyed the little garden right outside the fruit stand.

The second stop we made was to Packard Orchard and Bakery. They had a little fresh fruit but seemed to specialize in jams, preserves, and baked goods. They also had ice cream. The view from the orchard was beautiful and you had a direct line of sight of Mount Hood. I did like their display of pickled veg including pickled beets, jalapeños, dilly beans, ginger pickled radish, and asparagus to name a few. If you are a sweets lover this might just be the place for you with the assortment of very large cookies, and fruit-packed pastries. I don’t eat items with processed sugar added so this wasn’t the place for me but I did enjoy the view.

The third stop was to Hood River Lavender and this was one of my favorite stops! This is an organic lavender farm with beautiful views and smells! They had rows and rows of lavender which you could cut yourself plus they had lots of other flowers interplanted. They also had a portion sectioned off for wildflowers with a trellised grape entrance. This place was buzzing with bees and butterflies. The tiny shop offered lavender oil, lotions, soaps and much more. Our last stop was Cascade Alpacas and Foothills Yarn and Fiber. We were greeted by several adorable and gentle alpacas. They had been sheered in May so their coats were not as fluffy as the alpaca I remember from my trip to Peru. However, they were still really soft. They also had a few baby alpaca born just a few weeks ago! Inside the store there was yarn from their alpaca both dyed and natural colors. They also had lots of other yarns from other places in their well stocked store. If you are a knitter this is the place for you! We bought some yarn from their baby alpaca which they label with the name of the alpaca so you know which babe offered their wool to you! Plus the staff here were welcoming and very knowledgeable. They took the time to explain how they care for their animals as well as the process of making their yarn.

If you are in Oregon, I would highly recommend the Fruit Loop and the Hood River area. There is nothing better than eating freshly picked fruit surrounded by beautiful scenery!

May 5, 2014
by East Sac Edible 1 Comment

Garden Inspiration from Japan

In March and April I spent a few weeks in Japan. Japan is not only filled with manicured gardens but walking around you always see people finding inventive ways of growing edibles in small spaces especially in the city.

We were in Japan in time to see the cherry blossoms bloom which is a national obsession. Every news report during this time closely follows the timing of the when cherry blossom season officially begins. Once cherry blossom season is declared Japanese people set up tarps under the blossoms in order to picnic and drink.

I’ve always wanted one of these bamboo fountains in my garden. I love how the moss grows on the rock and I love the sound of the water. I’ve always wanted the shishi odoshi, or deer chaser bamboo fountains. The bamboo gradually fills up with water and then when it is full it clicks down scaring away any deer. One day I am going to have one of these in my garden!

In Kyushu, the southern most island, we saw fields of rice and tea, as well as green houses growing mountains of peas and mikan (tangerines). We also visited the onsen (hot springs). One garden was using the heat from the hot springs to heat up their greenhouse (like the English translation?). The last picture is of a typical vegetable garden. There were fava beans, broccoli, leafy greens, asparagus, onions and garlic planted here. We had several meals of vegetable tempura made from this garden!