A wave of winter has crash landed on the shores of the Salish Sea. First frost came in with a resounding 360 windmill dunk. As farmers raced to protect crops with row cover, fishing folk returned from northerly climes with coolers full of salmon, black cod, and more. The snappy, brisk mornings have us dreaming of cauldrons full of bubbling, warming soups and stews, and nights spent amongst friends in low light. After a brilliant October Hunter’s Moon, the Beaver Moon resolves itself to quietly building its lodge in the night sky. We are quietly building out our own plans for the holiday seasons ahead. A big part of that plan is providing high quality proteins for the community. In addition to standard protein #1 (turkey), we are taking pre-orders for alternative, indie-rock proteins for the holiday season. Consider a SpringRain Duck or Katfish Sockeye Salmon this season, and keep it local this holiday stretch! Turnip is rooting for ya!  

Of all annuals, perhaps winter squash are the most imperialistic. Imagine, from one pumpkin seed, a vine that can travel ten to twelve feet in one direction! They are audacious, emboldened primadonnas. And their craft; so loud, so expressive. Reds and oranges, deep greens and “hubbard” blues. There is a point every year when you can no longer distinguish the individual beds of a squash patch, when the vines stitch together a sea of bright green.  They toil in obscurity, raising a host of gourds beneath the waves of green. Some put all of their seeds in one basket, and rear some behemoth offspring. It is an annual tradition at CCF to obtain a giant pumpkin and have a “guess-the-weight” gift card contest. This year’s pumpkin has a name, and he is “Big Pumper,” in honor of this historic Mariner’s run we are witness to. There’s “Fall Classics” happening all over the Corner at the moment, candies, pies, pumpkins, and cases of apples! Read along to see what’s hanging off the vine these days at the greatest show in rural natural merchandising.

“This is no ordinary apple. It’s a magic, wishing apple.” So began the pitch from the disguised Evil Queen to deceive Snow White into trying the poison apple. As a kid, I thought the animation when the Evil Queen makes the apple, where the poison draught drips down the contours of the apple to form a skull, was pretty punk rock. Though we can assure you we don’t craft poison apples at Chimacum Corner, we are convinced that many of Tonnemaker Hill’s apples could be lumped into the “magical-wishing” category. Eating new crop apples in October may as well be considered our statewide pastime. And it is a delight to see what new flavors land every Wednesday, a procession of debates about where each cultivar falls on the “Tart-Sweet Continuum”. It makes one wonder what the first apple tasted like, back in Khazakhstan. While we may never know, we can begin to unlock all the nuances of flavor by digging into the encyclopedia of apples on display on the Produce Porch. The apple doesn’t stop there! Follow along to see where we’ve stashed all of our favorite pome-fruit products!  

In his effortless, silky baritone, Orville Peck closed his first record, Pony, with the wistful observation: “And I know everything must die, but nothing fades like the light.” There’s a romance and a beauty to the shortening days of autumn. Light wrote the manual on how to disappear with an elegant ease. As stonefruits, summer squash, and berries take their curtain calls, winter squash, alliums, and roots declare their right to rule the darker seasons. Follow along for all the ways you can lean in to fall at CCF!  CARPE DIEM - CARPE NOCTEM!!!

“We got to live together,” proclaimed Sly Stone in 1968, amidst all that turmoil, and so the song remains the same. The mornings and nights are lengthening by the day, and farmers are finally starting to catch their breaths. School is back in session, so parents all over JeffCo are hopefully catching their breaths as well! Perhaps our wallets are still panting from summer expenditures, however. Luckily, there are some great savings all around the Corner Store at the moment, so our wallets can catch a slight breather. From local eggs to cans of beans, a savvy sleuth can load up on some high quality “food from here” for low costs. Here’s to keeping it local and keeping our families nourished.

There’s an old saying from India: “Garlic is as good as ten mothers, for keeping the girls away.” It’s a phrase so memorable there’s a farm named after it (Shout out to Ten Mothers Farm in Cedar Grove, NC! Gordon and Vera are absolute boss dawgs.) Seeing the bounty of garlic, cured well, stored in a beloved wicker basket (or hey, a cardboard box from the Corner Store, let’s be real), is closely associated with the abundance of fall and the harvest times. Garlic is probably one of the longest standing annual crops, in terms of soil time. Hence, its cherished position in our cuisine. Another method to summon the cozy abundance of autumn is to watch Les Blank’s 1980 celebratory documentary of the same (partial) name as the aforementioned saying, to get all jazzed about the old “Stinking Rose.” In scanning the aisles of CCF, it’s kind of hard not to notice that we are a bit garlic obsessed. Follow along to see all the allium tricks we’ve got up our sleeves.

In the Piedmont of North Carolina, at the age of twenty nine, I finally learned how to pronounce the word “tomato”: duh-may-da. In the South, you can grow 200 foot rows of great big lunkers en plein air. Not so in our lil biome. The special skill and attention required to grow tomatoes seems to me to be what lends the air of majesty with which people select and consume tomatoes in the Northwest. As it is officially-unofficially “tomato girl summer,” we thought it pertinent to give a rundown of the latest fashions in Jefferson County nightshades. King ‘Mater himself, John Bellow of Spring Rain, is joined by a whole courtly retinue of growers this year to create a wonderful display of the best darn local tomatoes you can hope to get your hands on. Here’s another southern trick that will make your head spin: tomato sandwiches with peanut butter and miracle whip?!? Don’t knock until you’ve tried. So whether you like a straight up and down red beefsteak from Chimalow or Red Dog, or the intense psychedelia of Spring Rain’s “Strangelove” tomato, or you’re canning Midori Oxhearts, we’ve got a bevy of sumptuous fruits for your consideration. In defiance of Guy Clark’s famous decree, you actually CAN buy homegrown tomatoes at the Corner. True love, we’re still workin’ on. ;)

 In “Song of the Open Road,” Walt Whitman entreats us “To know the universe itself as a road, as many roads, as roads for traveling souls.” What better way to take heed of Walt than by getting out on a new trail, or a hallowed one? As summer fades, we hustle to gather up all the outdoor fun and ease we can savor. There’s nothing like picking first chanterelle flushes in shorts and tees. Or getting deep into the Olympics. The Corner is your unofficial pack outfitter, we’ve got loads of delightful snacks and treats to fill up your stores. Whether you’re going on a short hike and want to bring some delightful fresh fruit for your pit stop, or you’re overnighting and need to score some deals on some bars, pouches, or trail mix, we’ve got something in store for ya. Follow along to see what awaits you behind those infamous swingin’ doors.

Ever realize that August has no federal holidays? Must be that since it is such a freaking epic month of bounty, it doesn’t need a reason to celebrate. It has been “hot, flat, and crowded” at the Corner Store of late, which at times feels hectic but mostly it is exciting to see the store thriving in its moment. This ‘25 season feels special, in part because of the rad crew that has coalesced here, but also because of the way in which crops have materialized for growers this year. It is particularly wild how much the stone fruit crop can vary year to year. Last year was infamously poor, so maybe in light of that the bounty feels particularly sparkly this year. At any rate, we are slotting into the peak week of stone fruit offerings from Tonnemaker Hill, and we couldn’t be more jazzed to show off the grower’s fruit. Time to live “Stone Free” like Jimi, and get some midseason peaches in your mouth!

There is a world of wonder beneath an endless plain of black netting at the base of the hill at Chimacum Valley Grainery. It is one of the unofficial “Seven Wonders of Chimacum,” and, for this humble penman, true Shangri-La. It’s the blueberry fields helmed by Jeff and Janet of Stellar J Farm. Those fields seem to have their own subculture, which changes annually, but always stewarded by those two handsome dynamos. Seeing individual boughs loaded down with multiple clusters of luscious blues triggers some deep “abundance calm” in the monkey brain. Janet is like berry Santa Claus, mushing on her sleigh-team of cultivars: “On Reka! On Toro! On Chandler! On Liberty!” They taste like the color purple, and we are in peak flow on this most hallowed of local crops. So put on some Charley Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and some T-Bone Walker, because these blues are worth singin’ along to.  

It’s really fun to meet someone out on the Produce Porch that has never been to the Farmstand, nor have they researched it at all. Especially in peak local abundance time (i.e. now), they are consistently blown away by the quality of the fruit and vegetables. Sometimes it is easy to get desensitized to how special our food producers are when you are handling the goods day in and day out. Fresh eyes keep us in gratitude to be out here on the Peninsula. It is officially hot crop summer time, and Wednesdays are a seemingly neverending rodeo of cucumbers, basil, tomatoes, melons, and blueberries. Did you know that the word “salad” comes from the Latin salata, meaning “salted things”? It was common in Rome to brine vegetables, and then also to oil, vinegar, and salt them. “Salata” slid to “salade” in older French, which was then picked up in English. The French have a corollary to our English adage of “an apple a day”: they say, “petite salade, jamais malade,” or, “a little salad (everyday), never sick.” I love the concision of the phrase - four words, yet still maintaining an end rhyme for mnemonic purposes. I for one feel much better when I am consistent on my salad making/eating. So keep it healthy, keep it local, and may ye ever remain in your “salad days.”

Full-tilt fruity blitzkrieg has crashed upon the Produce Porch at long last. Whether you are a lover of that most savory of fruits, the Heirloom Tomato from Spring Rain Farm, or blueberries so exquisite they “taste of the color purple” (actual utterance overheard with regard to Stellar J Blueberries by Sensei Aaron of the Produce Dept), there is an all-out fructose assault descending upon our retail shores. Fruit abounds in the Nursery out front as well, whether on vigorous vines or bodacious bushes. Refreshing beverages (including C2O by the case) awash in summer flavors are resplendent and there for the taking. To borrow from one of our favorite fearless artistic leaders, David Byrne, the sheer grandeur of all on offer in the Produce Department has “stopped making sense.” Step up to the spectacle and treat yourself, family, and friends to great deals on cases of the finest fruits in the land. You guessed it - by and large, that means one word: Tonnemaker. Okay, Walchli too. :)  

Melon Madness has descended upon the kitchen counters of Chimacum. ‘Tis officially the season of the fruit fly, and also the season of whoops-I-just-spent-fifty-bucks-on-fruit-hastag-sorry-not-sorry. It’s hard to keep it all straight out there on the Produce Porch: do I get Rainier cherries, local raspberries, Tonnemaker peaches, or Tonnemaker Apricots, Walchli cantaloupes, or Ladybug black seedless? It’s enough fructose to make anyone’s head spin. Out in the Nursery, pollinators are dancing about through the rows of gorgeous blooms, capturing their own nectar. The chaotic energy of later summer is officially here, and it’s time to make hay (literally!). Here is how every day should start for the next several weeks: a Hermiston, sliced in half, a spoon, a little yogurt, and your favorite berry, consume, consume, consume. Of course, when you’ve come up for air from your musk melon, there is lots more to celebrate at the Corner, so come take a “written walk” with us about the shop.  

We hold this truth to be self-evident: that Chimacum is an exceedingly rad place to live and work, and we are surrounded by charming and scintillating humans that bring joy and effervescence to the scene. We at CCF look forward to Chimacum Interdependence Day every year, as it falls right when we are starting to get weary of the summer influxes, and it provides a joyful boost to re-energize us around our mission statement: celebrating all the local connections possible, in all areas of human (and non-human) life. So whether you listen to Couer Criminel or DJ Lunch Lady, buy Spring Rain English cucumbers or Midori Mini English cucumbers, drink Finnriver cider or Alpenfire cider, there is something to bring us all together in this wacky land at the end of the continent. And that something is a new and vital Chimacum Pride, as exhibited on our special day of Interdependence. So, make a day out of it, and come dig all that Chimacum has to offer, including walking tours of the new Chimacum Commons, with whom we are field mates!

Ladies and gentleman we have officially launched into HIGH SUMMER. Hot winds out of the north and burn bans are in effect. The farmers are pulling their garlic so they can plant their fall sets. The Farm Hacks softball team has posted back to back W’s and are riding high heading into the dog days. The zucchini elongates by the hour. High summer at CCF means cherries, melons, corn, basil, fresh culinary lavender, and more! Heirloom tomatoes and Hermistons are just around the bend. High summer also means its time for us to offer the community great deals on plant starts to clear out the greenhouse! Our overstock can be your gain. Next time you come, take a detour through the Nursery and see everything that the staff has been working hard to put together for y’all. Everybody’s still got one little patch of soil that could use an above-ground companion. Tack a few more fireworks of blooms into the garden on us. Stay cool out there Chimacum!  

Summer looks to be just around the bend, after a proper spell of some “Juneuary.” However, time waits for no plant, and new Northwest fruits are rolling into the store on the daily. As Alice Cooper once decreed, “SCHOOLS OUT FOREVER,” or so we hope every summer when we are young. In celebration of the end of the scholastic year, and the beginning of lakeswimmin’, hay buckin’, fruit pickin’, et al., we’ve put together a little run-through of all of our current “summer loves,” with the “hot girl” being the Tonnemaker Hill Farm Red Cherry, at the screaming deal price of $4.99/lb! After summer solstice lands, there is something new to celebrate every week down here at the crossroads. Thank you so much for continuing to support our little fifteen-year-old experiment in providing good, local foods.

Ah, solstice. You eager beaver. Up at 5, not even thinking about sleeping til 10ish. Mrs. Candle-at-both-ends. What a time to be alive! Peas appreciate solstice the most. They always seem to hit their stride around this time. Whether planted in February or April. Tendrils unfurl, catching one another in a magic escalator to the heavens, tossing out white blooms all along the way. Peas definitely listen to Akon, J Boog, Rebelution, et al. So live your best life, get the reggae records out, and party on along! There is much summer to capture at the Farmstand. Beautiful water-wise plants abound, as well as choice cuts in the beef aisle. We got cold noodles, we got ready rices. Waves don’t die baby, so surf on through this newsletter and soak up the vibrations of high summer.

By all accounts, the local area farm fields are exploding with growth. The first stirrings of early summer crops are percolating in from Quilcene, Chimacum, and Port Townsend. Gorgeous blooms like ranunculus and peonies have made their triumphant arrivals to the flower rack. And there is enough salad mix available to feed King County it would seem. Perfectly timed abundance for the dual-celebration of fathers and the conclusion of the academic year. As we inch so close to that special celestial day, Summer Solstice, remember that as so many lean toward vacations and pleasure, farmers are buried deep in the trenches of their own crop plans, straining in 5th gear to stay ahead of the task curve. Celebrate your loved ones and the hard work of the local farm crew by joining in to the abundance of early summer in Jefferson County. Follow along through these digital scrolls to earn your diploma in Locavorics!

 In Northwest farming, there is a concept called “the June gap,” which refers to that moment when a farmer has spent all of their early spring crops, while there is still nothing to harvest from all the newly planted summer hot crops. Much attention is paid to try to fill the gap, and shorten the low-yield window before July, August, and the full bounty of September. Yet at the Corner, it feels like summer has already exploded. A double miracle of Tonnemaker “Benton” strawberries coupled with some shots of local deliveries has got everyone “berried out” to the max. The latest fruit-news is a whisper of Tonnemaker cherries before the fourth of July! Make no mistake, we love all of our fruits down at the Corner. So if you’re feeling blue, orange, green, or just plain violet, come on down to the Corner for some good cheer, and remember, as Kacey Musgraves reassures us, “Darlin’ I’m just tryin’ to tell ya, that there’s always been a rainbow hangin’ over your head.”

It’s that time of year that separates the grill masters from the weekend warriors. Three letters: B,B, and Q. Summer officially arrived on Wednesday, with a cute little mini-heat-dome to turn up the pressure in the fields. It’s also the time of year when farmhands come into the Corner for lunch with semiahmoo-stained knees and burnt necks, wrung out from planting hundreds (if not thousands?!) of linear bed feet of transplants. The icing on this Chimacum Corner Cake? A one-shot-wonder delivery from Handsome Luke of Tonnemaker Hill Farm of the finest strawberries in the land. One cannot exist merely on strawberries, much to the CCF staff’s chagrin. Find out what delectable grillables are lining the cedar boxes and metro racks of our hallowed halls.