We are thick in the bounty of apples. Malus Domestica, patron saint of Washington agriculture. How best to celebrate the variety of experience an apple can be? Trying them alongside our premier grower, Tonnemaker Hill Farm of course! We will have Luke Tonnemaker out in the greenhouse on the afternoon of November 13th from 1pm to 3pm to culture more stoke around his Wonka-like array of fruits. Calling all true produce nerds and pomologists! Read on for other deals in the house, perhaps while listening to “Sweet Thing” by Van Morrison.

Things are rolling right along at the Corner. We are set to launch the Protein Pre-Orders for the holidays, Sandwiches and Pies are being cranked out daily, and we continue to settle in with a bevy of fall fruit and vegetable crops. Hearty soup additions like Rutabagas and Celeriac from Midori Farm have joined their brethren on the Produce Porch, as well as our seasonal roasting fave, Brussels Sprouts, from Stellar J Farm. We also have some great restocks on Store Merch, with the full array of colors for our signature Beanie. Read on for all the ways to light your oven fires!

We hope everyone managed the week of winds and power outages as best they could. Apropos that the weather would turn scary in time for all things spooky to emerge from the woods. We have some shocking thrills in store for you at the Corner this week. We are tricking out all of our treats to the nines. As you load up on sweet goodies, it is also time to give a thought to your holiday meal entrees. Read on for gripping tales of ghoulishly good groceries!

Roots are radical. At Chimacum Corner, we encourage you to know your roots. Did you know that carrots weren’t orange until Dutch farmers bred for the type in the 17th century, in a patriotic genetic display? Or that beets weren’t cultivated for their taproot and were more or less treated (and prized) as chard until German and Italian farmers did so in the 16th century? And that Aphrodite was said to eat beets to enhance her appeal? Or that black radishes were fed to the workers who built the pyramids by order of the pharaohs to increase their energy levels? Roots are fascinating, and are best studied through the lens of your own palette. Come on down to the Corner and root around for something nourishing and earthy. We’ve got loads of rootin’ tootin’ good stuff! 

Jack Skellington would be proud of our farmers and wares at the Corner of late. The winter squash has made it out of the fields and onto our Produce Porch. All but a few of the later season squashes are up for grabs. The grocery and kitchen departments are changing gears and fine-tuning new fall flavors to complement the long grey evenings. Staff arrives to the store in the mornings accompanied by the scent of neighbors’ woodstoves. And the coffee pots are rollin’ all day long! Read on to see what tricks (and treats) we’ve got up our flannel sleeves these days. 

The crackle of fall air has officially entered our midst. Word on the ridgelines is this season has had a most impressive early flush of wild mushrooms, chief among them Lady Chanterelle. This week we celebrate all things mycelial. The duff is calling. Without mushrooms we would all be swimming in the accumulation of biomatter! If you haven’t read Cool Dark Places by Amber Autumn Leaves Huntsman, published by our local luminary and poet laureate Conner Bouchard-Roberts of Winter Texts, the time is nigh. Perhaps curled up next to a fire with a bowl of mushroom soup. The mycelia of our coniferous forests would be proud of you for doing so. Read on for the Fungus Amongus…

There’s an old saying: “Garlic is as good as ten mothers”. The original phrase, of course, was that garlic is better than ten mothers for keeping the “girls” away. I much prefer the shorter, less specific form. For love, for care of your circle, garlic IS as good as ten mothers. Maybe better. Right now is the time to nurture your body and immune system with all the garlicky goods down at the Corner. Perhaps it’s also time to watch Les Blank’s 1980 celebratory documentary of the same name, to get all jazzed about the old “Stinking Rose.” And as we’ve crossed the threshold of the equinox, time to get out those dutch ovens and sauce pots and get them cranking! 

This weekend marks the official beginning of fall, y’all! We feel it in the air and in the evenings. A big thank you to all in the community who went out and visited the local farms during Farm Tour Weekend. We know it meant a lot to all of our hyperlocal small producers. As we begin to re-gather inside and cozy up, there is still a mountain of work to be done in the fields.

The whole crew here at the Corner is proud to host Farm Tour Central once again. And as September has now officially been declared Eat Local Month in the state of Washington, we are proud to be one hub of many in our region trying to showcase the best of what our county has to offer. This newsletter will be a tour of its own, highlighting all of the farms on Farm Tour that stock their products at CCF.

We welcome all the inbound mariners venturing to Port Townsend for the Wooden Boat Festival this weekend.  Billed as the largest celebration of wooden vessels in North America, it is a cornerstone of the annual calendar that makes Port Townsend what it is. A chance for transference of maritime skills, knowledge, culture, and fun, in the name of reverence for the ocean. As merchants of fine foods, we humbly invite you to pack yer galley at the Corner this weekend. One hand for you, sailors! Read on for all the scuttlebutt!

We’ve been busy working on a little something in the background this summer season and are excited to go public with our big news! Our intrepid owners, Phil and Katy, took another leap of faith, further investing in the local farm and food movement on the Olympic Peninsula. On August 15th, after several months of research and due diligence, they closed on the purchase of the former Farms Reach Cafe property!

When we say "humble beginnings", we mean it. We opened November 22, 2010, in an old auto parts store with 1/30th of what fills our shelves today. The nation was only beginning its creep out of a severe recession, and on opening day, a snowstorm blanketed Chimacum's streets. Despite it being the week before Thanksgiving, we offered not a single turkey. What were we thinking?

Despite Turnip weighing just shy of a quarter pound, our store mascot is lionhearted and throws all 3.8 oz of her pluck towards making a difference in this world. She has many interests but is most passionate about local food production here in East Jefferson County.

How did this happen? As of tomorrow, the Corner Store will have been in business, serving our community, for 10 YEARS!!!

It's hard to overstate our gratitude to all of you who have propelled us every inch of the journey with your genuine fellowship, encouragement, and impeccable standards. Not to mention your bountiful local harvest and your loyal patronage. Are we part of an exceptional community or what?