APPLES ALL THE WAY DOWN
Hello Chimacum Corner Community!
Every apple on the market is actually a needle in a haystack. Genetically, apples are considered “extreme heterozygotes,” meaning that no two seeds are alike in any apple. Apple varieties remain consistent because all production trees are sculpted via grafting scionwood branches onto rootstock. But the scionwood has to come from somewhere. In the case of modern apples like Cosmic Crisp, the scionwood comes from state university laboratories. But for classics like Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, McIntosh, and Red Delicious, there are quaint tales of happy accidents, speculative investments, and observant farmers. And of course, as with Borat, it all started in some remote little village in Kazakhstan. Chimacum Corner goes hard for our state fruit, attempting to cram as many varieties as possible into our postage-stamp porch. We should have a glorious illuminated hand-painted sign that reads “Know Thy Apple” above the registers. It’s hard to keep them all straight! Celebrate the world’s favorite “pome” fruit all week long with us and the rest of Chimacum! For us, it ain’t turtles, it’s apples all the way down.
Pome Dot Com
The Produce Porch is chock full of pome fruit this time of year. The most widely known pome is the apple of course, but it also includes pears and quince, which are also in stock at the Corner. This week features the return of that gold standard workhorse of apples, the Fuji. Thus far this season, the collective opinion of the Corner crew has landed on a few apple favorites: Rosalee, King David, and Jonagold. Rosalee is a Honeycrisp-Fuji cross, and one of the Produce Manager’s favorites. King David is an Arkansas Black seedling, tart and complex, a sophisticated addition to a charcuterie board. Finally Jonagold, a Jonathan-Golden Delicious cross, has great size this year and is eating fantastic. Aside from our state fruit, we also have a great cross section of Tonnemaker Hill pears at the moment. Freshest addition to the set is the Comice Pear, also called the “Christmas Pear,” which is considered the crown jewel of the dessert pears. When we first got word that the Bosc pears from Tonnemaker would be landing, the liner notes on Luke’s fresh sheet simply read: “Best vintage I’ve seen.” Given that Luke is an incredibly humble class act, we take an accolade from him like that seriously. We also have a deep variety of Asian Pears at the moment, which are a mix of hyperlocal growers and Tonnemaker Hill. The Produce Porch at Chimacum Corner truly is “the pome dot com” right now!
APPLE TASTING
with Farmer Luke of Tonnemaker Hill Farm
This Sunday 11am to 3pm
Chimacum Corner will be hosting Luke Tonnemaker of Tonnemaker Hill Farm out of Royal City, WA in our Nursery Greenhouse for a SPECIAL APPLE TASTING from 11am to 3pm. Sample all 18 + varieties of Apples that we have on hand with the grower himself! Luke is a wealth of knowledge on all matters of fruit production. He also tends to bring some super fun “off-menu” apples that he is excited about to the tasting. Figure out which apples you'll be snacking, baking, and saucing this Fall and Winter season! 20 lb CASE DEALS anyone?
While you're at it... Enjoy the Chimacum Farmers Market happening on site that day as well! One of the last of the season. Between the Chimacum Farmers Market, Luke’s Apple Tasting, and Finnriver Apple Day, the crossroads will be a happenin’ place this weekend!
Case Deals Too!
Apples!
20# cases $25 per case to $60 per case depending on variety.
All hail the return of the Fuji, the perennial top selling apple by the case ($25 for 20#s).
Bosc Pears
25# cases: $45
Big Apple Energy
The Grocery Dept. is replete with all manner of apple-based products for your delight/consideration. For dried apples we have 3 oz bags of Organic Dried Apple Rings from Made in Nature. We also have a complete selection of apple sauces, available both in a large jar format and in portable cup packs. A stand-out is the single cultivar Gravenstein applesauce from North Coast Organic. For an Every Day Low Price value purchase, we have four packs of cups of organic unsweetened applesauce from Cadia Neighborhood Grocers. Moving from solid to fully liquid, we have the delectable Honeycrisp N/A fresh apple cider from Columbia Gorge. CoGo’s cider is 100% apple juice and single-varietal, as well as certified organic, farmer-owned, and gluten free. As it is officially peak apple season, let’s get into it six ways from Sunday!
Shifting into Apple Mode
The Corner Kitchen is making another seasonal shift and breaking out the sugar and spice. Make sure to take notice of the new item in the pastry case! The Apple Spice Coffee Cake! And if that wasn’t enough, the small but mighty Corner Kitchen Baking team is suiting up for a solid stretch of pie season. Keep your eye our for slices and full pies arriving in the deli case this week! Including house made pumpkin and a beautiful Apple Pie. Tonnemaker Hill Jonagold apples form the backbone of this pie, as well as the scratch made pie crusts. As we near closer to the holidays, expect full pies to be available for purchase as well! Apples and cinnamon, a match made in heaven.
Fall Fruitage
The Corner Nursery has a neat collection of fruiting perennial plants that would be delighted to join your backyard party. There are classic grape vines, such as Interlaken, Jupiter, and Vanessa. We also have some Northern Highbush blueberry plants, like Duke and Patriot (Patriot being a particularly suited cultivar for our microregion). Raspberries and Evergreen Huckleberries round out the berry offerings, both of which are northwest natives. Finally, there are still some great young fig trees on hand. We have the classic “Brown Turkey,” as well as the unique dwarf-type called “Figanomenal,” which is great for patios and containers, and is also self-fertile. For those in the fig know, “Figanomenal” is very akin to the “Chicago Hardy” cultivar. Fall is a great time to plant perennials, they get to know their soil over winter and hit the ground running in the springtime, spreading roots when the sun returns and plants reawaken. Nothing says “I care about you” like a gift of a fruiting plant!
Fall sugar consumption season is upon us, and we are privy to some sweet deals on cookies/crisps from Simple Mills and Annie’s. The stars of the cookie show are the Honey Cinnamon Sweet Thins from Simple Mills. They are just dandy on their own, or can become the base of a cookie crumb crust for your next confection. Additionally, the chocolate Bunny Grahams and Honey Graham Crackers from Annie’s are each three dollars off or more per box! Time to stock up the pantry to have sweet nibbles all fall long.
