HEAVENLY HERMISTONS
Hello Chimacum Corner Community!
The heat wave of this past week has made it clear that the “dog days” of summer have officially arrived. Cooling systems all over Jefferson County are wheezing and hoping to keep pace. With all that heat, our palates lean towards cool foods. There is literally nothing more evocative of summer than slicing a chilled vine-ripened cantaloupe from Walchli Farms in half and giving one half (plus a spoon) to a friend. We love using the scooped out melon half as a chalice to slurp the accumulated juices. So regal. Down at Chimacum Corner, there are endless yummy ways to beat the heat. From the sweet treats of the Corner Kitchen to the cured meats of the Grocery Department, not to mention all that Produce lusciously hanging about out front, the abundance time is right here, right now. Read on for all the ways to get to “local heaven.”
Melon Madness
The infamous vine-ripened cantaloupes from Walchli Farms in Hermiston, Oregon have landed! What makes them so good? Hermiston is hot, and they have quite sandy soil, both key factors in melon production. The main thing, though, is letting the fruit actually ripen mostly on the vine. This jacks up the sugars in the melons and brings out all of the aromatics the melons exude. Then it becomes a race to distribute these little sugary bundles of joy throughout the northwest. Right now we are averaging around 800 pounds per day! Not too shabby for a three by three wooden slatted bin at the head of the Produce Porch. Our hand baskets are never heavier than at the beginning of Hermiston season. Huge shoutout to the Produce team for the tremendous lift they make every July and August to ensure that CCF is the premier outlet for Hermiston cantaloupes in practically the entire northwest. Don’t forget about our punch card system for Walchli cantaloupes: when you buy 10 melons, you get one free!
And don’t sleep on Walchli’s other amazing melons! We are carrying both their black seedless watermelon and their ginormous seeded watermelon, which when cut yields about 6-8 sizeable pieces of melon! Some of those puppies are 30+ pounds! Shoutout to the Produce Crew for revamping our cut melon program as well. Those puppies are wrapped tight and sealed with a heat gun, then stickered with a sell-by date so you can be certain that your slice is freshly cut every time. Melon season is off to an incredibly strong start, so get that punch card shot full of holes!
Case Deals
We have some great case options with the influx of Tonnemaker fruit, see the list below!
Freestone White Nectarines: Crimson Snow
By the lb: $3.99
Half case: $16.99
Full case: $29.99
Yellow Nectarines: Honey Blaze
By the lb: $3.99
Half case: $16.99
Full case: $29.99
Yellow Peach: PF7
By the lb: $3.99
Half Case: $16.99
Full Case: $29.99
Pickling Cucumbers from Midori Farm
By the lb: $4.29
5lb Case: $17.99
Always Eat Cured Meats
Hermiston Cantaloupe season is off like a cheetah, so you might as well give chase with some cured meats. Like Bonnie and Clyde, cantaloupe and prosciutto are a gorgeous couple doomed to be swallowed up. We actually have a duo of prosciuttos at the moment, the standard classic from Creminelli as well as the “crudo italiano” from Levoni, which is particularly exquisite and ribbony. Then there’s the new addition from Levoni, the Coppa Stagionata which is dry-cured pork collar, a real gem. Finally, we have snack pack trays from both Creminelli and Levoni, for those folks on the run. Prosciutto E Melone: the perfect combo of salty, sweet, and umami.
With such a great deal on Cocojune “cultured coconut” dairy-free vegan yogurt, it’s no wonder it’s practically galloping right off the shelf. Available in the single-serving Strawberry Rhubarb flavorway, or in three standard 16oz size tubs, the texture of the cultured coconut is incredible and you can tell they spent considerable effort refining the flavors to their highest potential. Cocojune serves as the perfect base for adding all of your favorite in-season fruits to your morning bowl! An excellent combo of toppings: Walchli cantaloupe, Stellar J blueberries, Tonnemaker Hill yellow nectarines, and fresh figs from Organically Grown! Act fast as this deal cycle ends July 28th!
Desert Dwellers
If you can’t beat the heat, might as well join it, right? If you have a perpetually hot and thirsty corner of the garden, or just need a potted friend, we have a great selection of sedums and hens’n’chicks (sempervivum) out in the Corner Nursery to spice up one’s life. A “staff pick” hens’n’chicks cultivar is Pacific Blue Ice, and “Lime Twister” is a stand out Sedum selection. The Nursery Crew even has some super beautiful and stately “J.C. Raulston” agave plants kicking around the front walkway area. Sedums and Hens’N’Chicks are also super easy plants to propagate, so getting one plant now might lead to an endless bounty of your preferred cultivars! Also a big shout out to the Nursery Team for keeping everything so lush and well-watered in the wake of all that intense heat!
Sugar Shack
With all the fruit sugar out front in the Produce Porch, it’s only fair that the Corner Kitchen show off their sugar wares which are just as excellent in all their glory. This week the Corner would like to spotlight a dessert that is near and dear to this author’s little heart: the Tahini Marbled Brownie. The Kitchen crew can probably execute said brownie in their sleep and it literally turns out perfect. Soft gooey core blends with a savory creamy tahini ore-veins, lending a perfect diptych of flavor. The brownie is about a quarter mile wide, and it even comes with a generous dusting of large sized finishing salt. If you haven’t had a brownie yet, what kind of Corner regular are you?!! Snag one from the Pastry Case with your morning joe reload. You can nibble off it all day long and not feel tired. Anywho, go hit up the Sugar Shack and see what the Corner Kitchen dessert program is all about!
We Could be Farmers, Just for One Day
Now is the time to put out the call for folks to sign up for the 2026 JeffCo Farm Tour brought to you by the Production Alliance! They are now accepting sign-ups for Farm Greeter Volunteers as well as donations to help put Farm Tour on. This year’s tour takes place over the weekend of September 19th and 20th, and has some exciting new Farm Host additions, like Chimalow Produce and Red Dog Farm, as well as classics like Kodama Farm, Compass Rose Farms, Wilderbee Farm, White Lotus Farm, Space Twins Provisions, Sailor Vineyards, Short’s Farm, and more! Farm Tour often represents a significant boon to small farms in the form of exposure and increased direct sales of farm-produced goods. Don’t miss your chance to get on the fabulous farms of Jefferson County this September, and don’t hesitate to get involved! It’s a great way to meet other farm-focused individuals. As ever, Chimacum Corner will be your Farm Tour Central!
