ROOTS ROCK!
Hello Chimacum Corner Community!
Local chanteuse/shredder Micaela Kingslight released a single late last year titled “Roots Down Deep.” A mesmerizing, looping chant born from forest song circles, it gently reminds us to “keep [our] focus on the center.” Roots are the one thing that lasts. Leaves, branches, and even trunks can fall, but roots persist through it all and send reinforcements. Chimacum Corner has an intricate root system, each root a connection to food and farming. We try to know our roots by maintaining these connections and strengthening them. You could say we are the “mycorrhizal fungi” of the local food system (read on for more on mycorrhizal fungi)! Read on for all the ways we can exchange nutrients with you this week. :)
Tap Them Roots
Usually come February we don’t have a tremendous supply of local root veg, but with this extremely mild winter, the local root crops are positively rockin’! We are back into loose orange carrots from Red Dog Farm and Chimalow Produce. We have red beets from Midori, and gold and chioggia beets back on tap from Red Dog. We also have mixed daikons from Midori and black radish from Red Dog. Don’t forget parsnips from Midori and celeriac from Chimalow! Roots are an incredibly healthy food source and an essential long term product that local farms can hold in their soil or their coolers to have income in the lean months of late winter / early spring. Eating roots in February is one of the best ways to support the local farming businesses we cherish.
BULK BEETS
So as to encourage you to eat your roots, we offer the two core roots in bulk bags to help you save at the register. We pack loose orange carrots from Red Dog / Chimalow in 3# bags, and bulk red beets from Midori in 5# bags. Especially handy for folks juicing at home, or people cooking for many bellies!
Fancy Ferments
If you prefer your roots in jars, we are the place for you! Midori Farm has some excellent root krauts, like the Beet Kraut and the Curtido. (REMINDER: you can return your clean Midori Farm kraut jars back to CCF so they may be used once again!) Britt’s Fermented Foods, from Whidbey, also has an excellent selection of krauts and pickles. And while we’re talking glass jars of goodness, if you want to pickle your own local roots, we carry canning jars and such to facilitate your canning journey.
Last Call on the Iggy’s
We received word on January 12th that our dear fermented friends over at Iggy’s were going to be closing their doors. The last of our deliveries have been dropped and many hugs and well wishes have been shared with our sales reps and delivery driver. All of us at CCF are super sad about this send-off and send our care to the entire staff at Iggy’s. The very last products remaining on our shelves, the Fermented Hot Sauce lineup.
Root Doctors
If there’s one thing that we take for granted at the Corner, it’s that good soil creates thriving plants. The Nursery team has a well-researched bank of products centered around feeding roots to help plants proliferate. We have leaned into offering many products that contain mycorrhizal fungi, as these fungi are the internet of the soil. We have several products from great brands like Big Foot, Plant Success Organics, and MycoApply. Give young plants an advantage by inoculating their immediate soil surroundings with mycorrhizal fungi. We also have some great locally made liquid fertilizers for quickly delivering nutrients to your plants. Chief among them are the Worm Brew and Compost Extract from Nine Hills Farm in Port Townsend, and the classic Worm Tea Concentrate from Prairie Star in Sequim. In short, we are awash in ample products to help your plant friends grow strong roots.
Need something to dip your roots in? Slather those bad boys in some Bitchin’ Sauce. A great dip to pair with your chips for the big game this weekend! GO HAWKS! They are also vegan and gluten free! We also have a great deal on the Mekhala line of cooking pastes, which are great for developing a great flavor on those wings! We’ve go the full trio of thai curries (red, yellow, and green), as well as a Tom Yum paste. These sauces are sure to enhance any dish.
NOW $4.79 was $7.99
NOW $4.29 was $6.29
Be Still My Beeting Heart
If you are jonesing for a healthy quick side salad, the Corner Kitchen has come up with a winning recipe. The roasted beet salad features Midori Farm red beets, atop a bed of salad greens, with pine nuts and a vinaigrette to finish. This week also features the return of two other delicious Corner Kitchen salads, the Country Store salad featuring hard boiled eggs, and the Tempeh salad, which uses non-soy tempeh from Portland-based company Squirrel & Crow, as well as peanut butter and loose peanuts from CB’s nuts. All in all, we have some great healthy options that are scratch made in our Corner Kitchen, ready to be turned into roughage for some health-conscious friend of yours.
Give us this Day…
Chimacum Valley Grainery has had to scale back operations a bit in the new year, due to having a lone baker at the moment. They are switching to delivering Wednesdays through Fridays in the weekly cycle in an effort to provide balance for staff. That being said, they are looking to hire an all-star baker (or two) to fill out their bustling team. Check out their job posting and pass it along to any budding bakers looking to get in on the ground level of a very unique Chimacum company with deep roots in the community. Also, check out their latest addition to the beer line-up, the Threshold Pale Ale!
Parking Lot Complete(ish)
We are pleased to report that all of the main efforts to reshape the CCF parking lot are complete! Huge shout-out to Franson Excavation for moving literal mountains to make it happen. We still have some secondary work to do around the front of the building and nursery delivery zone, but are happy to report all potholes have been eradicated! Another change on the horizon, we will be relocating and adjusting the layout of the ADA accessible parking in the near future. Our hope with this change is to provide a better ADA accessible experience that is in compliance with state regulation. This will allow us to convert the area closet to the store entrance into a more pedestrian friendly zone, to include the addition of picnic table seating for folks to be able to gather, rest, mingle, and be in community with one another. The Corner has been no stranger to change over the years (anyone remember the walk-in that was INSIDE of the store that opened onto the retail floor?) and we expect this change to go smoothly. We appreciate your support and understanding as we continue to refine the resources available to us.
