Bracken and I left Sunday morning to go to my dad and stepmom’s place in southern Oregon. Jeff did not join us because he needed the time in his shop and he was able to accomplish so much in the relatively short time that he was alone. Bracken loves visiting his grandparents on their farm and there’s hardly ever enough time to do all the things he wants to do. We had planned to visit them sometime in January, but the weather wasn’t cooperating for awhile. Finally the weather was clear, our schedules aligned, and it all came together.

Whenever I travel anywhere one of my very favorite things is discovering good food in the area. I love visiting farmer’s markets, local farms, health food stores, and finding restaurants serving delicious real food. It feels like I’m finding a treasure every time I stumble upon a new inspiring place. My dad knows this about me and wanted to show me a favorite farm store, where they had often brought us ferments from when they came to visit us. We went to the Whistling Duck Farm Store and I loved it there just like he knew I would.

Going there was like visiting a farm stand and natural food store all rolled into one. There were so many good things to be found ranging from fresh vegetables, sustainable local fish and seafood, and bone broths, to natural cleaners and even laundry detergent. Their salad greens were so good and if we lived nearby I could guarantee that all of our salads (when we weren’t harvesting lettuce from our own garden) would be featuring their farm fresh greens.

I was excited about so many things I saw there, but what excited me most were the ferments. Our family is pretty in love with fermented foods and we usually eat something fermented with every meal. I included quite a few pictures of their ferments because I wanted to show the incredible variety to be found there. The quality is superb and their ferments are truly some of the best I have ever had. They even sell brines from their ferments, which I think would make a delicious addition to salad dressings.

While talking with the owner, I found out she was in the book Fermented Vegetables by Kristen & Christopher Shockey. What a small world! Bracken and I went to a class for kids on making sauerkraut at the Mother Earth News Fair over the summer and the teachers of the class were the authors of that book. I had that book on my wishlist since taking the class and then meeting the gal in person who carried on their fermentation business felt like such a fun coincidence. I thought I would mention the Whistling Duck Farm Store here in case you are ever traveling in the area and are in the mood for something fresh and local, in the heart of the Applegate Valley Wine Country.