Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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Erin and Rhett Elsey took advantage of last week's storm to go "Wheat Field Kayaking" off Lower Waitsburg Road, just north of Ferris Rd. "...
Waitsburg resident and owner of Ironwood Cindy Daves caught spectacular images of last week's thunderstorm as it rolled through town....
OLYMPIA—According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), it will be a banner year for Washington wheat. NASS just published its new harvest forecast based on June 1 conditions. The forecast predicts that Washington growers will produce 131 million bushels of winter wheat this year, up 85% from last year. The 2021 wheat crop was abysmal due to the extreme drought and heat in Washington state. This year, winter wheat is predicted to yield 73 bushels an acre, which is up 31 bushels an acre in 2021. In a separate NASS report on h...
The talented team of winery co-founder Trey Busch and production winemaker Keith Johnson have elevated all of the SoH wines in recent years, while expanding production capacity and opening up new venues across the state. This summertime Riesling is sourced from a vineyard near the Gorge Amphitheater in an AVA called the Ancient Lakes. The calcareous soil is perfect for white wines, as this steely, stony example – dry as an ancient lake – amply demonstrates. The flavors focus on lemony cit...
Ten Years Ago August 9, 2012 [Photo Caption] Inspecting combine 2, David White walks along to make sure the settings are correct on farmland north of Walla Walla recently. Some farmers in the north are battling unripened wheat that is pushing back harvest even further. Twenty-Five Years Ago August 21, 1997 The 1997 grain harvest in the area should be about complete sometime this week, according to J. E. McCaw of the Touchet Valley Grain Growers. "I'd day we're about 95% done," he said. Yields...
Lately, I have been obsessed with galettes, which are sweet or savory free-form tarts that are as much a celebration of good crust as they are about a tasty filling. Balanced and rustic, these baked delights have an inherent laid-back elegance. Here, I make a galette that highlights our region's beautiful sweet onions with a dash of thyme and Gruyère. However, it is the perfectly golden, flakey crust that makes this a truly memorable bite. This dish is a fitting way to pay tribute to our local...
WAITSBURG/LYONS FERRY-This weekend saw medieval sports and crafts at Preston Park in Waitsburg and an open swim across the Snake River at Lyon's Ferry. Residents and visitors to Walla Walla and Columbia counties enjoy a wide range of intesests and skills. Lisa Naylor, an accomplished open water swimmer, brings her love of the sport to her community by volunteering at the annual Swim the Snake event. Swimmers and paddle boarders are given the opportunity to safely swim across the river from...
Harris Park is located 15 miles southeast of Milton-Freewater, Oregon. It is an excellent place to camp and close enough to enjoy a day trip to picnic in the day use area. Before the flood of 2020, the park had about 30 campsites, some alongside the south fork of the Walla Walla River, and three cabins. Alongside the river were trees and bushes where the sight of many species of hummingbirds were enjoyed by campers. If you held a feeder in your hand, the hummingbirds would come and get a drink....
With my car freshly washed, lubed and oiled, and gassed, my playlist relatively perfected, I put the top down and hit the road for my four-hour drive to Seattle last Friday. I was heading to the last of my cousins’ children’s Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. My music and I headed west to Seattle’s relatively cool 95-degree weather. My family is well known among my friends as one that comes together to attend family events no matter where they are held. And as usual, we all showed up in Seattle. Broth...
I call this series “Just Vignettes” because that’s what they are, just short snapshots of things that have happened to me or have been told to me. I can vouch the stories you read here are mostly true. The Bahrain night of January 16, 1991, was cold and crisp. Our captain, who commanded the USS San Jose, had offered to buy dinner for most of the officers not on duty at a restaurant in the city of Manama. President George H. W. Bush’s ultimatum to Saddam Hussein to withdraw from Kuwait was set to expire in about six hours. All indications were t...
Gärd 2019 Chardonnay Chardonnay two weeks in a row? Why not! I’ve been researching a deep dive into Chardonnays from Washington, Oregon and California and this beauty from Gärd is one of the standouts. The Lawrence family owns Gärd, and their estate vineyards include eight separate sites in the excellent Royal Slope AVA in north central Washington. They also farm and get grapes from Conner-Lee, which supplied 43% of the blend here. This is a powerful wine, packed with orchard fruits and show...
Ten Years Ago August 9, 2012 The 1889 "Vollmer House" has finally come to be known as the "Davis House" after about 50 years of the family inhabiting it. Joyce Davis, who moved into the home on Highway 12 right outside of Waitsburg in the early 1970's, said everyone around town had always called it the Vollmer House because the Vollmer Family had built it in 1889 and owned it until it was sold to Bill and Joyce Davis. Joyce said she recently was about town and asked someone – "Do you call the h...
During the summer months, we tend to eat most of our evening meals out on the backyard deck. Enjoying the golden light of summer dusk, while watching little swallows zip across the yard, everything seems to taste better al fresco. This week, while entertaining family visiting from the other side of the mountains and inspired by some recent additions to my spice rack, I created a variation on an old favorite grilling recipe: buttermilk marinated chicken skewers. Adding golden curry powder and...
A fire approximately five miles northeast of Eureka, Wash., started midday in a field of freshly harvested wheat. Several trucks from WW County Fire District 3 were on the scene. Crews were suppressing flames along the west and east perimeter....
The high cumulonimbus clouds born of afternoon heat, dust particulate, and inexplicable humidity morphed into a nebulous gray bank of doom. Nate and I were headed east into the Blues for an evening of temping mountain rainbows with big dry flies – his last outing before moving to New England two days hence. "Seems to storm every evening I fish the Blues," I said as we wound out of the foothills into the mountain canyon. "A little rain just makes the fishing better," Nate replied, ignoring the p...
The lottery was not for money but a week's stay at beautiful Lake Tapp near Bonney Lake, Washington. My sisters, sans one, and I enjoyed a two-bedroom cabin with a kitchen and a deck overlooking the lake. After stopping at the store to stock up on groceries, we enjoyed a boat ride compliments of an area resident and his family. At the lake, we saw geese, goslings, eagles, hot air balloons, and lots of people enjoying water sports. Mount Rainier is the backdrop of the lake, which made for...
I’ve been drinking a lot of Chardonnay during the recent hot weather, and if you put a slight chill on the bottle (about 20 minutes in the fridge) it can be a most refreshing choice. This Waterbrook Chard is labeled as a reserve but falls into the value category for me as it is difficult to find this kind of flavor at this kind of price. It’s more generous than pretentious, done in a straight-ahead style with bold fruit flavors of apple and lemon meringue pie. A wash of toasty oak puts a pre...
Ten Years Ago August 2, 2012 If Karen Mohney’s math is correct, the Rainbow Girls group has been active in Waitsburg for more than 75 years, and about 680 to 700 Waitsburg girls have been part of the organization. Mohney, the current mother advisor of the Waitsburg group, is no stranger to Rainbow herself. And there are many other volunteers and board members who have also spent many years of their lives involved in the organization. The women, older and younger, say they stay with Rainbow b...
While ripe tomatoes and sweet corn are what I most associate with summer cooking, it is bountiful zucchini that usually manages to make an appearance at every meal of the season. Living in a town full of seasoned and generous, backyard gardeners, there can never be enough zucchini recipes to have on hand. Thankfully, the dark-green summer squash is as versatile in the kitchen as it is prolific in the garden. Grilled, roasted, or sauteed, zucchini takes on different flavors with every culinary...
Top row: Jim Hubbard, Charlie Baker, Martin Huffman, John Hansen, Dwight Thomas, Glen Smith, Verlyn Smith, Terry Bloor, Gary Pierson, Jim Western Bottom row: Mitzi (Johnson)Sullivan, Cassandra Largent, Kathy (Brown) Buroker, Becky Huwe, Michele Saranovich, Howard Smith, Jo-Ellen Watson, Jani (Keve) Jansen, Judy(Harper) Deines, Patty (Bennett) Smith, Carol (Wills) Heilbrun. The Class of 71 alumni enjoyed a great Memorial Day weekend of gatherings starting on Friday May 27th at the American...
DAYTON-Wildhorse Foundation presented the Liberty Theater with a $20,000 check for the balcony remodel project....
Parents Tanner and Micah Beeks of Goldendale Wash. welcomed daughter Piper Jo Beeks who joins three-year-old big brother Wesson. Piper was born at OHSU on Monday, July 18, weighting in at 6 pounds 11oz. Everyone is healthy and happy. Oh yes, grandparents Stacy Baker of Glenwood Wash., and Andy and Denise Winnett of Waitsburg are delighted....
One of our favorite camping spots is Winchester Lake State Park in Idaho. It is about 36 miles south of Lewiston and has a great lake to kayak or paddleboard, as motorized boats are not allowed. With an Idaho fishing license, you are sure to catch a few fish for a fish fry. The area also offers some nice hiking trails. Winchester is a small town of about 500 people, and this year we were camping during the 4th of July holiday and enjoyed the town's festivities. People came from around the area...
Cole Porter’s song is on point this week, “It’s too darn hot.” It’s too hot when even the dandelions popping up in the garden are dying from the heat. I thought those weeds were invincible; evidently, even they have a heat tolerance level. The weeds we planned to blast with Roundup are slowly turning brown and withering away. It saves breathing in some poison for the moment. Mugsy is not adapting well to the heat. Usually, he is anxious to join me on a walk or go outside to run around and chase...
Pacific Rim makes a wide range of affordable Rieslings in a variety of sweetness levels. The Dry Riesling featured here is richly fruity with a luscious blend of peach, apricot, and papaya fruit. Though it is accurately labeled as dry the ripeness of the fruit provides a slight impression of sweetness, which rounds out the palate and cuts through the tart acidity. The flavors extend into a pleasing finish with a mix of orange blossoms, Meyer lemon, pink grapefruit, and a cascade of ripe...
