Hail to the Farmers!

The cafe menu at the Blue Scorcher is seasonally driven, and we are very interested in getting our ingredients as locally as possible, therefore, we really rely on local growers. We love the farmers who supply us with produce, eggs, flowers, herbs and goodness of all kinds!  During the growing season we average about 80% of our produce from local farms. Local produce is used for everything from fresh raspberry tarts to a local favorite,Sea bean chowder (made w/organic milk and butter!).

We are very lucky to have such incredible produce grown within a 50 mile radius  . We enjoy our interactions with farmers, the freshness of what they deliver, and the security of knowing how our ingredients are grown. We delight in passing the bounty of freshness onto our customers. Stop by the River People Farmer's Market and other local markets to meet our farmers--those who work hard to provide food security to our community. Take home some of their beautiful products to enjoy in your own kitchen.

Here is a sampling of Blue Scorcher producers in no particular order.

Glory B Farms
Grays River, Washington  

The Zimmerman family has been producing great food for three generations. Tom and April have ten acres in organic vegetable production. Tom’s mother orchestrates a network of honey bees. Anything honey sweet at the bakery is so because of Zimmerman bees.  We enjoy a wide range of vegetables from that 10 acre “garden” year roundin the cafe. Tom has been a reliable and kind guide through what is in season as we prepare our menus each month. Though Glory B Farms is primarily a wholesale farm, you can often see their beautiful vegetables at the Astoria Cooperative. 

Stewardship Farm
About Stewardship Farms, quoted directly from their website:

"True Eats are certified organic.  Beyond organic there is synergistic economics. Complete accounting is beyond status quo capitalism with an actual triple bottom line in which capital is one of the three legs of community sustainability. Economic/Social/Ecological accounting is timeless. From the dawn of people to the far out future, successful local community needs vested triple bottom line ventures. Local business proprietors survive generation to generation as part of the thriving community. You could say: triple bottom line is the 'rational local.'"

Stewardship Farm can also be found at: "Hub Wild"

All Wild
Wilds of Western Washington

Veronica Williams has been wildcrafting delicious things to eat her whole life. We really benefit from her expertise when she brings us crunchy and salty seabeans which we make into chowder, fiddle heads for a special spring dinner, wild huckleberries both red and blue, native blackberries to 'die for' or beautiful wild mushrooms earthy and mysterious. She arrives all gussied up on her way to play bridge on Thursday, and she leads us out to look in the trunk of her car at the treasures she has gathered. Her charm and enthusiasm make her weekly deliveries a real treat!

Kingfisher Farm
Nehalem, Oregon

Jeff  grows the most incredible arugula and greens. They have a large CSA community, sell at farmer’s markets and to restaurants.  Like many area farms, they have experienced stunning losses and setbacks the last few years, due to storm winds and flooding. I will never forget a few years ago when Jeff called to let me know they would be unable to deliver, as the farm was flooded in and that salmon were swimming through the greenhouses. Strangely the phones were still working.  It is the courage of the farmer that feeds us all. 

Willow Grove Farm
Long Beach, Washington

Ruth & Michael supplies us with winter squash and pumpkins by the truck full. Our Thanksgiving pies made with sweet potatoes, cinderella pumpkin, and red kuri squash owe a lot of their scrumptiousness to this farm!  We all look forward to making quince tarts in the fall with their quince.