Got Squash?
Because we do! This hot, sun-filled summer has lead our garden here at Middleground farms to BOOM with fruit and vegetables. We have more produce than we know what to do with! Our tomatoes, (even after following the planting instructions to a T), grew in such abundance that they are toppling over the tomato cages and it looks more like a tomato forest than a garden.
This was our first year planting on the farm. The amount of fruit and veggies we are yielding is a pleasant and welcome surprise. Good news, our soil is clearly extremely fertile! These are all lessons to take with us for planting next year… when we’ll still be eating squash from this year.
Welcome to Fruit Heaven
Coming up on Sunday, August 9th, the Kitchen will be teaching a class completely centered on the bountiful fruit of the Willamette Valley. This is the perfect time of year to learn all about fruit preservation and how to best utilize fresh fruit in your meals! Join us for class and leave with jam-making skills, delicious fruit pie recipes, and several savory fruit options! Click here to register.
Classes for Your Young Chef
The Kitchen is excited to host a series of four classes for kids ages 8 to 13 centered on true farm-to-table cooking!
What better way to learn where food comes from than a local farm? Kids will collect eggs direct from the chicken and learn several ways to prepare them, they’ll learn how to make cheese from fresh milk, and pick fruits and vegetables straight from the garden and turn them into meals for the whole family to enjoy! Kids are encouraged to discover their own culinary talents while also learning basic kitchen skills at the same time. Help your child prepare to be the next master chef!
Camp begins Monday, August 10th through Thursday, August 13th. Classes are 9:30 am to 12:30 pm daily. Sign up here!
Our farm is growing… with “Tiny” Chickens
Okay, so they’re actually regular chickens, but our youngest farmers (twin toddler girls, Ava and Cami) have taken to calling them tiny chickens ever since we got our new flock of future egg layers. We currently have a brood of hens that provide a varied and plentiful supply of nutrtitous eggs for us here at Middleground Farms. In the late spring, we added another dozen baby chicks to our growing farm family—which already includes five goats, twenty chickens, and a llama named George. These young ladies are quickly on their way from “tiny” chickens to becoming full-on egg laying hens.
Coming soon to our farm family….pigs!
Upcoming Food Festival
Coming up in mid-September is an amazing food festival here in Portland! Feast Portland is a four-day all-out food fest for experienced foodies and hungry patrons alike. Hosting many popular chefs and restaurants from around the country, attendees of the festival can sign up to take classes from their favorite chef, taste samples of local delicacies, or enter the drink tank and learn all about the area’s many celebrated wines, beers, and other alcohols. The options are endless for Feast Portland, just be sure to come with an empty stomach!
Our own Chef Jessica Hansen of The Kitchen has been invited to be apart of the Feast, presenting with the Travel Oregon booth! Come stop by and check out her brand of local cuisine. Information to buy tickets and events for Feast Portland here.
