Dog Mountain Farm to Table Store sign
One thing I hadn’t expected when moving out to Fall City was how much it would impact my food choices. After coming down with SIBO and having to drastically switch my diet I felt I was doing pretty well shopping at Whole Foods for most of my food. After the move Whole Foods became a fairly serious trip into “town” so I started looking closer to home for my food. PCC in Issaquah is now the real grocery we shop at and they carry way more local produce and meats than Whole Foods did. I mainly buy my few packaged foods and bulk foods there as well as some local pork until my pig is ready for slaughter this fall.
My first discovery was the Farmhouse Market in Fall City, about a half mile from our house and in biking or walking distance. They have an outdoor tent that is like a year round farmer’s market and a great meat department with Oregon raised Painted Hills beef and, even more locally, 100% grass-fed beef from the Snoqualmie Cattle Company. I have no idea how many bunches of asparagus we bought from April-June at this store, at least a few a week. The Snoqualmie Cattle Company ground beef is the absolute best ground beef I’ve ever had and I enjoy it so much that I ordered a 1/4 beef worth directly from them which I’m picking up tomorrow!
Our next discovery was Sol to Seed Farm which has become our supplier for the best chicken eggs we’ve ever had. We get two dozen eggs per week from them and Catherine gets their pickled jalapeños which she says are better than any she’s ever had. This year we are doing CSA through Sol to Seed since they have a good selection of fresh produce too. We can’t wait to pick up our first share in a few weeks. We had so many CSAs to choose from this year including Jubilee Farm across the street. Catherine and I got married at Jubilee and were out there a few days ago to check out their new classroom kitchen and the upcoming classes they will be having. We also buy some produce from Oxbow Farm at the Carnation Farmer’s Market on Tuesday afternoons.
Catherine then found out about Dog Mountain Farm and their new Farm to Table store and cafe in Carnation. They have become our source for fresh duck eggs, local honey and some veggies. They also carry chicken and rabbit which I still need to try plus they carry raw milk and local cheeses which I, unfortunately, can’t eat. I met David the farmer one day there and we got talking about turkeys since I wanted to get one for Thanksgiving. They were out of turkeys but I found Bright Ide Acres in Snohomish and we now have a turkey on reserve for the holidays. Through David I also found out about K-T Cattle Company here in the valley that raises mini-cattle. They were out for this season but I’m on their list for next season and should hopefully be able to eat more than ground beef by that time.
Rounding out our local eating I have a half pig coming from a friend’s small farm in Snoqualmie this fall and have been enjoying trout from the lakes in the Fall City and Carnation area all spring.
Granted, we aren’t 100% local and probably can’t be since I need to buy nuts and nut flours for nut milk and yogurt and am not sure we could survive without avocados which are not local. Citrus fruits too have to come from a distance. And then there is Copper River salmon but that is kind of local, right?