Whidbey Island Grown Week is Coming: Try These Five Events

 
 

Whidbey Island Grown Week, coming up Sept. 28-Oct. 7, is the second annual event where island chefs, farmers, specialty food purveyors and artisan producers of all kinds join forces to create a 10-day celebration of local products and experiences.

Meet the island’s makers at farm to table dinners, cooking classes and hands-on experiences. Celebrate and sample fresh fare  and products from purveyors like Willowood Farm, Eckholm Farm (honey) and more who supply top chefs around the country with top notch ingredients. Check the calendar for all the opportunities, and enjoy our top five can’t miss happenings:

  1. Saturday, September 29, 2018 – Second Annual Whidbey Island Cider Festival at the Pacific Rim Institute just south of the town of Coupeville. Includes live music, educational tours of the farm, brick oven pizza and cider tasting with local Northwest cideries from Montana, Oregon and Washington.

  2. Saturday, September 29, 2018- Ebey’s Landing National Historic Reserve Farm Tour . The top farms – including Eckholm Farm (honey); Willowood Farm, Bell’s Farm and more – from Whidbey Island will open up for tours and interactive opportunities. Each participating farm will identify a best management practice and demonstration. Think cooking demos with local produce, samples from the source and more!

  3. Thursday, October 4 – Sausage Making Demonstration. Hosted by Slow Food Whidbey and led by sausage expert George Petrich, just in time for Oktoberfest guests will learn to make Beer Brats sausages from A to Z. The demonstration will consist of grinding pork from Three Sisters in Coupeville, measuring the seasonings, mixing up the sausage, stuffing it into casings and finally cooking it up to eat. Enjoy samples and receive recipes to take home.

  4. Saturday, October 6, 2018 – Fall on a Working Farm, a hands-on progressive tasting tour of the Maxwelton Valley. Spoiled Dog Winery, Venture Out Nursery, the Organic Farm School and Whidbey Island Distillery have partnered to offer a passport tour and tasting, as well as hands-on experiences to illustrate each business’ connection to the land.

  5. Sunday, October 7 Grape Picking at Spoiled Dog Winery. Join in picking the estate-grown pinot noir grapes, bring your own shears and come ready to have a good time.

 Details and ticket information is at www.whidbeyislandgrown.com

 
KEN SCHWARTZ