Region offers a wide array of unique fruit stands
“Ooh, ooh … stop, John. They have okra,” I said to my husband, drawn to a produce tent set up off Highway 97 near Yakima.
White signs propped up on the roadside advertised other produce in red painted letters – corn, squash, peppers – but I was there specifically for okra.
Fresh okra has been hard for me to find in the Northwest and I miss it. In the Southeast, where I grew up in a small cotton-mill town, if you didn’t eat okra, well, you weren’t a true Southerner.
Sadly, the man in charge of the stand told me he was out of okra for the season, and he had even planted more this year.
A good lesson for me – get it while you can, because locally grown produce won’t be around all year. And autumn is the last chance to taste the fresh bounty and get the best carving pumpkins for Halloween.
Today’s fruit stands have more to offer than just yummy peaches, pears and apples. In our travels around the region, we’ve come across some unique stands with an atmosphere all their own that are worth the gas money to get there.
Idyllic pastoral scenes unfold on the drive up Highway 35 in the Hood River Valley in Oregon, just outside the Columbia River Gorge. Snow-covered Mount Hood towers in the distance. Along what is called the “Fruit Loop,” fruit and vegetable stands, some as old as the orchards that grow here, dot the valley, including Rasmussen Farms, which is celebrating its 60th year.
The farm began in 1945 with Lynn Rasmussen’s parents. He now owns and operates the business with wife, Dollie. What started mainly with commercial sales of strawberries and pickling cucumbers to processors and canners has become a destination farm which markets directly to consumers with yearly events and U-pick fields of herbs, flowers and pumpkins.
In a greenhouse where rows of pansies and snapdragons once stood, the Pumpkin Funland now takes up every inch of space. This is a creative display of Rasmussen’s fall harvest, showcasing the staff’s artistic talents. A couple of years ago, the display theme was television shows; one of my favorites was the chocolate factory scene from “I Love Lucy.”
I can’t wait to see this year’s exhibit and the imaginative scenes inspired by common idioms (this year’s theme), such as “Horse of a Different Color.”
Rasmussen’s annual corn maze will follow “Curious George in the Gorge.” (Yes, the monkey from the children’s book.)
Out in the pumpkin patch the vines have died down, making it easier to survey and choose the best carving pumpkin, according to Dollie. She recommends looking for one with deep color. If your thumbnail can pierce the skin, you might want to pick another one, because it’s not mature.
During the harvest season, Rasmussen has more than 20 varieties of apples. The Spitzenberg is an old-time favorite for lots of people, including Dollie. It has a very strong apple flavor and is a good keeper, she says.
“You’ll never find it at the grocery store,” she says. “You have to go to a farmer. It’s not shiny. … Sometimes the shiniest are not the best.”
She also suggests mixing tart and sweet apples in a pie for variety.
Out on the flat open desert of central Washington, off U.S. 395 near Pasco, is an oasis of food and goodies known as the Country Mercantile. It began as an asparagus stand, and is now a huge facility with the usual local produce, but the homemade tamales and candy are what keep bringing me and John back. The clean restrooms are another plus for travelers.
The gift shop is full of dolls and figurines made around the world, but the produce and freshly made candy, deli sandwiches and Mexican food are local and delicious. Our dog Kah-less pants with anxious anticipation every time we stop here. Will I remember to pick up a white chocolate pretzel stick for him?
(Warning: Dogs should not eat traditional chocolate made from cocoa, but white “chocolate,” which does not contain cocoa, is OK in moderation.)
Through October, the Country Mercantile features hayrides to the pumpkin patch for $3, or you can choose from the already-picked bin. A twisting corn maze is also constructed and hours are extended on Thursday, Friday and Saturday to 10:30 p.m. Call for more details.
Near Yakima, the giant sign at Precision Fruit holds the season’s latest offerings. Owner Frank Rowley’s folks started selling fruit back in the 1940s, expanding to about nine stands, including two that operated in the Spokane area. Beginning in 1970, Rowley took over and now carries on the family tradition, operating one stand just off U.S. 97 (Interstate 82).
Of course he sells local cherries, peaches, apricots, corn, tomatoes and more, but also features regional products. The low sun floods the huge open doors of the fruit stand. Glass jars of jams and canned peaches, boxes of applets and cotlets, and bottles of Walla Walla Sweet dressings crowd the store’s front.
“We have a wide variety of pleasures when you want to set your table,” says Rowley, who tries to keep things in stock from the Washington area.
Every time we stop at Precision Fruit, I browse through the antiques in the back of the store, looking for something to catch my eye.
Rowley first bought a container full of antiques and set them up in his stand to give people more reasons to stop at his place. But he’s since turned that part of the business over to about 20 antique dealers. He says he found he couldn’t be an antique dealer and a fruit stand operator and give both jobs 100 percent.
Between the antiques, fruit and the growing line of packaged and canned products, it’s getting a little tight in the 1,000-square-foot building.
“You have to go outside to change your mind right now,” Rowley says, but he’s not complaining. A 6,000-square-foot addition, soon to come, will allow for more breathing and mind-changing room.
On a recent stop there, my mama, who was visiting from South Carolina, helped me select some huge peaches for a pie I promised to make. It seems when I’m trying to impress someone with my cooking skills I end up making a mess. Despite the ugly, torn-up crust and the overflow of sugar and peach juice which burned on the bottom of the oven, the pie was still delicious. And I guess mama and John didn’t mind too much – it was gone in just a few days.
Just like the shiniest apple may not be the best, the prettiest pie may not always be the best tasting – it’s what’s inside that counts.