What Goes into Preparing for Harvest Season?

Harvest is a season that all farmers warily look forward to. It is a time to reap what they have sown, but can also be very stressful. There is a lot to do in a small window of time to make sure everything is ready to go before harvest begins. 

One of many grass seed fields waiting to be swathed. 

Our Kentucky Bluegrass fields have just finishing pollinating and are getting ready to receive their last set of irrigation water, after which they will be in a waiting period before swathing begins. As the outdoor air temperature increases, our barley, wheat, and rye fields will continue to be irrigated because they won't be harvested until the first week of August. It is important to make sure that grain fields receive enough moisture during the hot summer days to prevent them from becoming stressed. Drought stress leads to elevated protein levels and smaller kernels not desirable for malting. 

Servicing one of four combines in preparation for harvest.

In the shop, our swathers, combines, and balers all receive routine maintenance before the season begins. These machines put in long hours during the season, so it’s important to make sure they are top form to ensure a smooth harvest.

One of the swathers used to cut grass seed fields. 

Once the Kentucky Bluegrass seed has reached the correct maturity, the fields will be cut and laid into “windrows” using a machine called a swather. The windrows are left in the field to dry for about 8 days before combining and baling begins. Want to learn more about Kentucky Bluegrass? CLICK HERE.

Black Bean and Barley Burgers

If you are looking for a healthy burger alternative then look no further than these black bean barley burgers. They have been taste-tested by even the pickiest carnivores (Seth and Brad), and they both gave them two thumbs up! We promise you won't miss the meat and they are just as filling!

Black Bean Barley Burgers

Makes- 8 Patties

Ingredients:

1 Can Black Beans (Drained and Rinsed)

1 C. Cooked Pearled Barley
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 C. Finely Diced Onion

1 C. Finely Diced Bell Pepper

1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 C. Bread Crumbs
2 Eggs

2 Tbsp. Ketchup

1 C. Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Worcestershire Sauce

Salt & Pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a skillet saute onion, pepper and garlic in oil until translucent. Place into a large mixing bowl. In the same skillet, heat rinsed black beans until they start to dry out, transfer to mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mash together using a fork, pastry cutter, mashed potato masher or utensil of your choice. Season with salt, pepper and worcestersire sauce to taste. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and form into eight equal sized patties. Bake for 20 minutes, flipping the patties halfway through. Serve on buns or in lettuce wraps with toppings of your choice!

Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction Black Bean Burgers

CLICK HERE for your free recipe card. 

Fish Tacos with Secret Sauce

Fish tacos have to be one of my favorite Mexican dishes. Generally when you order them though, the fish is fried, which don't get me wrong, I do enjoy but the majority of the time my stomach cannot handle fried food and I mean do I REALLY need to be eating fried food? Probably not. For this recipe, the fish can be cooked in the oven or on the bbq and sets itself apart with a secret (not so secret anymore) sauce that completes the taco.

With Cinco de Mayo coming up, I only thought it would be appropriate to share the recipe! Enjoy with an ice cold beer, like Worthy Brewing's Sol Power, or a margarita on the rocks. Keep reading to see the full recipe and get your free printable recipe card!

Fish Tacos with Secret Sauce

Serves: 4

Marinade:
2 lb. Tilapia fillets (you can easily substitute your favorite white fish)
1/4 avocado oil (or other light neutral oil like olive oil)
1 tbsp. honey
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. pepper
3 limes juiced 
1 C. Light Beer
1/4 c. chopped cilantro

Taco Toppings:
1 pkg. flour or corn tortillas (small taco size)
2 Limes
1 Bunch Cilantro
1 pkg. Shredded Cabbage (or you can buy cabbage and shred your own, I hate the mess it makes so I buy pre-shredded).
2 Avocados

Secret Sauce:
2 limes (juiced)
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tbps. + tsp. Tapatio

Directions:
Mix all of the marinade ingredients together and pour into ziplock bag with rinsed fish. Place in refrigerator and let marinade for at least an hour (can marinade overnight). Now is also the best time to make the secret sauce because the longer it sits in the refrigerator the better it tastes. Whisk all of the sauce ingredients together in a bowl, cover and place in the refrigerator for at least an hour. 

The Secret Sauce is a MUST for the Fish Tacos

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line baking a sheet with parchment paper. Remove fish from ziplock, place on baking sheet, lined with parchment paper and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until fish is done (it should feel firm like the back of your hand if you poked it). If you are cooking on the bbq double wrap in a foil pouch and place bbq over medium heat for 20-30 minutes. (varies depending upon bbq.) 

While the fish is baking prepare your toppings; cut the limes into wedges, finishing chopping the remaining cilantro, slice avocado into wedges and shred cabbage. 

Once the fish has cooled, place on a plate and flake into small chunks. Layer your tortilla (I like to warm up the tortillas first. Wrap in a damp paper towel and microwave for 45 seconds and they will steam) with fish, cabbage, avocado and cilantro. Top with secret sauce and enjoy!

Ole!

CLICK HERE for your free recipe card!

Homestead Pie- Our Take on Shepherd's Pie

The majority of my time spent recently has included: staying inside to keep warm from the snowstorm and cooking, baking and eating as a means of entertainment and a way to pass the time. While this may not have ended the best for me or my waistline, we were all able to enjoy some delicious food and make sure our bellies were full during our short lived hibernation. 

One meal that proved to be warm and comforting was Shepherd's Pie. Traditional Shepherd's Pie is made with ground lamb, veggies and topped with creamy mashed potatoes. Lamb is one of the only foods I really dislike (and yes, I have tried it multiple ways), so I mixed it up and used ground elk, giving the dish a nod to the pioneer days, when they lived off wild game and whatever livestock they had to harvest. You can really use any type of ground meat you would like for this recipe, even ground turkey! Beer was subbed for part of the beef broth to give another dimension of flavor and I topped the mashed potatoes with shredded cheese because isn't everything better with cheese?

If you do not want to go the traditional corned beef and cabbage route for St. Patrick's Day on Sunday, our Homestead Pie is guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser! Keep reading to see the full recipe and get your free printable recipe card!

Homestead Pie- Our Take on Shepherd's Pie

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

1 lb. Ground Wild Game

2 Medium Carrots (Diced)

2 Celery Ribs (Diced)
1/2 Onion (Diced)

1 C. Peas
1/2 tsp. Pepper
1 tsp. Kosher Salt
1 tsp. Garlic Powder

1 tsp. Thyme

1/2 tsp. Rosemary

1/2 tsp. Marjoram
2/3 C. Tomato Sauce
1/4 C. Flour
1 C. Beer
1/2 C. Beef Broth
4 C. Mashed Potatoes
1 C. Shredded White Cheddar Cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F. Brown ground meat in a large skillet. Once browned, add carrots, celery, onion and peas, cooking until veggies are tender. Add seasonings and tomato sauce, stirring until combined. Sprinkle flour over mixture and stir until meat and veggies are coated. Pour in beer and beef broth, simmering for 20 minutes or until the mixture has thickened. Transfer to a 9x13 baking dish, letting mixture cool completely. While the meat mixture cools, prepare four cups of your favorite mashed potatoes. Top the cooled mixture with mashed potatoes and sprinkle with cheese. Bake in oven for 20-25 mixtures, until hot and bubbly.

CLICK HERE for your free recipe card. 

The History of Shaniko, Oregon

No town in Oregon has seen more rapid growth and decline in a single decade than Shaniko. From 1901 to 1911, the town went from being the Wool Capital of the World to the liveliest ghost town in the state. Shaniko, incorporated in 1901, was at one time the fifth largest city in Wasco County, shipping millions of pounds of wool and carloads of grain and livestock to market each year.

With the passage of the Homestead Act in 1862, many EuroAmericans settled in central Oregon. That same year, gold was discovered in Canyon City, attracting thousands of miners into the canyons 190 miles southeast of The Dalles. Pack trains carried supplies to camps named Bakeoven and Cross Hollows. By 1869, some thirty homesteads had been issued to applicants in central Oregon counties.

As the gold played out, settlers took up land claims in the area, among them August Scherneckau, who arrived in Cross Hollows from Germany in 1874 and established the post office there in 1879. The January 1, 1901, edition of the Shaniko Leader praised the city "in the midst of a fine stock country...that will soon be known everywhere as a city of first importance."

Pioneer Saloon, Shaniko. Courtesy Oregon Hist. Soc. Research Lib., 6145

In 1897, the Columbia Southern Railway Company filed papers to build a railroad from Biggs on the Columbia River to Wasco, Moro, and Grass Valley, originally with a plan to extend the line to Prineville. Businessmen from The Dalles and Moro formed the Townsite Company in 1899 to create a rail terminal between Grass Valley and Prineville. They laid out streets and a water system for a town, near the site of Cross Hollows. The incorporated town was named Shaniko, after the Wasco Indians’ pronunciation of the name Scherneckau. By 1900, the year the railroad came to town, Shaniko’s population was 172.

The land around Shaniko was not good farmland, but it was adequate as sheep and cattle country. Many homesteaders sold their 160 acres to ranchers, who increased their herds. Incoming freight in 1901—primarily farm equipment, building materials, fence posts, and coal and wood fuel—amounted to 1,400 railroad cars, making Shaniko one of the largest inland shipping centers in the world. From April to October 1900, the railroad shipped 230 railroad cars of sheep, 5 cars of horses and mules, 31 cars of cattle, and nearly 3 million pounds of wool from Shaniko.

Wool buyers at Shaniko, c. 1910. Courtesy Oregon Hist. Soc. Research Lib.

The January 1, 1901, Shaniko Leader boasted: “As a shipping and distributing point, Shaniko is second to no city in Oregon (except Portland),” servicing “the vast inland territory of varied resources, extending into California.” Shaniko, the paper wrote, was the mecca of the inland territory. Columbia Southern Railway backers built huge warehouses for building supplies and farm products—large enough, for example, to hold 4 million pounds of wool.

Wool sales occurred as many as three times a year, depending on the arrival in the spring of freight wagon trains from Burns, Bend, and Condon, or from Bridge Creek, Fossil, and Maupin. One day’s sale in 1903 recorded over a million dollars for the Moody Warehouse Company. In addition to the 2,229 tons of wool, 1,168,866 bushels of wheat and numerous carloads of stock were shipped out of Shaniko on the Columbia Southern Railroad, making it one of the most productive short lines in the nation. In 1904, over five million dollars' worth of wool was sold.

The boom lasted ten years, until railroad magnates Edward Harriman and James J. Hill opened a rival rail line along the Deschutes River Canyon to Bend. Shaniko’s population—600 in the 1910 census—began to decline, helped along by two fires that destroyed much of the business district in 1910 and 1911.

Shaniko won temporary reprieves when it headquartered workers and their families during the building of Highway 97, the grading and improving of roads in Wasco County in the 1920s and 1930s, and the building of a gas pipeline from California to Washington in the 1950s. A more lasting reprieve came in 1959 when the Oregon Centennial Commission designated Shaniko Oregon’s Ghost Town of the Year. 

Shaniko Hotel

One constant in Shaniko since 1902 has been the Columbia Southern Hotel, now known as the Shaniko Hotel. Built in the Italianate style, it has been a hotel, bank, stage stop, saloon, dance hall, and general gathering place and is the most imposing building in town. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979; the Shaniko Historic District was designated in 1982. Other historic buildings are the Sage Museum, Shaniko School, City Hall and Jail, Wedding Chapel, and the Wool Warehouse.

Shaniko Hotel, 1960. Photo by Robert Hacker

Shaniko Schoolhouse, 1960. Photo by Robert Hacker

Shaniko Present Day

Oregon businessman Robert B. Pamplin Jr. purchased the hotel and a few small businesses and city lots in 2000. He renovated some buildings and planned to build thirty-five new houses for workers who served tourists. But in 2008 the Shaniko City Council, in consultation with the state, denied Pamplin an easement from a well on one of his lots to supply water to the hotel and restaurant. He closed the hotel and cafe, capped the well, and put up “for sale” signs. The New York Times reported that the asking price was $3.1 million and that “the market for ghost towns is limited, particularly expensive ones.” As of 2016, the Pamplin property is not for sale.

Main Street, Shaniko. Photo by A.E. Platt

Shaniko Hotel Present Day. Photo by anotherheader

Each year in August, Shaniko Days attracts as many as four hundred people on a weekend. The Shaniko Preservation Guild, organized in 2004, operates a museum, hosts an annual Wool Gathering, and sponsors the annual Tygh Valley Bluegrass Jamboree and the Ragtime and Vintage Music Festival. In 2010, Shaniko had thirty-six residents.

Article from: The Oregon Encyclopedia, Shaniko, Ulrich H. Hardt

Plough to Pint with Worthy Brewing

Mecca Grade Estate Malt is partnering with Worthy Brewing to throw the ultimate farm to table dinner, Plough to Pint! To purchase your tickets CLICK HERE.

Join us for a collaboration Farm to Table Craft Dinner event by Worthy Brewing and Mecca Grade Estate Malt benefiting the Coalition for the Deschutes, a local nonprofit working to restore the Deschutes River so that fish, farms, and families can all thrive. This five course meal will feature pairings with Worthy Brewing's craft beer for each plate, brewed with malts and grain from Mecca Grade. 

The evening will begin at 6:30pm with a cocktail hour, appetizers, mingling and malt sampling. Following cocktails, from 7 to 9 pm, dinner will be served in five courses paired with five Worthy Brewing craft beers. The menu and beer pairings for the evening include:

Mecca Savory Rye Sandwich Cake

House Cured Columbia River Steelhead, Cucumber, Radish, Onion, Crème Fraiche

Rye Lager

Coffee Roasted Local Beets

Goat Cheese Semi-Freddo, Orange, Cocoa Nibs, Mint, Toasted Opal 44 Malt

German Hefeweizen

Toasted Wheat Berries

Lardoons, Local Honeycrisp Apple, Leeks

Hazy IPA

Mecca Barley Waffles

Carlton Farms Pork Schnitzel, Bandon Dunes Cheddar Fondue, Lingonberries

English Mild

Mecca Honey Wheat Crepes

Farmers Cheese, Huckleberries, Worthy Garden Club Honey, Filberts

Grisette

As a special dinner gift, guests will also take home a mixed 6-pack of Worthy craft beers. Ticket sales are limited to 50 people, so hurry now and purchase your tickets HERE. 

The History of Lamonta, Oregon

This former community was located about twelve miles southeast of Madras. A post office was established at Lamonta on September 7, 1898 with Kate Helfrich the first postmaster. Miss Helfrich named the post office with no association other than that the name appealed to her and the word was of her making. John C. Rush platted the Lamonta townsite on April 3, 1905. Mr. Rush developed a brochure advertising the great merits of the new community in 1905 and stated:

Lamonta is a new townsite which has just been platted by John C. Rush. It is located in the center of the main grain raising belt of Crook County, and upon the surveys of the Columbia Southern R.R. extension from Shaniko, and of the automobile road, and upon the main county road from Shaniko via Madras to Forest, Laidlaw, Redmond, Sisters and Bend.

Mr. Rush is showing his faith in the new town by erecting therein one of the finest buildings to be found in Crook County.

The building is 24 x 70 ft., and two stories high, the upper story of which is intended for a public hall, the appointments of the same not being excelled by any similar place in the county, and the lower story of which will be used as a store, which is already filled by a well selected and complete stock of general merchandise.

A drug store is also under construction, 18 x 50 feet, which will be ready for occupancy in the fall. A substantial school building stands on the edge of the town.

Lots in the new town have been on the market scarcely a month, yet in that time, Mr. Rush has sold thirty-five, besides giving options on a number of others. A goodly number of those who have made purchases, have announced their intention to build in the fall. The lots have a frontage of 40 feet and a depth of 112 feet, and prices of the same have been placed for a limited time at very low figures— $20 to $40— depending upon the location.

All kinds of garden truck, fruit, etc., seem to thrive well in the immediate vicinity of the town, and lands close by can be purchased for from $10 to $20 an acre, according to improvements.

Persons desiring to get in on the purchase of lots in a young city, one that by virtue of its geographical situation will some day become the largest in the county, should buy lots NOW, while they are so cheap. It stands to reason that as soon as the railroad shall have been built, and that time is not far off, these same lots will greatly increase in value.

During the homestead era at the turn of the century Lamonta became a busy community. There was a post office, hotel, a couple of general stores, livery barn, drug store, blacksmith shop, two dance halls, and a saloon. Some other businesses were located at Lamonta also. A description of the John Rush Store is given by Martha Thomas, a former clerk in the store:

John Rush's store and dance hall was a large building for that day. He sold shoes, yardage, notions, shirts, ties, underwear, dishes, kettles, and all kinds of smaller hardware, nails, wrenches, hammers, lots of pocket knives, all kinds of groceries, guns, fishing tackle and the loveliest candy of which he was very fond. Many hundreds of dozen of eggs I've counted and packed in rolled barley or sawdust after settlers brought them in to trade for needed supplies. In turn, the eggs were loaded in a light wagon to which were hitched two horses, and Mrs. Rush traded them in at Madras for more supplies. But most other supplies were brought from Shaniko by freight wagon. 

Main Street in Lamonta in 1908

Lamonta School

The first school district was approved in the area of what would later be Lamonta on January 25, 1898. The first school was held in the old Smith cabin and then in the home of Walter Lithgow about 1901. Lilly Read was one of the first teachers at the school and there were 68 students on roll ranging in age from 6 to 21. A regular schoolhouse was built in 1903 and it was located about one half mile south of the new town site of Lamonta. An early teacher at the new school was Andrew Larson, who had been hired to discipline some of the big boys who were causing trouble at the school. Some girls were held out of school until the boys were "put in line." Mr. Larson was a trained boxer and was successful in "retraining" the boys. 

The Annual Catalog of Crook County Schools in 1905 listed the board of education for the school as Joseph Weigand, Chairman; Oscar Cox; W. Thomas and J.S. McMeen, clerk. It listed Lamonta school as the largest one room district in the county in that it had more school children than any other district that employed but one teacher. The board was contemplating hiring another teacher. The school ceased operations shortly after the post office was closed in 1918 and students attended Grizzly School. 

Students at Lamonta School in 1912

Many of the homesteaders could not make a living on their land and left the area. The post office closed on April 15, 1918. Most of the remaining farmers in the area sold their land to the U.S. Government during the Great Depression. There is little evidence left of the once thriving community. 

Excerpt taken from: Central Oregon Place Names, Volume II Jefferson County, Steve Lent, Pages 141-143

Soft Pretzels with Beer Cheese Dipping Sauce

The fall season is upon us which means that soft pretzel season is also officially here. Pretzels are great at any time of the year but there is something about autumn, Oktoberfest, football, the colder weather and anything else having to do with fall just makes you want to have a soft pretzel. 

These pretzels are easy to make, especially if you have made homemade bread before. Do not let the baking soda bath scare you away, that is just one easy and small step! Enjoy these buttery, soft pretzels as is, with mustard OR really treat yourself and make a creamy beer cheese dipping sauce to go with! Pour your favorite pint of beer and enjoy one, two or maybe more of these delicious soft pretzels!

Click HERE (CARD 1 & CARD 2) for your free recipe cards and keep reading to get the full recipe!

Soft Pretzels with Beer Cheese Dipping Sauce

Makes 9 Pretzels, 2 Cups of Sauce

Ingredients:

4 1/2-5 C. Flour

1 1/2 C. Lukewarm Water

2 tsp. Salt

1 tbsp. Active Dry Yeast

1 tsp. Sugar

6 tbsp. Butter

Kosher Salt

5 tbsp. Baking Soda

Cheese Sauce:

3 tbsp. Butter

3 tbsp. Flour

1 1/2 C. Milk

1/2 C. Beer

1 1/2 C. Freshly Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1 1/2 C. Freshly Shredded Pepperjack Cheese

Dash of Worcestershire Sauce

Directions:

In the bowl of your mixer, combine the warm water with the yeast and stir slightly. In another large bowl, mix the salt, sugar and flour together. When the yeast dissolves, add the flour mixture and the warm milk. Using the dough attachment, mix everything until the dough comes together and is no longer sticky. Let the dough rise until it doubles in size in a greased bowl and cover with a damp towel, approximately one hour.

Punch down the dough and divide into nine pieces. Take each piece and roll into a long rope, about three feet and 3/4” in diameter. Shape each rope into a pretzel shape and place onto a greased cookie sheet. Let pretzels rise for another 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. In a large pot, make a bath with baking soda and boiling water. Using a large spoon, lower each pretzel into the water and leave in for about thirty seconds to a minute. You do not have to wait until they float. Return the pretzels to the cookie sheet and brush them with half the melted butter. Sprinkle generously with kosher salt. Bake until golden brown, about ten minutes, depending upon your oven. Brush with remained melted butter once you remove them from the oven. Recipe from: Joanna Cismaru

CHEESE SAUCE

In a mediuam sauce pan, melt butter. Whisk in flour over medium heat until mixture starts to bubble. Slowly whisk in warmed milk and then gradually add in beer. Stir until mixture becomes thick and bubble. Stir in grated cheeses until melted. Add a couple dashes of worcestershire sauce and salt to your liking.