The Olympic Lavender Farm in Sequim, Washington had an operational distillation plant set up for everyone to check out. There was a very friendly guy standing by to explain how the whole thing works. Pretty neat.
The sign in the photo above was actually from the Purple Haze Lavender Farm. Their distillation plant was HUGE! You can probably figure that out from what the sign says.
Yesterday, Jennifer and I went back to Graysmarsh Farm in Sequim, Washington with our new friend Beth. We started off in the raspberry field. The raspberries were just about over for the season, but we were still able to pick just over five pounds.
Then we split up. Jennifer went for the blueberries with Beth and I headed for the loganberries. I have never picked loganberries before so I had to ask an older woman in the field for some advice. She gave me a quick tutorial on the varying levels of loganberry ripeness and how to properly pick them. You have to be careful when picking because the berries were so juicy they sometimes explode between your fingers. I ended up with five pounds of loganberries and Jennifer picked about five pounds of blueberries.
When we got home, I immediately started making a loganberry sauce. I can’t reveal all my secrets, but its pretty simple. Just loganberries, a little bit of lemon juice to bring out the tartness of the berry, and a minimal amount of sugar. Perfect on vanilla ice cream!
It’s that time of the year again. Blueberries are in season here in the state of Washington. So, I started on a quest to find a berry farm that was reasonably close. I found Greysmarsh Farm in Sequim. The drive is just over an hour, but a beautiful one. We crossed the Hood Canal Bridge and drove right next to the Olympic National Park all the way to Sequim.
Once your arrive, you will see a couple U-Pick stands. Here, you can purchase buckets if you didn’t bring your own. We bought a few buckets so we could reuse them when we go pack. Make sure you get the lids when you pay for your berries.
In addition to blueberries, Graysmarsh has lavender, raspberries, loganberries, and even artichokes. Yesterday when we went, the blueberries and raspberries were ready for picking, but the loganberries looked like they were just getting ready to start. So, we decided to pick the blueberries. We ended up with over a gallon. Their prices were very reasonable: just $2.00 per pound for the blueberries and only $1.75 per pound for the raspberries and loganberries.
I’ve already made a batch of blueberry sauce. It’s perfect over vanilla bean ice cream. We are definitely going back for more!
