August 2009
Two Cooking Classes Left
Wish Upon A Falling Pumpkin
Apples and Peaches
 The hot days we had last week seemed to last forever, but other than that the summer has flown by on the farm. It’s made us realize that we need to enjoy every last drop of sunshine we have left. A great opportunity for you and your friends to get out and enjoy summer before it’s gone, is to take advantage of one of our last two cooking classes of the season.
I just received the recipes for the class on this Saturday, August 15, at 1:00. My mouth began to water instantly as I read through them. Chef Dana will be starting us off with chicken lettuce cups. We have large crisp heads of Head Lettuce coming in from the field right now and I am so excited to try one of my favorite dishes that I order as an appetizer when I go out for dinner. After that we are making Salty Cod Fritters as a side dish. Cod is one of my favorite fish and this recipe looks really simple and super delicious. For the main dish Chef Dana will be making her famous meatball recipe. These meatballs will have cheese in the center and be covered with a thick homemade marinara sauce. I can’t wait to bite into them! Finally, she will be making grilled melons with a honey yogurt topping for dessert. Yummmy!!!
We have some spots left but we do require you to call ahead at 503-792-3524 or drop us an e-mail at baumans@baumanfarms.com to pre-register. Hope to see you there.
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 If you have stopped by the farm recently you may have seen several displays of plastic ducks and wondered what they were all about. Well as many of you know we are having the Giant Pumpkin Weigh Off at the farm this year on October 3rd and 4th. One of the main attractions at the event will be when we drop a 600lb pumpkin from a helicopter 300 feet up in the air. The helicopter will be aiming at a 20 foot pool and inside this pool will be hundreds of floating ducks. Each one of these ducks will represent a donation made by our customers towards the Make a Wish foundation.
We have yellow ducks available for $10, green ducks for $15, and blue ducks for $20.
When the pumpkin explodes in the pool the ducks will go flying and the duck that makes it the furthest will not only win the buyer of that duck a gift basket from Bauman’s Farm and Garden every month for the next year but will also represent the amount of money Bauman’s Farm and Garden will donate to the Make a Wish Foundation. If a yellow duck makes it the furthest we will donate $1000, a green duck $1500, and a blue duck $2000. This donation will be in addition to the net proceeds raised from the sale of the ducks. We are hoping that this will give all of you the incentive to buy the blue duck for $20 because it raises more money from the sale of the ducks and there is more of a chance for us to donate $2000 when the ducks go flying. Our goal is to raise at least $5000 because if we raise this much we will be able to grant the wish of one local child who has a life threatening medical condition. By purchasing a duck today you will help us reach this goal to grant a wish made on a falling pumpkin by a local child in need. Click here to buy a duck online.
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 This has been a wonderful year for tree fruits. We have one of the largest harvests of peaches we have had in many years. I visited with Grandpa Clyde the other day down in the peach orchard when the crew from Garden Time, a local T.V. garden show, stopped by to do a segment. Grandpa thought that this year's harvest was especially good because of the location of our new peach orchard. Grandma and Grandpa’s farm is located about a mile from the store and the farm runs along the pudding river. I know the name is not appealing but I spent every summer of my childhood swimming in that river and I turned out just fine. Okay some of you may disagree but the fact of the matter is that the new orchard is located in what we call the gooseneck along the river bank. The orchard is surrounded by the river on three sides and the tall tree along the river bank have insulated the trees from our cool winter and kept the fruit nice and warm all summer. Because of these wonderful conditions we have peaches the size of volleyballs right now and in the coming weeks we will be harvesting over thirteen varieties. Even though peach season will last into September it is a good idea to get in early and enjoy them as long as you can.
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In addition to peaches we have also started picking Gravenstein Apples. These apples are known by many to be the best apple around for applesauce. One of my favorite tips that I love to give customers about apples is that my favorite apple changes every week. I am very much an apple connoisseur but no one believes me when I tell them that I don’t have a favorite apple I would pick above all the rest year round. Many times my favorite apple is what has come off the tree most recently. 
