Behind the numbers are companies that strictly source locally grown products, enabling family-owned farms to grow indigenously — effecting the environment and our local economies. Barbara Baumnan, of Gervais-based Baumnan Farms, relies heavily on companies like these that support the local farms. Such patronage enables her family-owned farm to grow fruit and move beyond products such as grain or grass that have longer shelf-lives — thus turning her passion for creating and selling pies that highlight the fruit she grows into a successful business.

“Commitments from companies that embrace the farm-direct mentality not only make an impact on my business, but they affect our entire community as a whole,” said Baumnan.  “We take a hands-on approach to growing our fruit, shying away from the use of machines, which keeps more laborers employed.”

Being able to grow and sell produce that is indigenous to the land is more sustainable and makes sense economically. Craig McCurdy of McCurdy Farms has been growing pears out of Hood River’s pear-loving landscape since 1992, after taking the helm from his parents who originally bought the farm in 1969.

Growing indigenously allows McCurdy to use fewer pesticides, which in turn creates better-tasting, quality fruit. Moreover, time spent monitoring the crops can be kept at a minimum, thus decreasing costs.

“My farm could use a lot more companies like Oregon Growers,” said McCurdy. “When companies source products locally, efficiency is at its best. Farm-direct business greatly lowers shipping costs, fuel and time — increasing both sustainability and affordability.”

* Provided by US Department of Agriculture’s census released in 2009 (the census is conducted every five years).

So salad probably doesn’t immediately come to mind when thinking of something delicious to prepare your dad on Father’s Day, but as far as salads go this one is pretty manly! A wedge of crisp iceberg lettuce, oven roasted tomatoes, pepper bacon (which of course it makes everything better) and creamy dressing made with our Pendleton Barbeque Sauce will make any dad a happy (and full!) one this Sunday!

Barbeque Wedge Salad With Oven Roasted Tomatoes & Pepper Bacon

Serves 4

1 Head of Iceberg Lettuce, washed and cut into quaters

6-8 Strips of Pepper Bacon, cooked and crumbled

Oven Roasted Cherry Tomatoes (recipe below)

Cornbread Croutons (or your favorite croutons)

1/2 Cup Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

For the Dressing

1/2 Cup Oregon Growers Pendleton Barbeque Sauce (your choice of Original or Mesquite)

1/2 Sour Cream

1/4 Cup Mayonnaise

2 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice

Green Onions, chopped with some reserved

Salt & Pepper to taste

For the Oven Roasted Tomatoes

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Coat 1/2 lbs of cherry tomatoes with salt and pepper and a few tablespoons of olive oil. Cook on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for 45 minutes. Let cool.

For the Dressing

Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Chill until ready to serve.

To Assemble

Place each wedge of iceberg lettuce on it’s side on a plate and top with crumbled bacon, oven roasted tomatoes & cornbread croutons and drizzle dressing. Finish with shredded cheddar cheese and reserved chopped green onions.

Enjoy Dads!

We are proud to offer a simple, delicious, and unique condiment we like to call Fruit Pâté. Our Fruit Pates distill the pure essence of our locally grown fruits.  Their bright flavor and subtle sweetness is the perfect counterpoint to artisan cheese. Our Fruit Pates are made from whole fruit with no additives or preservatives and are 100% natural and Gluten Free. We are offering three delicious flavors to pair with a variety of soft ripen to aged cow or sheep’s milk cheeses.

Our Pear Hazelnut Fruit Pâté is made with ripe Oregon bartlett pears and locally roasted hazelnuts are combined to create a delicious and unique condiment that will complement your favorite cheese. We recommend serving the Pear & Hazelnut Fruit Pâté with Blue Cheeses.

For our Strawberry Fig Fruit Pâté the bright flavors of ripe Oregon Strawberries are perfectly balanced by earthy figs to create a smooth and delicious condiment prefect for cheese plates. We recommend serving the Strawberry Fruit Pâté with soft ripened cow’s milk cheese.

Quince Fruit Pâté is similar to  Membrillo, a  traditional condiment from Spain that is often served with aged Manchego,  Spain’s flagship Sheep’s’ milk cheese.  Whole US Grown quince are cooked into a smooth puree. Sugar and a lemon are then added and cooked carefully for several hours so that the sugars gently caramelize adding a rich amber hue and gentle sweetness. We recommend serving with aged sheep or cow’s milk cheeses.

Check out our brand new Designer Gift Box Trio, with three jars of our customer favorites! One jar of our Marionberry, Pear Hazelnut and award winning Strawberry Pinot Noir jams presented in a custom gift box with our beautiful original artwork by Hood River native Mark Nilsson! Only $16.95!

If you’re looking for more of a variety, we offer two great gift boxes that have a little bit of everything! Our Hood River’s Finest Gift Box has a jar of our number one selling Marionberry Jam and our Wildflower Honey. Also a bottle our our tangy Pendleton Barbecue Sauce and one bag each of our Oregon Hazelnuts! We also have the Northwest Bounty, this one has it all! Our top selling  jams, sauces, and hazelnuts all in one of our beautiful hand crafted gift boxes! With all our gifts boxes ranging  from $13.95 to $59.95 we hope to have all price ranges covered!

With all the different Oregon Gourmet Gifts we offer, you’re bound to find the perfect one for your loved ones this Holiday Season!

Season’s Greetings!

Sincerely the Oregon Grower’s Family

To taste this house specialty for yourself, click here to buy your jar of Apple Fennel Chutney, on sale now!

We are happy to announce that Benjamin D. of Oklahoma won the Grand Prize and will receive 8 free tickets to the opening day of the World Famous Pendleton Round-Up; including passes to the evening summer BBQ and the Happy Canyon Pageant and Dance!  We would like to take this opportunity to thank the good folks at the Pendleton Round – Up office for their generous ticket donation – without your support this contest could not happen.

Our two lucky consolation prize winners are Sandra D. of Oregon and Victoria D. of Washington – they will receive a Pendleton Barbecue Combination Gift Box Complements of Oregon Growers.

Thanks again to all that entered and congratulations, Benjamin, Sandra, and Victoria – Enjoy the prizes!

In honor of the 100^th edition of the World Famous Pendleton Round– Up, Oregon Growers & Shippers and Pendleton Barbecue Sauce is pleased to announce our 2010 Summer Raffle.  Up for grabs are three fantastic prizes!

Grand Prize:

The Grand Prize winner will be awarded one Family plan pass (up to eight tickets) for the opening day of the 2010 Round-Up taking place on September 15^th.  Passes include free access to the stadium’s West Reserve seating area, western barbeque in Roy Raley Park, and free tickets for the 2010 Happy Canyon Indian Pageant (rows 10-22).  The rodeo begins daily at 1:15 PM and the pageant begins at 7:45 PM.

Tickets complements of the Pendleton Round-Up Association

For more information about the Round-Up click HERE

Consolation Prize (2):

Two lucky winners will be awarded a Pendleton Barbeque Sauce Combo Gift Box complements of Oregon Growers.

There is NO PURCHASE necessary!  Simply click on the picture below to enter.

Please check back frequently for updates and more information.

Good Luck!

You can find The Oregonian, The Hot Hood and more at PB&J’s food cart on the corner of 23^rd Street and Kearney in NW Portland.

Mark Nilsson is a bit of an iconic fixture here in Hood River, OR. Walk down almost any street and you’ll see a Nilsson mural for a local restaurant, a Nilsson contribution for a local school or a Nilsson glass mosaic.

On a recent trip to La Ventana Baja the room in the house where we vacationed had 3 Nilsson paintings of gorgeous palms found throughout Mexico reminiscent of all the great attributes of the palm tree; how the fronds sway gently in the breeze, how happy we are when we’re on vacation, how lovely a pina colada tastes when you’re drinking it somewhere warm.

Mark has a gift for taking his whimsical, lyrical painting style and connecting it to a thought or experience or, in our case, a brand.

Mark was commissioned to create the custom look and feel of the Oregon Growers product packaging and after just one round, created a lovely homage to the Oregon Growers mission. His designs beautifully illustrate the marriage of local fruits with our special recipes to create our jams, fruit butters and sauces.

Though you’ll see Mark’s unique style on the small 4 x 4 inch paintings he dedicates to his many philanthropic causes and even on a box of Kimberly-Clark Kleenex, we love that you’ll see Mark’s work on Oregon Growers packages from our gourmet chutneys  to our heavenly jams . 

-Lisa Williams

Through the end of 2009, Oregon Growers will participate in this effort by donating a jar of our Marionberry Jam for every order over $50 made online. This is our way of helping the hungry during the holidays.

Oregon Food Bank works with a variety of organizations, including, Albertson’s, Nabisco, Nestle, Newman’s Own, Kraft and Hood River’s own Turtle Island Foods.

Oregon Food Bank is a nonprofit, charitable organization. It is the hub of the Oregon Food Bank Network, a statewide network of 20 regional food banks and 915 agencies and programs serving Oregon and Clark County, Washington.

Oregon Food Bank recovers food from farmers, manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, individuals and government sources. It then delivers that food to 20 regional food banks covering OFB’s service area. Regional food banks distribute this food and additional resources from local donations to nonprofit programs serving low-income people in their communities.

To order from Oregon Growers go to www.oregongrowers.com. For every order over $50 a jar of Oregon Growers Marionberry Jam will be donated to Oregon Food Bank (any order over $50 is also eligible for free shipping). This offer will be extended through December 31, 2009.   To make a donation directly to Oregon Food Bank please visit http://www.oregonfoodbank.org/make_a_difference/donate_funds/

Shop for the holidays now, give while you’re gifting!

Thank you,

Dave, Stephanie, Aaron and the OGS crew.

(We’re excited about our inclusion in the American Express Small Business Forum about Holiday Gift Giving, however we need to make a couple of small corrections.  We will donate a jar of Marionberry Jam for every order more than $50 and we will be donating a jar for every 100 new fans on Facebook. We hope this hasn’t caused any confusion and hope you’ll choose to Gift and Give with Oregon Growers this holiday season.)