Ayers Creek Farm- Gaston, OR by Diane

August 9, 2007

Thursday, August 9th – Dinner tonight was at Ayers Creek Farm in Gaston, Oregon, 30 miles west of the city of Portland. Our hosts, Anthony and Carol, put on a beautiful meal at their gorgeous home and farm. We arrived just as the sun was starting to set, when the lighting is golden and gives a glow to everything around you.

Our evening started off with a tour of the grounds. They have an organic farm that sits on rolling hills of green and grow corn and vegetables, canefruits, blackberries, loganberries, boysenberries, plums, chestnuts, fresh shell and dry beans, and specialty grains like amaranth. One thing I’ve noticed in Oregon is that all of the plants we’ve seen growing are extremely healthy and have a rich deep green to the leaves – the soil on these sustainable farms must be extremely healthy because you can look at the plants and see how strong and vibrant they are.

Approximately 40 people attended the dinner, with everyone bringing a dish to share. Unknown to us until we arrived, some of the guests at this meal happened to be the top chefs in Portland. Greg Higgins, who was our host for the next day, is chef-owner of Higgins Restaurant, a sustainable eatery in Portland and is extremely active in the sustainable local food movement. He stayed at the woodburning oven on the porch and baked pizza after pizza after delicious pizza. The owner of Hotlips Pizza was also present, another well known, sustainable restaurant in Portland. The group also consisted of winemakers and people who work on sustainable issues. It was a gathering of who’s who of sustainability in Portland.

I can’t do the dishes justice, so I will have to post photos for you to see. (Unfortunately, I was so excited by all the gorgeous-looking and delicious food that I didn’t take photos until after we’d eaten so I’m trying to get some from colleagues who were also there!) And, I must say, the blackberries we had that were from the farm were the best-tasting blackberries I've ever eaten - eating food that's just been picked or harvested has so much more depth and flavor to it. (Another reason we should all be going to our local farmers market and eating local!)

This is another example of our tour’s success. Because we were coming to town, our gracious hosts organized this dinner so people in the food community could come together and share food and ideas. And it’s not about us – we were perhaps an excuse for people to get together – but I think this is the best kind of ‘excuse’ to be. Because of this dinner, people were able to exchange ideas, network, and make plans for future work together. We were gone the next day, but I can only hope that some of the conversations we didn’t hear will lead to sustainable local food becoming an even bigger part of the Portland community.

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