Willow Creek Farms Development

A good time to eat out: Farm To Fork Loudoun kicks off July 21

Foodies rejoice: For 11 straight days starting Thursday, July 21 and through Sunday July 31, 21 Loudoun restaurants (including one cooking school and one chef’s supply market) are offering a special Farm to Fork Loudoun menu – 70 percent of the ingredients on that menu will be harvested on 17 Loudoun farms and all of the wines will come from Loudoun’s wineries.

The food is going to be as fresh and local as it gets – tomatoes picked that morning at Greenstone Fields in Purcellville will be one the sandwich plates at Shoe’s Cup & Cork in Leesburg (along with beef from Red Hill Farm in Lucketts). Diners at Clyde’s Willowcreek Farm in Ashburn will choose among free range, organic chicken from Ayrhsire Farm in Upperville, just-picked vegetables from Potomac Vegetable Farms near Purcellville and tomatoes and greens from Stoneybrook Farm in Hillsboro.

In all, 17 farms and 11 wineries will be filling the market baskets for those 21 local chefs.

Diners will choose from a wide geographic and price spread – from Grandale Farm Restaurant up north in Neersville, to Market Table Bistro and the Restaurant at Patowmack Farm in Lovettsville south to Vintage 51 in South Riding with the Red Fox Inn, French Hound and Goodstone Inn on the way in Middleburg; east from Cookology in the Dulles Town Center to Magnolias out west in Purcellville.

Prices range from the $5 lunch at Tenderjacks to the “extremely fresh, approachable and refine” dinner menu at Goodstone Inn – where you don’t go if you worry about prices anyway.

Ground zero for Farm to Fork Loudoun is Leesburg, with 10 of the 21 participating restaurants.

It all started when Miriam Nasuti, founder of on-line Talk Loudoun, decided to share her commitment to fresh, local food with a wider audience. She wanted to support those restaurants that had already made a commitment to support local farmers – Tuscarora Mill in Leesburg and its sister Magnolias in Purcellville, Clyde’s Willow Creek Farm in Ashburn, Market Table Bistro in Lovettsville. Those restaurants “are supporting the local farmers,” Nasuti said. “First, the food is fresh and tastes fantastic and it’s good for the environment – it traveled a couple of miles to get to the kitchen, not hundreds or thousands.”

Then she watched the movie Food, Inc. (a “must see” for anyone who wants to know about industrial farming and what it does to its animals) and the die was cast. The Nasutis were going to shop local. She makes it affordable, she said, by buying whenever possible in larger quantities. Twice a year, they purchase a side of beef from Donnie Ulmer’s Milcreek Farm west of Lovettsville. She’ll do the same thing with chickens and lamb. Buy in bulk, and the price comes down.

Flower Talk: Lily's Boots: Willow Creek Part 1 - Avenue of the ...

Than tourists, now hosts scads of heat-seeking Humboldtians during the summer months. The sun-drenched mountainous climate offers at least a 10 degree temperature boost (sometimes over 30 degree increase!) over the sea-level coastal towns in Humboldt during the summer, hence the massive influx of vacationers this time of year. It also hard-freezes in the winter, hence the very low incidence of vacationers during  that This week, I was fortunate enough to accompany Lane on his Sunday afternoon ritual visit to the Willow Creek farm. I didn't bring my boots, but I did bring my dog Pearl, who was happy to ride in the back seat of Lane's extended cab, four-door truck with Lane's dogs Mae-Mae and Grizzly. The farm is about 40 minutes drive (or 30 minutes riding with Lane!) from our Arcata farm via the curvy SR-299, which takes you past magnificent views of hills, rivers and Redwoods. This route is a far cry from the straight-as-an-arrow I-39, which pierces endless miles of Illinois cornfields, that I used to travel by! Once the five of us arrived in Willow Creek, which has one main drag dotted with a few restaurants, a gas station and a museum/gift store that sells "Bigfoot stepped on me in Willow Creek, California" t-shirts (I know this because I now own one), we turned towards the river and drove past summer cottages and local farms, several of which are organic and sell at local restaurants and farmer's markets, until we reached our farm gate. The first thing I noticed when we began our plummet down the steep gravelly road leading to the farm was the absolutely breathtaking view. In every direction there was something worth seeing: wildflowers and berries to the left, blue skies, trees, the river, and our crops and to the right - simply beautiful! When we got closer to the farm, I was overwhelmed by the amazing scent  of rose bushes (from which we harvest rosehips) permeating the air. I don't know if it's because I'm a girl or if it's the same for everyone, but strolling through a mountain valley under blue skies while immersed in the aroma of roses makes me want to run around singing at the top of my lungs. Um, anyway... I strolled with Lane through Virbunum, Rosehip, Ilex, Photinia, Chinese Lantern and Cotinus crops on this journey to Willow Creek, so there is no way I could share all of the information I learned from Lane in one blog post.