Cooking From the Source Tour

A culinary expedition

Join us in preparing a feast from the fresh vegetables, eggs, butter, fruits, honey, beer and meat we gather from the farmers and producers we visit during this weekend-long tour in Northeast Oregon's Wallowa Valley. We will walk through fields, greenhouses, and barns alongside growers who will tell us the story of the good food they produce. And we hear “straight from the horse's mouth” about the challenges and opportunities faced by growers of different crops. After visiting farms and ranches, the Cooking from the Source experience culminates with a chef-led culinary session. Whatever your cooking level of expertise there is something to savor in the experience of creating a menu that showcases the local and seasonal produce available that day. While we are preparing our “locavore” feast, reflect on the impact our food choices have on environmental stewardship, rural communities and our own taste buds. So much to ponder and the Wallowa Valley is such an inspiring setting!

Who should go on this tour

This trip will nourish your body with fabulously prepared fresh food while stimulating your mind with a firsthand look at real, sustainably oriented farms and ranches. The view of the snow-capped mountains in the distance and the passion of the farmers, ranchers, brewers, and cooks you meet along the way will satisfy your soul.

This trip is based from Joseph, OR, located 325 miles east of Portland, OR in Northeast Oregon. Participants are responsible for their own transportation to Joseph and are encouraged to stay and enjoy the area before or after their Source Tour. Amtrack may begin to offer train service from Portland to LaGrande. If so, Source Tours can arrange pick-up and drop-off from the train station in LaGrande.

Included in the Trip Package One and a half days of farm and ranch tours, a half-day chef led culinary session, local transportation between sites, two lunches and one dinner. Add three nights lodging at our favorite B&G for only $135 ($45 per night and it includes a lovely breakfast).

To reserve your spot please call (503) 297-2177 or email us. In your message please note the trip date you want to reserve and your phone number.

Key Program Information

Dates offered
June 19-20, 2010
July 6-7, 2010
Cost $520/$655 per person (without/with lodging)

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Other Tours from the Source

Classic Farm & Ranch Trip
This trip is for those with an appetite for an authentic experience. We travel through the picturesque Wallowa Valley to visit a grass fed beef ranch, an organic produce farm that supplies restaurants and farmers markets, a family-run dairy and chicken farm, a flock of sheep that inspired a rural economic development project, wheat fields and more. Meet local farmers and ranchers and walk through their fields with them while they tell you the story of the land. Enjoy excellent meals that highlight as many local ingredients as possible. Some of our hosts are the fourth generation of their family to steward the family ranch. Others made a mid-life career switch and started their business in the last few years. For the people who live here, and the people who visit here, the Wallowa Mountains are an amazing backdrop to it all.
Dates offered June 5-6, 2010
Cost $495/$630 per person (without/with lodging)
Go here to learn more or to register

 

Available Trips & Cost

Dates offered
June 19-20, 2010 and July 6-7, 2010
Without Lodging $520 per person includes two days of farm and ranch tours, local transport between sites, afternoon culinary class, two lunches (Saturday & Sunday) and grand finale dinner on Sunday evening.
Including Lodging $655 per person includes everything mentioned above, plus 3 breakfasts and 3 nights lodging at a B&B in Joseph, OR.

Itinerary

Saturday Hike the open range and to discuss ecological stewardship with a rancher of grass-fed beef. After our walking tour we will be hosted at the ranch for a lunch of grass-fed burgers with all the fixings, summer salads and stunning scenery. Our lunch spot is a spectacular location out on the open range with views up into the snow capped Eagle Cap Mountains. Next we are off to meet up with a rancher who raises several hundred acres of hay and wheat in the same fields where his great, great grandfather farmed. He gives us an overview of how his family’s ranch has changed over the generations. He'll lead us down to a riverside area he is undertaking a riparian restoration project and creating a conservation easement. He will explain why he chose to do so and how tools like conservation easements help him continue the family farm. As time permits we may make other stops, including a farmers’ and gardeners’ exchange where we will learn about the effort to create a brand for Wallowa County produced items and to encourage value-added processing in the local area. In late afternoon we will return to the inn. This evening you are on your own to choose a dinning option that best suits your mood. Terminal Gravity Brewery & Pub in Enterprise serves up their award winning libations, as well as casual summer fare. If you crave something more formal try Caldera’s of Joseph, showcasing fresh produce grow for the restaurant in their Imnaha garden.

Sunday We visit an organic produce farm (taking our sun-kissed produce with us when we depart) and then tour a small family-run dairy and poultry operation (gathering the milk, eggs and poultry we will use later that day). Next stop is a goat farm for a tour and farmstead lunch catered just for us. Our coolers brimming with provisions gathered that morning, we will head back to meet our cooking coach, Chef Lynne Sampson, for the afternoon culinary session. With the bounty of ingredients laid out before us, Chef Lynne Sampson will lead us in a brainstorming session to create a menu that showcases the local, seasonal ingredients we have at hand. The rest of the afternoon will be spent under Lynne’s guidance creating the feast we have planned for ourselves. All hands will be busy slicing vegetables, making fresh cheese, baking bread, tying roasts, or whatever tasks need doing in order to transform our fresh ingredients into a dinner you will not soon forget. In late afternoon we will return to the inn to relax for an hour before dinner (our creation) is served .

*Exact itinerary may be adjusted slightly based on weather and to accommodate the farmers’ and ranchers’ schedules.