News & Updates

PRODUCER PROFILE:
CLAY & COFFEE
Guest Writer: Sally Zalac

Originally hailing from Russia, potter Elena Wendelyn of Clay & Coffee sells beautiful woodfired bowls, cups and platters at the Poulsbo Farmers Market. And we are fortunate to have access to her coffee through Kitsap Fresh. Elena’s creative personality is as evident in her unique pottery as it is in her coffee.

Clay & Coffee’s small batch, shade grown coffee is from Forest Cascades Coffee Farm in the mountains of Alajuela Province, Costa Rica. Elena is related by marriage to one of three retired teachers who restored this abandoned coffee farm, situated in a valley at 3,000 feet above sea level. Thousands of new coffee plants and other native bushes were planted, re-establishing biodiversity and protecting two streams traversing the property. Forest Cascades was certified as sustainable by the Rainforest Alliance, bringing us coffee we can feel good about drinking.

Elena shared a traditional, 200-year-old brewing process with the cup she made for me. She found that farmers market customers, often reluctant to spend time in her pottery booth unless they were considering a purchase, would linger if offered coffee brewed with Elena’s traditional Costa Rican Chorreador. The Chorreador consists of a simple wooden frame, often brightly painted, supporting a special cotton sock for brewing. Just add grounds and hot water and voila! One of the smoothest cups of coffee you have ever tasted. My family enjoys it enough to consider packing away our drip pot for everyday brewing. 

If your love of coffee is as strong as your belief in supporting local farms and producers, Clay & Coffee is one of three options Kitsap Fresh offers for your drinking pleasure. I intend to purchase one of Elena’s unique hand-thrown cups at the Poulsbo Farmers Market, which will enable me to support our local food community with every step of my morning coffee brewing ritual. I invite you all to do the same!

Sally Zalac is a valued customer and volunteer for Kitsap Fresh. She has a passion for local farms, organic food and regenerative farming.

PRODUCER PROFILE:
FARM KITCHEN

Guest Writer: Sally Zalac

Entering through a Dutch door, the scent of freshly brewed espresso welcomed me to Poulsbo’s Farm Kitchen. This certified commercial kitchen enables many of our small producers an opportunity to explore their dreams of success. A large red barn, the farm’s hub, houses a kitchen and public areas, surrounded by lavender and pots of flowers. Visiting during the Winter season, I could easily envision the flowers and orchard in bloom as Spring arrives.

Current owner, Hollis Fay, closed her Bainbridge Bakers shop in 1995, and with the help of Ann Thatcher, began transforming this 1960’s farm into the Farm Kitchen of today. The original barn and butcher shop-turned-event-space became a business incubator, offering not only licensed cooking space for lease, but training and advice for new business owners. Hollis’ love of baking birthed the Farm Kitchen Bakery, whose pastries, cookies, and breads are not only offered to us through Kitsap Fresh, but also sold in many local coffee shops and grocery stores.

Among the Kitsap Fresh farmers and producers that use Farm Kitchen is Butler Green Farms of Bainbridge Island; they grow greens and flowers in Farm Kitchen’s leased fields. My family enjoys bread from Tolo Sourdough, baked in the industrial Farm Kitchen ovens. Clay & Coffee also uses the facility to package their Costa Rican coffee. Currently, the facility’s drainage system is being expanded, which will allow the Kitchen to be even more productive.

While the pandemic brought a temporary halt to large weddings, parties, and in-person classes, Farm Kitchen still performs its mission of nurturing small businesses. The old adage that ‘individual success is possible only through the help of others’ is evident in our local food network, of which Kitsap Fresh is a vital conduit. The orders we place through Kitsap Fresh enable the success of many other community businesses, creating a county-wide food system to be proud of.

PRODUCER PROFILE:
LAUGHING DUCK COFFEE
Guest Writer: Sally Zalac

Sipping morning coffee pond-side, chuckling Mallards and Wood Ducks inspired Ted Field to name his new company Laughing Duck Coffee. After their kids graduated from college, Ted and his wife, Liz, left their Bay Area home in California to settle on Bainbridge Island and pursue Ted’s longtime interest in coffee roasting. It makes sense that a passion for coffee would lead the Fields to an area rife with coffee aficionados.

Kitsap Fresh’s mission to support small farms and producers gave Ted an opportunity to take his burgeoning business to another level. Graduating from roasting green beans in a popcorn popper at home, Ted now uses a professional machine in a nearby co-roasting facility. I met Ted in a dark blue industrial park building, not far from his Island home. Not only is he able to collaborate with another coffee producer, he can better focus on producing various roasts he feels others will enjoy.

I was particularly intrigued by Laughing Duck’s sugarcane decaffeination process. Originating in Columbia, where both sugarcane and coffee grow in abundance, this technique produces a natural compound from molasses fermentation. It washes caffeine from green coffee beans, imparting more flavor than plain water and avoiding the use of harsh chemicals. I must admit my husband’s morning cup of Missing Feathers Decaf had far more coffee flavor than his usual brand. Personally, I prefer Ted’s Dark Feathered Friend dark roast. I’m sure that a coffee for most every palate can be found at Laughing Duck Coffee.

Sally Zalac is a valued customer and volunteer for Kitsap Fresh. She has a passion for local farms, organic food and regenerative farming.

STAFF PROFILE:
Elleni Mendoza
KF Warehouse Manager

Guest Writer: Sally Zalac

Kitsap Fresh’s Warehouse Manager, Elleni Mendoza, hosted our interview in the warehouse, with ample room for social distancing. Driving through the rows of white commercial buildings in the small industrial park that houses Kitsap Fresh, I was caught off guard by what I thought was the scent of peanut butter cookies. I later realized I was smelling actual peanuts roasting at CB’s Nuts, a small business housed next door. The scent was so fitting for my time with Elleni, mother of seven, nurturer of an additional three grandparents, who makes everyone feel welcomed.  Elleni laughed about celebrating holidays in a limited Covid style with 13 people in her immediate household.

Elleni wears two hats at Kitsap Fresh, one as Warehouse Manager, which includes her spending each Monday cleaning and sterilizing every bin, box, cooler, shelf and floor. The second, as the Port Orchard site attendant, gives her the opportunity to make deliveries in her large family vehicle. 

Tuesdays at the warehouse is meat and dairy delivery day, where Elleni pulls and tags each order, along with any value-added products. The massive amount of fresh produce and baked goods arriving early Wednesday morning requires additional staff, especially since Kitsap Fresh’s weekly orders have more than doubled this year alone. Currently under renovation, the office space next door will be open to expansion in the near future. Kitsap Fresh is alive and well in the time of Covid-19!

Groups of rolling shelves separated by pick-up location, called “Covid-pockets” by the staff, allow social distancing as they fill orders. All customer requests need to be processed and packed by 2:30 PM on Wednesdays and loaded for transport. Elleni wears a warm winter hat for her second job, manning the outdoor Port Orchard site, where I rely on her ready smile and cheerful attitude each week.

During our visit, a worker from Pike Place Market’s City Fish Co. dropped off boxes of fresh pasta from Pasta Casalinga, as well as Kitsap Fresh’s order of Tonnemaker Farms’ fruit. Elleni’s strong beliefs in the importance of healthy, local food for all, and her previous experience in a medical clinic management, enhance the experience of being an important cog in the Kitsap Fresh machine. She is excited to participate in the growth of Kitsap County’s online farmers market, especially with the roll out of Kitsap Fresh’s pilot home delivery program on Bainbridge Island. I will miss my weekly connection with Elleni should her responsibilities become more centered in Poulsbo.

Sally Zalac is a valued customer and volunteer for Kitsap Fresh. She has a passion for local farms, organic food and regenerative farming.