The Applegater

20 Fall 2020 Applegater •••BIZbits••• BizBits highlights businesses new to the area, holding special events, or offering new products. If you are a business owner, let us know when you move into the area or to a different location, hold a special event, expand your business, or mark a milestone. Email gater@applegater.org. Classified Advertising Disclaimer. e Applegater reserves the right to edit, categorize, revise, or refuse any classified advertisement. In addition, Applegater has the right to terminate any ad at any time for any reason. Parties posting ads are responsible for the accuracy and content of their ads. Applegater will not be liable for any damages arising out of errors or omissions. Place a classified ad! $12 for three lines of text (approximately 110 characters and spaces). Advance payment required online at www.applegater.org. Contact: Ron Turpen at ron.turpen@gmail.com or 541-601-1867. It's wine! It's cider! It's perry! BY ERIN A CHAPARRO We count ourselves among the fortunate people who live in the Applegate Valley, where nearly everyone has healthy fruit trees and an abundance of fruit this time of year. Right about now, you may be trying to figure out what to do with all that fruit. Maybe you make pies and crumbles, jams and jellies. But have you ever thought about making fruit wine? Cider to be more specific. Perry to be even more specific! T h e a c t o f c i d e r making goes back to the days of ancient E g y p t . T h e Ro m a n Empire brought cider t o E u r o p e , w h i c h made its way later to the United States. At our fall festivals apple cider for kids and hard apple cider for adults is a common offering. B u t h a v e y o u e v e r tasted hard cider made from pears? Here in southern Oregon old pear trees and forgotten pear orchards are more plentiful than in other parts of Oregon. If you happen to have one of these pear trees in your vicinity, we challenge you to make your own hard cider from pears, which cider aficionados call "perry." Perry (and cider for that matter) is considered a fruit wine. Cider is made with fruit juice and yeast just as wine is. In fact, we often make our perry with white wine yeast. ere are no hops or grains added to cider, nor is there any added water. For this reason, most ciders, like wine, are gluten free. Pear cider is made from a combination of apple and pear juices with the apple juice providing the base. e pear juice is often just the finisher to add pear flavor. Perry, on the other hand, is made from at least 90 percent pear juice. Perry is often dry and light. Pear cider is often sweet and has a heavier mouthfeel. Both are considered ciders, and both are considered fruit wines. So hopefully that clears things up (wink, wink). If you'd like to try some perry made right here in the Applegate Valley, you can give Blossom Barn Cidery's Rogue Valley Perry a try. It's juiced on a Kubli Road farm, then fermented and aged for six months over at Wooldridge Creek Winery. Or I encourage you to give fruit wine—er, I mean, cider; um, perry-making—a try! Feel free to send an email if you have any questions on your perry-making adventure. Erin A. Chaparro, Ph.D. Co-Owner of Blossom Barn Cidery jeremyanderin@ blossombarncidery.com BY JEANETTE LETOURNEUX Trevor and Jessie Driskell bought the Mustard Seed Café, in Jacksonville, from the previous owner, Jeannie Inman, on March 1. Trevor was the cook and hired Jessie as a server at the Mustard Seed six years ago. ey have now been married for five years! ey said, "We think of Jeannie like a mom. She taught us so much about creating delicious food and a fun environment that people want to be a part of." Jeannie had owned the café since 2010 and wanted to sell it to go into real estate. After Jessie became pregnant, Trevor and Jessie decided they wanted the stability of owning their own business. They are so grateful for the support the community has shown them through the COVID-19 shutdowns and also for the many congratulations and presents to their beautiful baby girl, Peyton, born on July 15. "Great old-fashioned cooking" is the motto of the café, which has been in operation since 1958, e menu is quite large and has something for any taste at breakfast or lunch. Trevor puts his own spin and flavor into their traditional dishes such as homemade corned beef hash, the all-time favorite biscuits and gravy, and homemade cinnamon rolls. e cafe now has two patios to accommodate social distancing. Mu s t a rd Se e d Ca f é , 1 3 0 N . 5 t h St . , Jacksonville. 541-899-2977. Tuesday - Saturday 7 am - 2 pm. Sunday 7 am – 1 pm, serving breakfast only. • • • S w e e t s - N - E a t s C a f é o p e n e d on July 31, in the previous location of the popular Café Ruch, which was permanently closed on April 25 after 10 years of ownership by Mike and Beth aanum. e new restaurant is a family run bakery, café, and deli offering breakfast, lunch, and an appetizer/light- eats menu after 4 pm. ey also have beer and wine on tap and to go. New owners Patty Lyon-Knowlton and Tasha Converse are a mother-daughter team who have lived in the community their whole lives. ey worked at Café Ruch for five and three years, respectively. Tasha is also a former pastry chef at Jacksonville Inn. ey worked for three months renovating and readying the cafe for opening, with the help of many family members and friends. One family member, Heather Knowlton, painted the bright and welcoming new sign that greets customers. "Our goal is to bring a family oriented, happy environment to the local community," they say. "We are located on the way to Applegate Lake, so take a drive in the scenic Applegate Valley and come visit!" Sweets-N-Eats Café. 181 Upper Applegate Road, Ruch. 541-702-2662, sweetsneats2020@gmail.com. Hours: Wednesday - Saturday 7 am to 7 pm (ey stop serving food at 6:30 pm.) Open Sundays for breakfast (7 - 11 am) and lunch (11 am to 3 pm). Mimosas are available! • • • Applegate-based Klamath-Siskiyou Native Seeds is now offering virtual native plant consultations via Zoom or Facetime for native planting or seeding projects in southwest Oregon, including the Applegate Valley. KSNS continues to provide on-site consultations w i t h p r o p e r C O V I D - 1 9 p r o t o c o l s i n p l a c e . C o n t a c t t h e m a t k l a m a t h s i s k i y o u @ g m a i l . c o m t o s c h e d u l e a consultation. Check out their wide selection of native seed packets available for purchase online at klamathsiskiyouseeds. com. Their selection of species native to the Applegate Valley continues to grow. Jeanette LeTourneux jeanette@applegater.org Harvested pears await processing. Apples ripen at the Hall family farm. Peyton, the newest member of Mustard Seed team, was born July 15. Photo: Trevor Driskell. Erin Chaparro and Jeremy Hall. Photos: Erin Chaparro. Co-owners Tasha Converse (left) and Patty Lyon-Knowlton are joined by Tasha's kids.

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