Savor

The world has discovered the cheese of Southern Oregon. And it's not just the international medal winners who are cranking out the savory (and sweet) stuff, as we learn in the latest edition of our food segment, Savor.

Savor host, food stylist Will Smith, speaks with Sonia Rangel, owner and operator of Huizache Creamery cheese in Ashland. Sonia comes to cheese making from her grandparents. She and Will discuss the work and the craft of artisan cheesemaking.

The basic benefit of a cooperative organization: you can do things together that you can swing alone. Ashland Food Co-op started there and long ago began to add to its offerings. Now the co-op not only offers breaks on food prices to members, but reaches out to help its community learn more about healthy food and all the benefits it offers.

Will Smith, host of our food podcast, Savor, returns with a focus on the co-op. Mahlea Ramsey, Education Coordinator at the Ashland Food Coop talks with Will about the Coop's Fall Festival, a free, food-filled, family event, that will also help benefit the Friends of the Animal Shelter.

Host Will Smith speaks with Willow Holloway, clinical herbalist and owner of Ashland's Elder Apothecary about helpful herbs to use during these sneezy, sniffly months. From garlic to yarrow, Willow Holloway offers tips for easy to find herbs and teas to soothe and support you during when you're feeling ill.

Does that dish you're eating need a little salt? Just reach for the shaker on the table... but be aware, it took some work to get it there. It turns out salt has a fascinating journey to get into our foods and onto our tables.

We get a big lesson in the latest edition of Savor, our food segment, with host and food stylist Will Smith.

Will visits with Jacobsen Salt, based in Netarts, Oregon. If you guessed sea salt is part of the product mix, you nailed it. Will visits with Ben Jacobsen to add some flavor to the Savor story.

Not all wines taste the same, and that's got a lot to do with grapes, and where they grow, and the winemaking process. Processes vary greatly from maker to maker, with a growing interest in organic methods.

Troon Vineyard in the Applegate Valley practices organic and regenerative methods, including "Demeter Biodynamic® Certified." What's that mean? Food stylist Will Smith, who hosts our food/drink segment, Savor, wanted to know. So the latest edition of Savor features Troon winemaker Nate Walls and Sheila Foster, Executive Director of the Demeter Alliance.

Our region not only gets little rainfall, almost all of it falls outside the growing season. So irrigation is considered necessary... unless the farmer does things the old way, from the days before irrigation.

In dry farming of tomatoes, there's no irrigation after the tomato plants are established. Instead, the plants rely on the remaining moisture in the soil. The result, say dry farmers, are sweeter, more flavorful tomatoes.

And you save a lot of water. Our latest edition of Savor covers the practice and the results. Christina Arapolu of Easy Valley Farms in the Rogue River joins Savor host, food stylist, Will Smith.

Will Smith, the enthusiastic host of our food segment, Savor, is always urging us to get to know the people and the places where our food comes from. And most of the Savor segments feature people in the business of growing or preparing food right here in our region.

So there was no question about spending some time with the people of the Rogue Valley Farm Tour. The event, coming up in the middle of July, gives attendees a chance to visit working farms and ranches from Grants Pass to Shale City, in both the Rogue and Applegate Valleys. Mahlea Ramsey, Education Coordinator at the Ashland Food Coop, is Will's guest.

In the latest installment of Savor, our food segment, we discuss the health and wellness benefits of herbs.

Food stylist and Savor host Will Smith visits with regional herbalists Cole Berg at Alpine Mind Organics and Willow Holloway at Elder Apothecary as they discuss their work, their inspirations, and the many joys of herbs, teas, and tinctures.

The name indicates smallness, but the reality is bigger, in dimensions and in flavor.

Itty Bitty Acres Farm near Central Point doesn't have a lot of room to work with, but its operators have a big-time dedication to growing healthy and nutritious vegetables and more.

Our food expert, Will Smith, explores IBAF in this month's edition of Savor.

Erica and Ryan Idso-Weisz are the proprietors. They visit with Will about the growing of food and their dedication to it.

Where do you get fresh produce this time of year, maybe Chile or Bolivia? How about Rogue River?

Our food segment, Savor, features host and food stylist Will Smith looking high and low for what's fresh and good from the land around us. And this month his gaze falls upon Easy Valley Farm near the city of Rogue River, selling local produce from their farm and other nearby farms.

Christine Arapolu runs the place; she brings the greens and the news about them to this edition of Savor.