Spring is Blooming on the Plates of Doe Bay Cafe

It's finally safe to say that spring has arrived on our end of Orcas Island.

To me, nothing says spring like the first clumps of nettles appearing at the edge of the woods and along the roadside. Growing up, I always looked at nettles as a dreaded weed that needed to be avoided at all costs when I was playing out in the woods near our house. Then as adult, I had my very first bite of nettle ravioli and it rocked my world forever. Now, everytime I see a patch of those spikey green "weeds", I get a little giddy thinking about all the amazing things I'm going to cook. So far in the cafe we've been enjoying nettle pesto for Pizza Night, nettle-chive soup, and nettle gnocchi.

Also making appearances on the Spring menu are rhubarb pickles, featuring rhubarb from our neighbor, George Orser of Orcas Farm, Washington grown asparagus in our Asparagus-Mint Flan, and most exciting, salad greens from our own garden!

The Doe Bay Garden is looking beautiful, in that anticipatory, ready-to-burst Spring sort of way.

We've had some fantastic gardening help from participants of the Willing Workers on Organic Farms Program. Jim and Cami, Mike and Caitlyn and quite a few others have been working hard making our "seed to table" program a reality. You'll be tasting the fruits of their labors here at the cafe all season long.

Pliny Keep, the new Doe Bay General Manager, is an experienced farmer in addition to his many other talents and has big plans for our onsite orchard. He's even been talking about trying to start to grow our own shitake and oyster mushrooms for the cafe. Now that is a commitment to local foods!

We're looking forward to an expanded dinner menu and expanded hours in just a couple of short weeks. We'll be open five days a week starting May 25. We'll look forward to seeing you soon.

best wishes,

Abigael