The fresh behind the flavor



For a little five-acre farm, we've got a lot growin' on, especially in our classic, old-world herb garden. You'd be hard pressed to find a wider variety of great herbs growing in one place, complete with a lotus-flower pond.

We owe many of our most famous flavors at Summer Jo's to the fact that fresh herbs are but a short stroll away from the kitchen. It's common to find someone from the kitchen in the garden harvesting the fresh herbs found in favorites such as our Creamy Tarragon Dressing, Rosemary Rolls, and Lavender Lemonade.

So the next time you're in for a meal, we encourage you to set aside a few minutes to amble around the herb garden where you'll find common classics like sage, oregano, sorrel, rosemary, lavender, and lemon thyme growing alongside herbal medicinals. Signs are posted near each plant that tell you what's what. You'll see why a good herb garden is Mother Nature's pharmacy.

If you haven't heard about THRIVE, The Rogue Valley Initiative for a Vital Economy, then we're thrilled that you're learning about it about here. Best known for their Buy Local Buy Rogue and Rogue Flavor campaigns, THRIVE works to diversify and deepen our local economy, support family farmers and other locally-owned businesses in being greener, preserving farm land, and getting the word out about sustainable food and business practices.

Did you know that for every $1 spent at a local business, 45 cents get reinvested locally, while a dollar spent at a corporate chain takes 85 cents out of our local economy. Yikes! You can learn about all of this and more at BuyLocalBuyRogue.com, where you'll also find a great local business directory and resources such as a community calendar listing all local farmers' markets. THRIVE makes a great case that if we want to have a rich local economy, the best move we can make is to buy local whenever possible. Besides, fresh is better, and it doesn't get fresher than knowing your farmer!

Summer Jo's is also happy to be a part of THRIVE's Eat Local Challenge 2010, a fun-filled week celebrating the delicious bounty of locally-grown food in the Rogue Valley when locally owned restaurants offer menu specials featuring mostly local ingredients...which isn't too hard for us since we grow so much good food right here on the farm.

Roam, roam on the range...

Summer Jo's places a premium on purchasing as much as possible from sustainable sources right here in Oregon. One of the perennial highlights to Chef Joy's summer menu are Anderson Ranch lamb chops.

Grown on the free range pastures and rolling foothills of the Willamette Valley, where high precipitation guarantees lush green Oregon grasses, Anderson Ranch lambs thrive in these open fields with fresh air and lots of room to graze. They are left free to roam, eat when they like, and grow at their own natural rhythm. Thy eat only grasses and are fed no byproducts.

More importantly for the purity of the meat, the lambs are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. After five generations, the Anderson family has found the right formula for selectively breeding sheep for the highest quality meat. And after years of preparing them, Chef Joy has perfected the Anderson Ranch rack of lamb.

Learn more about Anderson Ranch at OregonLamb.com.

Spring hard wheat comes in big!



Most folks around the valley know that Summer Jo's bakes some of the best artisan bread this side of the Rogue River, but what you may not know is that we also grow some of our own wheat, certified-organic of course. And while it's not enough to keep up with demand for our breakfast bagels, dinner rolls, pizza crusts, sandwich slices, and artisan loaves, you can almost always be guaranteed that there's a little local wheat in every bite of our bread. This year our beautiful stand of Spring hard wheat, a variety called Ingot, came in at almost 1500 pounds, four times more than before.

Marsanne + Roussanne + Viognier

The Rogue Wine Region is really coming of age thanks in large part to small local wineries that are beginning to develop a fanbase far and wide. One of them is COWHORN, which has already been invited to pour at the James Beard House in New York and at Fortune magazine's Most Powerful Women Summit in Los Angeles a year ago. With rave reviews of its early releases, COWHORN is already earning ratings of 89 and 90 points on second leaf wine.

At the same time, the world is slowly waking up to the many benefits of winemaking the Biodynamic way. The Wall Street Journal just published a report by Will Lyons, who admittedly made “no claim to understand how biodynamics works” but found that Biodynamic® wines “are marked with a purity, silkiness and concentration rarely found in other wines.” COWHORN is currently the Rogue's only certified biodynamic and organic vineyard and winery.

Bill and Barbara Steele are doing something very right out at their little wilderness winery, and we're grateful to have gotten our hands on a case their 2009 Spiral 36 Rhone-style white blend. Spiral, as it's called by fans, sold out fast in its first year and is off to an even better start this year. The Oregonian recently published a stellar review of Cowhorns' 2009 Spiral 36 by respected wine columnist Matt Kramer.

"This is one of Oregon's finest dry whites, bar none," write Kramer. "Get it while you can." Thanks Matt! We did, and we agree!

» Read Matt Kramer's review in The Oregonian

Pinot lovers rejoice! The 2009 vintage of Summer Jo's Pinot Noir is now available exclusively at our restaurant.

This very pleasant pinot, made with grapes grown right here in the Rogue Valley, is the perfect way to swill your way through the fall and prep your palate for the richer reds of winter.

As the sun sets sooner, Summer Jo's Pinot Noir is the perfect companion for a warm meal on a cool evening.

Summer Jo's welcomes our new artisan baker Alex Ruhland!

Summer Jo's is best known for gourmet food, artisan bread, Araucana eggs, and organic produce, but we also grow a dazzling array of flowers here on the farm. Take a stroll, and you'll see (and smell!) roses, gladiolas, coreopsis, lotus, sunflowers, and crocosmias along with edible flowers such as chive blossoms, dianthus, bachelor buttons, calendula, chrysanthemum, arugula blossoms, and more. We love to sprinkle edible petals on your plate for that extra splash of summer color!

The August 2010 issue of Wine Spectator names Summer Jo's as "one of the world's best restaurants for wine lovers." Our extensive list features wines with local terrior and global divsersity, offering an exceptional depth and breadth of choices. Whether your palate prefers rich reds or dry whites, there's a good chance that you'll find the perfect wine on our list by the glass, bottle, and case if we're not sold out.

Eat, Drink & Make Music!



From fresh breakfast berries to funky bass players, we love jam at Summer Jo's. We love it so much that we've invited (and he accepted!) Johnny Trujillo back to host a mostly-acoustic Sunday jam session featuring special guest artists each week.

This summer's line-up includes local jazz phenom Libby Goines, Reggae rocker Mawg of the Toyes, folk guitarist Brian Parris, jazzy duo Latino Andy and Anne Pimentel, Boogiecats bassist Dave Vestnys, bluesy light rocker Chris Graves, and guitar guru Joe Diehl.

The show starts Sundays at 5PM. Bring your appetite. Bring a bottle (Remember, it's also Corkage-free Sundays)! Bring your favorite instrument or the family band and sit in for a set or three with Johnny with some of the finest, funkiest music makers in the Rogue region.

» Make reservation

Limousine Wine Tour & Dinner


You'll visit four awesome wineries (Wooldridge Creek, Troon, Schmidt, and Applegate Red) in the luxury and comfort of a stretch limousine or town car provided by American West Coach.

You'll end your tour with a savory 3-course gourmet dining experience at Summer Jo's Organic Farm, Gourmet Restaurant, and Artisan Bakery. What a wonderful worryfree way to explore Oregon wine country with family and friends.

Contact Bobby at American West Coast Service to book your tour: 541-858-9414. Check out the wineries.

It's time to say a fond farewell to winter fare, cellar the rich reds, and get ready to greet Chef Joy's new Summer menu.

On it you'll find revivals of classic favorites such as our Anderson Ranch Lamb Chops with Mint Glaze, Summer Vegetables, and Parsley-buttered Potatoes, Grilled Filet Mignon with Buttermilk-mashed Potatoes, Duck Confit with Coconut Curry Sauce on Citrus-scented Rice, and for our vegetarian friends, Chickpeas and Summer Vegetables steamed in Peanut Sauce with broccoli, cabbage, carrots, poblano chiles, ginger, and mint.

In addition to enjoying our Fish Du Jour (always seasonal and sustainable of course), don't let summer pass you by without trying a small plate of Seared Scallops with Cider Brown Butter. Joy regularly reinvents the wheel with her Pizza Du Jour, which is a great way to get a sample of some of the freshest food on the farm on a single slice.

And if you love dishes that pack it all in, check out our Cajun-spiced Jamabalayas, one just for vegetarians, made with arugula, sorrel, sweet peppers, cabbage, cauliflower, and dandelion greens. You'll wonder why we ever called them weeds.


» Breakfast and Lunch Menu
» Dinner Menu

Plenty of fish in the sea?

Love fish? We do too. That's why our Fish Du Jour is always a catch you can count on being both good on your plate and good for our oceans. According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch Program, 70 percent of the world's fisheries are being harvested at capacity or are in outright decline. :(

If you would like to join us in making more sustainable seafood choices, Seafood Watch is a great resource to identify sustainable seafood. They even have an iPhone app for the most up-to-date recommendations. Check out their Super Green List which also tracks toxins and suggests fish that are low in environmental contaminants.

» Visit MontereyBayAquarium.org

Starting this month, Johnny Trujillo and B. Wishes will be back in their regular Thursday night slot making music on the lawn. Then, kicking off on the July 4th weekend, Johnny will host our new Summer Jam at Summer Jo's, a mostly-acoustic weekly Sunday session starring a different featured artist each week.

This summer's line-up includes local jazz phenom Libby Goines, Reggae rocker Mawg of the Toyes, folk guitarist Brian Parris, jazzy duo Latino Andy and Anne Pimentel, Boogiecats bassist Dave Vestnys, and bluesy light rocker Chris Graves.

Lavender + Lemonade + LOVE!

Summer is almost here, which means that it's time for this writer's annual ode to our Lavender Lemonade. When the mercury starts rising, I'll be the one you see at Summer Jo's some sunny Sunday afternoon, sitting in a shady spot, two-fisting super-sized ice-cold double L's, and sipping myself right.

I haven't found anything that Lavender Lemonade doesn't get your palate primed for, and I've tried it with just about everything on the menu, including breakfast. There has been more than one meal when the cork just stayed in the bottle while I polished off a pitcher instead. Bottom line: This is some seriously good fruit and flower juice. I recommend it even if you're not thirsty. It's love at first sip!

In addition to serving three meals a day, four days a week here on the farm, and supplying fresh-baked artisan bread to grocers throughout the valley, we really love going to our great local grower's markets. Everything that comes out of the ground at Summer Jo's is certified organic. So the next time you're at the Saturday markets in Ashland or Grants Pass, stop by our stand for carrots, snow peas, mixed greens galore, and a dozen beautiful little blue eggs produced from our very own flock of Araucana chickens. We usually have fresh bread on hand too.

» Visit Rogue Valley Growers & Crafters Market
» Visit Grant's Pass Growers' Market

We'd like to give a shout out and turn you on to our friend Bob over at Grains, Beans and Things, one of the West Coast's largest suppliers of green coffee beans and home beer and wine-making supplies. If you're a back-to-the-land, do-it-yourself, off-the-grid kind of gal or guy, you'll love what Bob has to offer.

Whether you want to press grapes or roast beans, Bob has done the homework for you and offers complete product lines and classes in coffee roasting, home brewing, and wine making. Want to make cheese? He'll hook you up with everything you need for that too. It's high-quality, hands-on local businesses like this that make the Rogue region such a great place to call home.

» Visit Grains-n-Beans.com

Hello lettuce lovers! Got Freckles? We do, along with Red Leaf, Parris Island Romaine, Red Salad Bowl, Green Salad Bowl, Tango Lettuce, Arugula, Shungiku, Osaka Purple Mustard, Mizuna, and Golden Thrill Tatsoi. That's our Mesclun Salad Mix and it's available at the farm or at the markets. The next time you're at the restaurant with family and friends, remember to take them on a quick tour of the farm to see where their greens were grown. It doesn't get any fresher.

Our new Aracauna chicks aren't the only winged ones we're welcoming to the farm this spring. This season, five hives will call our five-acre farm home, at least long enough to buzz about and do what bees to do best, keep the farm fertile and make some sweet stuff that we can stir into our tea.

Thanks to local beekeeper David Lytle, our old storeroom is about to become our new bee shop. Open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 AM to 5 PM, The Bee Shop will carry just about everything you need to keep bees and then some. We'll let you know when it's open. Just watch the eBee for updates.

Summer Jo's is happy to welcome some new winged members to our farm family. Our fertile little flock of Araucana chickens is now 140 strong, and we expect our lovely ladies to produce around seven dozen delicious blue-tinted eggs a day. Egg lovers, now is your chance to get dibs on a dozen. They are available at Summer Jo's as well as the Saturday Grants Pass and Ashland growers markets. They're so cute, you kinda don't want to cook them up.