PRESS RELEASE: Finnriver Relocation & Celebration

FINNRIVER ANNOUNCES RELOCATION OF TASTING ROOM TO ORGANIC ORCHARD & CIDER GARDEN

Visit us beginning Memorial Day Weekend 2016 at the new location at: 124 Center Road, just south of the Chimacum Crossroads, on the Olympic Peninsula near Port Townsend, WA.  

Finnriver Farm & Cidery in Chimacum, Washington is excited to announce the relocation of our tasting room and event facilities to the new Finnriver Orchard & Cider Garden, just south of the Chimacum Crossroads 4-way stop  (2.5 miles north of our current location).  The Finnriver Orchard is a historic former dairy farm that has been renovated to establish our organic farm and apple orchard, a working farm collaborative, our public tasting room, and a farm-based community gathering place for people of all ages.  In relocating to this historic farm and vibrant rural intersection, we have a wonderful opportunity to act upon our mission to reconnect people to the land that sustains us. 

Opening celebrations will take place at the new Cider Garden on May 28th with a family-friendly evening of great food, live music and, of course, cider!  The Finnriver tasting room is open 7 days a week throughout the year and after our relocation to the Finnriver Orchard, we will be open for extended summer hours: 12-9pm on Fridays & Saturdays and 12-6pm Sunday-Thursday. 

Dented Buoy Pizza will be served from the woodfired oven all weekend through the summer months and Hama Hama Oysters will be joining us on summer Sundays. We’re also creating a new rural music venue for regional and national bands who will be featured Saturday nights as part of our Live Music on the Land concert series.  A $5 suggested cover will help us bring great music to the farm and put the ‘culture’ into agriculture.  We will also offer free live music on Sunday afternoons. Folks can relax, eat and listen at the 60 ft. long repurposed ‘Feeding Trough’ Table (yes, formerly an actual cow feeding trough), and appreciate views of the rural Chimacum Valley.  Families can also enjoy our new bocce ball court, kids play area, and self-guided walking tours of the organic orchard.

Finnriver’s 5,000+ organic trees include over 20 varieties of heritage and traditional cider and perry varieties.  As the orchard continues to mature, we look forward to crafting ciders that share the beauty and bounty of this land, and offer a taste of the complexity and character of the fruit.

Visitors who want to learn more about Finnriver and about the history, biology and lore of the marvelous apple, can join Johnny Appleseed on an entertaining and educational tour of our organic orchard.  Actor Kenn Mann takes on the role of this charming and historic figure to offer one-hour walking tour performances on the land on summer Saturdays:

•   June & September– 1 regularly scheduled tour at 2pm on Saturdays

•   July & August have– 2 regularly scheduled tours at 2pm & 4pm on Saturdays

Cost for the tours: Adults $8, Couples $15, Children by donation. Tickets may be purchased at the farm on the day of the tour. Tours may also be booked by private groups on other days: contact appleseedtours@gmail.com

Finnriver has also partnered with local and regional farmers and organizations at the Orchard to establish the Chimacum FARM Collaborative and share ground, equipment, resources and values. The group is working together to grow a vibrant agricultural community though research, restoration and education.  Partners include the Organic Seed Alliance, North Olympic Salmon Coalition, Essential Blooms, WSU Jefferson County, the Bread Lab and WSU Sustainable Seed Systems. Finnriver also partnered with the Port Townsend CoLab to convert the classic farm house on the site into a rural co-working center called the Farmhouse CoLab, providing a rural office location and meeting space. Individuals and groups can rent the library meeting room or learn about memberships at: http://farmhouse.colabnw.com 

Over the next few years, Finnriver will begin to relocate our cidery production operations to the new location.  Worked as a dairy for over 100 years, this land has deep-rooted family history and abundant stories, as well as layers of rich loam soils. Finnriver and our partners are now honored to add layers to the story of this land. We are excited to share this new place with you all! 

Learn more at: http://www.finnriver.com/farm/finnriver-orchard

The Finnriver season opening at the Cider Garden coincides with the after-party for the Port Townsend Artisan Food Festival (a day of food festivities hosted by the Jefferson County Farmers Market) and will include farm fresh, woodfired pizza from Dented Buoy, authentic Spanish cuisine from Paella House, and a selection of special release Finnriver cider on tap.  Live music from 6-9pm by beloved Port Angeles band, Joy in Mudville, combining old-time bluegrass, folk, country, rock, blues and funk.  A $5 suggested donation will go towards supporting the Jefferson County Farmers Market Gimme5 food assistance matching program. 

 

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