“FieldTrips” is either a day trip or a few days where I visit food areas of interest which may include farm visits, producers, wineries, restaurants and/or other places that people can visit. This is about offering Vancouver Foodster readers a chance to get out of town and take a “Field Trip” for the day or a few days to explore, learn, taste and experience.
Field Trip to Chilliwack and Agassiz
This August, I spent the day with a visit to Chilliwack and Agassiz with my friend Nikki Caine who joined me to experience and learn. On this journey we headed East on Highway 1 driving to Chilliwack from Vancouver. After a 90 minute drive we arrived at Anita’s Organic Flour Mill.
John Mackenzie
This first stop was to meet John Mackenzie, President of Anita’s Organic Flour Mill, John explained the history of the mill which he bought in 2005 from Andy & Anita Mossaman. He then gave us a tour of the mill where we had the opportunity to see how the flour was ground, sifted and packaged. Anita’s is on the Circle Farm Tour and slow food tour which is accessible to the public. Public tours are available, call them or visit their website for details.
Anita’s Organic Flour Mill
43615 Yale Road,
Chilliwack B.C.
Tel: 604-823-5543
Next was a 10 minute drive out to the Airport, no we were not there to board a plane, we were their for pie. Yes you heard me right, we went to meet the 3 sisters that now own it: Judi, Jaclyn & Tracey (who gave us the tour) behind the Airport Coffee Shop, an institution for some of the best pie around along with a loyal customer base who has been visiting them for over 30 years.
Coconut Cream Pie, and Blueberry/Peach pie (with cinnamon) topped with vanilla ice cream.
Nikki and I got the behind the scenes tour and watch the pies coming out of the oven, we then sat down in the café and shared a couple pieces of pie. We had Coconut Cream Pie, and Blueberry/Peach pie (with cinnamon) topped with vanilla ice cream.
If you are driving to the Okanagan or on your way to Vancouver from the Okanagan then make sure you visit the Airport Coffee Shop, be forewarned get their early after 10:30am and before 2pm for the best selection of pie, once they run out of a selection they are out of it!
Airport Coffee Shop
6-46244 Airport Road
Chilliwack, BC
Tel: 604-792-0814
The Chilliwack Corn Maze
Back on the road we headed out to the Chilliwack Corn Maze, the day we visited happened to be opening day. The corn maze is 14 acres and it is a fun destination for kids and kids alike, don’t be tempted to eat the corn as it is corn silage for feeding cows.
The maze is open daily through October 31st.
Chilliwack Corn Maze
41905 Yale Road West
Chilliwack, BC
http://www.chilliwackcornmaze.com/hoursandrates.html
Tel: 604-819-6203
The Preserved Seed
After the maze and time in the hot sun, it was time for lunch and we decided to visit on of their local cafes in town, the drive was about 15 minutes arriving at the Preserved Seed Café. Daveq greeted us an gave us a tour around their storehouse where they sell their home baked bread and other products grown on their own farm. We then were seated in the cafe and browsed the extensive menu for lunch.
Cranberry Nut Salad
Coconut Curry Rice Bowl
Deli Rose Sandwich
I had the Cranberry Nut Salad and the Coconut Curry Rice Bowl and Nikki had the Cranberry Nut Salad and Deli Rose Sandwich all was fresh and delicious.
Lunch and dinner is served daily.
The Preserved Seed
45855 Yale Road West,
Chilliwack, BC
Tel: 604-702-4442
From here we then travelled East and after a 35 minute drive we were in Agassiz, where we stopped roadside to buy some of their Sweet Corn.
We then drove a couple of minutes to visit The Farm House, a well known cheese maker that I had been wanting to visit for quite some time.
Cheese Making
Debra who is co-owner and award winning cheese maker, gave us a tour of their farm and the cows as well as the goat, we toured the milking facilities and then watched the cheese makers craft their cheese.
Debra (co-owner) cutting cheese
We then visited the store to do some cheese tasting with Debra where we had an opportunity to learn about the different varieties of cheese that they produce. The store sells all their variety of cheeses as well as other local products.
The Farm House
5634 McCallum Rd
Agassiz, BC
Tel: (604) 796-8741
Hazelnut Trees
For our last stop of the day, we were back in the car for a 5 minute drive to visit the Canadian Hazelnut Farm. This happens to be the largest organic farm in Canada that has 8,000 hazelnut trees on their 60 acre property.
Canadian Hazelnuts
6682 Lougheed (#7) Highway
Agassiz, BC
Tel: 604.796.2136
Stay tuned for my next Field Trip outside of Vancouver.
By: Richard Wolak