Dog Mountain Farm

I took my granddaughters in to get a cinnamon roll and something to tide us over til we got home on Sunday, May 18^th. I was very disappointed in the cinnamon roll for the price and quality. It was $ 2.50 for a very small portion and was still doughy in the middle. I ordered a gluten free chicken salad sandwich which when I got home found out it was a tortilla that had come unrolled with chicken salad all over the container. It was $ 5.95 for a very measly amount. I will not be going there again, sad to say.

I ordered half a pig and it was a terrible experience. I gave two stars because the meat was pretty good, but the customer service was awful. They couldn’t keep track of my contact information, tried to charge me the $ 75 delivery fee twice, lost part of my order, and the wrap on the meat itself was embarrassing. I won’t order from them again.

Summer can’t end without a visit to Dog Mountain, can it? Wouldn’t be proper, wouldn’t be right…
So trek up to the farm we did, for another lovely Saturday evening feast. This year, beer pairings are new on the calendar, and as soon as I saw Naked City on the list, I knew I had to go. And the chef cooking to accompany the brews? Josh Henderson of Skillet renown. Signs from heaven, truly.
As always, this is a unique experience that anyone who cares about local, sustainable food should indulge in at least once (a season, not merely ever!). Although many of us know by heart the names of the many excellent local farms that supply Seattle restaurant kitchens, it’s an entirely different experience to drink and dine outside, literally surrounded by the place that the animals on our plates lived until a brief while ago, and the gardens and trees from whence our apples and tomatoes and onions and other delights grew. It’s a welcome reminder to me of all the work that goes into a beautiful, simple salad, and I’m humbled by the expert care that Cindy and David take with their farm.
New this year was the company of the pigs skittering around, rooting and playing and generally acting like a crew of puppies at the dog park (yet actually far better behaved near the dinner tables than many dogs I know!). If there was ever a lull in the conversation, which, since we were sitting with Don and Tessa from Naked City, there really wasn’t, there was always a piglet to watch…
My only regret is that I didn’t make it to more dinners this summer. Here’s to two or three in 2013!

Dog Mountain Farm entices Seattleites to get into the «country» for a bucolic al fresco dining experience. We attended an event hosted by Epic Ales -
— master brewer Cody Morris who paired his distinctive German and Belgian style brews with courses from his friend and chef of his soon to open BrewPub. We dined in a field in between pig homes and the orchards where they browse. Got to learn about goats, draft horses, chicken, ducks, and geese!
Dog Mountain Farms prides itself on going beyond organic to achieve being a truly self-​sustaining Farm.

Just had a pretty cool dining experience at Dog Mountain Farms. As other reviews have mentioned, Dog Mountain offers a summer dinner series where they bring in local chefs/​wineries and then invite guests to explore the farm before sitting down outside in the orchard to enjoy a multi course meal with wine pairings. Our chefs were the Spring Hill Chefs and the wines were from Apex and Alder Ridge. Food was cooked/​seasoned well and the farm produce was awesomely fresh. Tasty highlights included the braised rabbit, freshly made Spaetzle, and berry cobbler. Pairings were appropriate and serving is family style.
Overall, if you’re looking for a different dining experience that is fun and in a unique setting, Dog Hill Farms is worth the effort of driving out to Carnation. Since serving is family style and on picnic tables, going with a group of friends enhances the experience.

Although I love the idea of a «farm dinner» and was very much looking forward to our outing, we were highly disappointed with our experience. The tour wasn’t very interesting (didn’t really learn anything about their approach to farming, etc.), the overall ambiance of the farm was not as charming as expected, and the dining experience was poor.
The owners were very nice, but during our particular outing, the chef wasn’t very good and the food and presentation lacked taste and culinary appeal. (examples — the first course had to be served twice, because the stuffed squash blossom was not included on the plate; apparently all of the greens/​edible flowers were used on the first attempt, because the blossom, when finally served, came on a bed of flat leaf parsley. The main course (a duck over lentils) was completely cold, finally arriving more than 45 minutes after the previous course. And the dessert (a fruit sorbet with rose cream) arrived for some members in our party receiving both the sorbet and cream, and others only the cream.)
The wine was good, but the winemaker (Smasme Cellars) was perhaps the most arrogant and self-​centered winemaker I’ve met. He spent more time talking about how great he was as a winemaker, and less time talking about or pouring wine. (Our pours were were not very generous at all.)
In general, I’d say it wasn’t worth the $ 100 cost. After getting home, I had to make something to eat.
If you decide to go, bring your own umbrella. You would think they would spring for a few umbrellas, but they don’t, so you’re on your own; but they do warn you about this beforehand, so that’s good.

Owners Cindy and David’s hospitality is admirable. Surrounded by the cascades, accompanied by horses, ducks, chicken and seated in the fruit orchard, it is alfresco dining at its best. Most of the ingredients on the menu is from the farm or locally produced. Dishes may be simple but wine pours are generous and the ambiance is hard to beat. Dog Shelby the one dog welcoming committee makes sure you are having a good time. If you get a chance, it is worth the splurge to support local farms!

dog mountain has started to host a series of dinners on their farm every summer. i went to one of them and it was easily one of the best five meals i’ve ever had.
the whole experience was great — you get there in the afternoon to take a tour of the farm and have some pre-​dinner drinks. then they sit everyone down on picnic tables outside and serve up the food. there is no menu — each meal is designed by the guest chef and it comes with paired drinks. the meals are different every time and i have every intention to go try out a few more.
my only word of warning is that it could be pretty hot outside during these dinners. so prepare yourself by checking the weather report in advance. and wear sunscreen. and maybe bring a parasol. i’m serious.

This review comes in two parts because there are two very different services I get from Dog Mountain. The first is their CSA program and the second is something they call a Farm Dinner.
CSA Program:
I’m in my second year of subscribing to Dog Mountain’s CSA. The summer program lasts 22 weeks and costs 675 so just over 30 dollars a week. My girlfriend and I share this with another couple. None of us are vegetarian but we all like to cook. We always get plenty of food to share between the four of us.
It’s always a lot of fun to see what we get every week. Everything they provide is grown on their farm and it’s all what is in season. This has encouraged us to try out many new recipes and hunt for good ways to use some of the more unusual (to us) items that we’ve received. This year they have started including eggs from their chickens and ducks — until you’ve tried farm fresh eggs you really don’t know what you are missing :)
Like one of the other reviews said, you could go with another farm that gives you more food for your money — but look at the food they give you! Why does Full Circle Farms give Cantaloupe, Peaches, and Avocados in their CSA program? None of those are grown on their farm, or even in the Pacific Northwest! What’s the point of a CSA that orders produce from far away places for you? Are you just trying to give money to a farm (that’s in the shipping business) instead of a grocery store? It all seems to defeat the purpose to me.
The owners of Dog Mountain Farm are growing everything they sell on site, they are doing it in the most responsible way they can find, and they are doing it for the love of producing food. I encourage you to eat some of the local produce you’ll ever find and in the process support a farm like Dog Mountain, you can’t go wrong.
Go local — really local :)
Farm Dinners:
Farm Dinners at Dog Mountain Farm are a fantastic experience. About a dozen weekends during the summer they sell tickets to have dinner out at the farm. Guests eat an all local meal prepared by a local chef. The menu generally features produce from the farm and then meat/​cheese from other local farms that are listed on the menu. Seating is in the apple orchard overlooking the Cascade mountains.
The event starts early in the afternoon around 3:30 PM. The first hour is taken up by a tour of the entire farm by one of the two owners. You get an opportunity to see everything they grow, how they take care of their animals, and you get to know where you food really comes from.
After the tour everyone sits in the orchard and the dinner begins. There were about five courses at the last dinner I attended and each came with a wine pairing. In all fairness the wine pairings weren’t the best but I think they had a friend picking the wines and maybe he wasn’t the best person for the job ;)
I don’t think I can say enough good things about the farm dinner, to really understand you would have to experience it yourself. You can learn more about it from their website at
and sign up. Don’t forget, you have to buy tickets in advance.
In summary, the farm dinner was easily one of the top five dining experiences I’ve had in Seattle. A good way to think of it would be a cross between Elemental and The Art of The Table. All of them are multi-​course meals with wine pairings. The Farm Dinner just has a much better view and is a lot more interesting from a food source perspective.

I joined the Dog Mountain CSA for this summer — $ 675, or a bit over $ 30 a week. The web site claimed that we would get enough to «supplement a non-​vegetarian family of four for one week.» Cool.
The first week’s haul came in:
Chervil, dried cayenne peppers, kale, «leeks» (really green onions), lovage (about three stalks), a small container of pesto, a few stalks of rhubarb, thyme, and violets (which ended up being a small plastic bag with a few flowers.)
All of this fit into a reusable shopping bag from Whole Foods. Needless to say, this was maybe enough to supplement ME. Most of the bag consisted of herbs, rather than vegetables.
$ 30. After asking why we received so little for so much, we were told that it was still early, that the cold delayed planting, etc., and the pesto was to make up for it.
Note that NONE of this was said until after we joined, about two weeks before the first delivery. In other words, Dog Mountain knew about the poor harvests but let people join anyway. They didn’t say it on their website, they didn’t tell me when I signed up.
The second week: rhubarb, kale, chard, sorrel, oregano, mint, chervil, and lilacs.
At this point, we decide to bail. Except — Dog Mountain won’t let you because of the contract. But they decided to be «nice» and let us out with the same cancellation fee that
charges — $ 175.
So I ended up paying about $ 240 for a bag of groceries that was worth maybe $ 15.
They kept me on the mailing list, so I can let you know what came the following weeks.
Week 3: pesto, salad mix, shallots, rhubarb, sorrel, fennel, mint, lemon balm, lovage, and Nasturtium flowers.
Week 4: rhubarb (from another farm), spring garlic (from another farm), lettuce mix, arugula, «celery tops», chinese cabbage (which apparently bolted), sorrel, fennel, mint and lemon balm.
Week 5: a head each of romaine and green leaf lettuce (both from other farms), sorrel, shallots, mint, oregano, thyme, dried cayenne peppers, pesto.
I want to support local farmers, and understand that weather can interrupt harvests and so on. What I don’t like is the complete lack of communication; we didn’t know that the harvest was in trouble, even though Dog Mountain knew when we signed up.
We were told that we were still getting spring crops, even though we signed up for the summer program. We were told the crops were going to be delayed by a few weeks — but is the delivery for week 4 really worth $ 30? We were told that no farms were delivering this time of year, but I can find plenty of Washington produce at Yakima Fruit Market, and other CSAs are delivering produce.
I do NOT recommend Dog Mountain’s CSA program. Go with Full Circle, or Root Connection, or just drop by the Yakima Fruit Market. At least you will get your money’s worth.

Do you like to eat eggs that YOU picked from the chicken (or goose, or duck), free of hormones and antibiotics? Do you like eating vegetables that YOU picked, free of pesticides and herbicides and other-​cides? Well, I never knew either, until I went to the Dog Mountain Farm. We visited the farm, which has a stunning view of the Tolt River valley, about two or three times this summer; picked fresh, organic, and affordable veggies; bought some strawberry, pepper, and basil plants of our own, and added to our fuscia collection. We took our neices once, who really enjoyed hanging out with the chickens and geese and who got personal instruction on egg picking from Cindy and Dave at the farm. Cindy even whipped up some organic rosemary lemonade for us – yum! And they have festivals and wine tasting throughout the year. It’s BETTER than a farmers’ market! It’s good to call before you go, but I can’t think of a much better way to spend a Saturday or Sunday afternoon than being lazy at the Dog Mountain Farm!