It’s pretty impressive just how much Ethan and I packed into our three day sojourn to and from the Okanagan. It helps that the list of things to do in a relatively small area is pretty impressive: wineries, orchards, farms, small producers…
As we were told while we were there, you hear a lot about the 100mile diet but the Okanagan is more like the five mile diet and it really did feel that way to us.
Our first stop of the morning on our third and final day was Arlo’s Honey Farm. The honey farm is actually the first stop on the Kelowna Farm to Table Tour – a self-guided tour you can embark on to sample some of the delicious food that’s produced in the region. We didn’t realize it at the time, but after our trip we found we had managed to hit a fair number of stops including Carmelis Goat Cheese Artisan, Don-O-Ray Fruits and Vegetables, the Okanagan Lavender and Herb Farm and the Pioneer Country Market.
Arlo’s was a treat though. When we arrived we were the only people on the property and as I mentioned previously, we got to pick the brain of the young lady manning the shop on all things honey and bees, before taking their short self-guided tour and sampling the many varieties of honey that they made.
They also had an selection of beeswax candles and soaps for sale that were so pretty and smelled so good!
Our next stop was, in fact, the Pioneer Country Market. We hadn’t planned to stop here but it looked interesting and we needed a bite to eat before heading into town for a few errands. Boy were we glad we did because… we got to eat this amazing lemon meringue pie. These individual sized pies are only made on Thursdays and in a very limited quantity. In fact, the lady in line in front of us was buying the entire batch that was left but, Ethan managed to charm her into leaving one behind for us to share. It’s good to travel with somebody who’s occasionally charming!
One of the other gems of the market was the museum attached to it that we enjoyed poking through – most of the items are in plain view and you can even pick them up and touch them. Ethan fell for an old typewriter and office chair and I was captivated by an old sign making machine. There is also a vineyard on the property – as there is on most properties in the Okanangan
Our last notable stop was the Dan-O-Ray Fruit Stand where we loaded up on peaches and cherries to take home along with some other more unusual varieties of local produce, like beans, peppers and yellow zucchinis (recipe coming!)
We ended our trip by doing a street by street search for the house my grandmother lived in when I was a little girl. It meant calls to my mom and some patience on Ethan’s part and grid search but, we found it. It’s blue now instead of green but the big chestnut tree my brother and I used to try to climb is still out front, and the Sun Rype juice factory is still just down the road (no more public tours!!! booo Sun-Rype! We were disappointed.)
And finally, we made a pit stop at Bulk Barn on our way home. That’s right… Bulk Barn. That magical place of bins and bins of bulk goodies. Oh Vancouver, when will we get one?? Needless to say, we stocked up before a rainy drive back home. It was a fun few days and I couldn’t have asked for a better sport than Ethan to travel with! I hope we can do it again sometime 🙂
More of our Okanagan Adventures:
The Best Thing I Ever Ate – Peaches and Feta (recipe)
The Magical Okanagan Valley Part 1: Wine, Cheese and Being a Farmer
Rustic Peach and Cherry Honey Tart (recipe)
An Okanagan Food & Wine Journey Part 2
Okanagan Journey Part 3: Honey and Lemon Meringue
Those beans are beautiful. You are making me miss summer already!
I’ve never seen beans like that before! I’m surprised that the customer didn’t give charming Ethan half of little pies she was about to purchase:)
Love all the different varieties of local honey and very much enjoyed the stories and photos in this three part series Melissa.