Yakima Valley Offers Its Bounty

The Yakima Valley proudly proclaims itself the Fruit Bowl of the Nation. After you load your vehicle to overflowing with fresh sun-ripened produce, you'll be in no position to argue, even if you have to send your spouse, the children and the dog back home on the next bus to make room for that crate of cantaloupe.

Now through September, the valley is at its best. This month you can expect to find everything from apricots to zucchini, with plenty in between: green beans, beets, raspberries, blueberries, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, cherries, corn, cucumbers, currants, gooseberries, loganberries, marionberries, melons, peaches, peas, potatoes, squash, tomatoes and watermelon.

To find your way to the farm stands, order the 1990 edition of ``Yakima Valley Farm Products,'' a free guide prepared by the Yakima Valley Direct Marketing Association. Mail a stamped, self-addressed envelope for each map requested to: Farm Products Map, 1731 Beam Road, Granger, WA 98932.

The guide includes a product reference list indicating approximate harvest times.

Information also is given about 29 valley farms, including their specialties. You can learn, for example, that Caribou Ranches Inc. of Wapato has been growing potatoes in the same location for 35 years, and that you're welcome to buy a box or a truckload of whites, reds or yellows.

At Thompson's Farm in Naches during most of August and September, you can select from many varieties of peaches including Red Haven, Red Daroga, Hale, Veteran Slappy, Suncrest, Red Globe and Early and Late Elberta.

You'll learn there's a bonanza of berries at the Granger Berry Patch in Granger, where the choices include raspberries (red, yellow, purple and black), marionberries, loganberries, boysenberries, strawberries, blackcaps, blueberries, blackberries, huckleberries, tayberries, dewberries and youngberries.

And if you ask real nice, you might be favored with a favorite recipe for using all these berries, such as the Granger Berry Patch's Impossible Berry Pie. It's an easy no-crust dessert, served warm, that you can vary through the season using different varieties of berries as they become available. It's also good using a mixture of berries. I made it with 1 cup each of raspberries, blackberries and blueberries, topping each wedge with a scoop of raspberry ice cream.

Berry Pie

One 10-inch pie

1 1/2 cups milk

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup Bisquick, divided

1/4 cup margarine, softened

4 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups fresh berries (boysenberries, marionberries, loganberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, or a combinations of two or more varieties)

1 tablespoon margarine, cold

1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Grease a 10-inch pie pan (1 1/2 inches deep).

2. In a blender on high speed process milk, sugar, 3/4 cup Bisquick, 1/4 cup softened margarine, eggs and vanilla for about 15 seconds, until smooth.

3. Pour into pie pan. Spoon berries over top. Bake 30 minutes in a preheated 400-degree oven.

4. While pie is baking, in a small bowl use a fork to stir together the 1 tablespoon cold margarine, 1/4 cup Bisquick, brown sugar and cinnamon, mixing until crumbly and well combined.

5. Remove pie from oven, sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the top, return to oven and bake 10 minutes more. Cool at least 5 minutes, then cut and serve warm.

6. Raspberry ice cream is a good accompaniment.

Note: This recipe works best with fresh berries, but if you use frozen berries, be sure to defrost and drain them thoroughly.