Right off of Argonne Road onto Upriver Drive, lie two of Spokane's best-kept secrets.

Arbor Crest Winery and Desert Jewels Nursery are in clear view of each other. I visited both of the wonderful places this last week and feel compelled to share them with everyone!

Desert Jewels Nursery is a small specialty nursery stocked with hardy, drought tolerant perennials. It is just a couple blocks from Argonne Road. They specialize in Xeriscape plants like Penstemons and Agastaches. They have started a beautiful display garden at the road frontage, so that customers can see how the established plants look as they mature. The nursery is open to the public on Saturdays from 9 to 5.

When the owners of the nursery, Walt and Dianne came to show me their plants in the back of their pick-up truck, I couldn't resist a trip to their Nursery! I went and hand-picked a selection of their beautiful plants to offer customers at Westwood Gardens.

They are available for sale now in two sizes.

From Desert Jewels Nursery you can look right and see a huge building at the top of a hill with a road leading up to it. There at the top of Fruithill Road is Arbor Crest Winery. The wines they produce are no secret; they are some of Spokane's finest. Finding the winery, on the other hand, has not been so easy. When I worked for Smart Gardens at the top of Argonne Road, people were always stopping in asking for directions. I couldn't tell them how to get there, because I had never been. The people that stopped in seemed excited to go, almost on a quest. I knew then, I had to one day go and see this place for myself!

With the help of my new best friend, the Internet, I found Arbor Crest Winery and looking at their website, saw that they host concerts every Sunday from 5:30 to dusk, throughout the summer! (Now I knew why those people wanted to get there so badly.)

I set out to find the place and listen to one of their concerts, and found another "Secret Jewel". People were all over the beautiful grounds, up at the top of this hill, sipping wine and eating from picnic baskets that they had packed in anticipation of this enchanted night. A caterer was cooking for those of us not so prepared for the evening. Wine was sold by the glass or by the bottle. People were up dancing on a large brick courtyard, surrounded by years and years of someone creating their dream landscape. Virginia creeper clung and spread up the rock walls of all of the old, unique rock buildings. Archways led to secret gardens with views of the valley that must be unparalleled. This winery is a secret that you must see. Bring a blanket, $5.00 per person (over 21 only), and enjoy it one Sunday afternoon.

Written by Jodee Fyfe, Westwood Gardens

www.desertjewelsnursery.com

www.arborcrest.com

By Randall Barnes

This past weekend I attended a class about cooking with stone fruits at Copia: The American Center for Wine, Food, & The Arts at 500 First Street in Napa. The class runs daily until the end of July. It was very interesting and informative. I also found a few more recipes to easily use up the stone fruits that can be in abundance this time of year.

The class covered many aspects and here are some tips to easily sum up the talk:

• They are called stone fruits because of the hard pits they have inside.
• Types: apricots, apriums, cherries, nectarines, peaches, plums, plumcots, and pluots.
• If the fruit is hard, slice in half, put some sugar on it and and it is ready for grilling.
• Fruit that is not fully ripened has more pectin, so it is not bad to add some into your jelly or jams.
• Nectarines are great to cook with because you don't have to peel them.
• Dunk the peach in hot water to easily peel it.
• When the weather is extremely hot and the pit warms up, sometimes the center of the fruit can start to decompose.

The recipes for the food that was prepared and served at the class:

Apricot and Rice Salad with Basil Vinaigrette
Serves 4 to 6
Recipes from Copia

4 cups water
3/4 cup wild rice, brown rice or a rice blend
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
3/4 cup Basil Vinaigrette (recipe below)
6 small apricots, pitted and sliced
1 small fennel bulb, cut into small dice
1/2 cup toasted nuts, such as pistachios, pecans, walnuts, chopped if large

Place rice in a strainer and rinse with cold water until the water runs clear. Transfer the rice to a small saucepan and add 4 cups of water and the salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, cover, reduce to simmer and cook until the rice is tender, 25 to 45 minutes depending on the rice (use the package directions as a guideline). Pour the cooked rice through a strainer and let it drain briefly. Transfer the rice to a mixing bowl and stir in the Basil Vinaigrette. Set aside to cool.

When the rice mixture is cool, gently stir in the apricots, fennel and nuts. Add more salt to taste. Serve cold or room temperature.

Basil Vinaigrette
Makes about 3/4 cup

1/2 cup packed basil leaves
5 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste
7 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

In a food processor, purée the basil, white wine vinegar, sugar, salt and olive oil.

The recipes below are from the website for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. You can get the nutritional facts and diabetic exchange information from the website for each recipe. The website is http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/dnparecipe/recipesearch.aspx

California Fresh Fruit Kebobs with Lemon and Cayenne
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Number of servings: 12
Cups of fruits and vegetables per person: 1.0

Ingredients:
6 ripe pluots, halved and pitted
6 ripe peaches, halved and pitted
6 ripe nectarines, halved and pitted
2 lemons, juiced
1 tsp cayenne pepper
Mint sprigs (optional)

Directions:

Cut each half of fruit into thirds. Place fruit in medium bowl, add lemon juice and cayenne pepper; mix well. Marinate fruit for 1 hour. On a skewer, alternate fruit wedges; chill. Garnish with mint sprig, if desired.

Bruschetta with Plums and Fresh Basil
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Number of servings: 6
Cups of fruits and vegetables per person: 1.0

Ingredients:
1 sourdough baguette (24 inch)
4 oz. fat-free cream cheese, whipped
6 cups sliced fresh California plums
1 cup fresh basil

Directions:

Slice baguette into 24 inch-thick pieces. Toast in a 350°F oven until golden brown. Spread each slice of bread with fat-free cream cheese. Slice plums into thin slices. Place several slices of plum on each piece of bruschetta. Garnish with fresh basil leaf.

Santa Fe Chilled Nectarine Soup
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Number of servings: 4
Cups of fruits and vegetables per person: 1.0

Ingredients:
2 lbs. (8 small) nectarines, sliced
1 cup apple juice
1 cup cranberry cocktail juice
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Directions:

Combine nectarines with juices, salt, pepper flakes and vinegar in electric blender. Whirl until smooth and blended. Add cilantro leaves and whirl in a stop-and-go fashion a few seconds, just to chop. Serve chilled.

Aprium Muffins
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Number of servings: 9
Cups of fruits and vegetables per person: 1.0

Ingredients:
1 14-ounce box oat bran muffin mix
3/4 cup apple juice
18 finely chopped fresh apriums
3/4 cup raisins

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 ºF. Lightly coat about 9 muffin cups with nonstick spray. In medium bowl, combine muffin mix and juice until just moistened. Stir in apriums and raisins. Spoon the batter into muffin cups until full. Bake 14 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove muffins from pan and cool on wire rack.

Are you tired of serving up a nightly buffet of your prized garden plants to your neighborhood deer? Then we have the cure for you! We highly recommend Liquid Fence. It works not only by smell but also by taste. The smell isn't strong enough to bother people, but it sure offends the deer! Once they associate bad taste and smells with your garden, they will leave your plants alone.

Liquid Fence is also effective against other pesky nibbling critters such as rabbits, raccoons and groundhogs. For best results, we recommend that you apply Liquid Fence every 4-6 weeks until your furry friends stay away. So don't delay, pick up some Liquid Fence today!