If you’ve ever been to the NorthWest Crossing Saturday Farmers Market, there’s a good chance you’ve seen a blue, vintage canned ham trailer with the word PIE carved in wooden letters. In the spring and summer months, you can get a slice or a full pie here, made with fruit grown by other farmer vendors at the market.
Annie Skelton, founder of Farmhouse Pies, says this is where the magic of her business all began back in 2016. “I knew that I didn’t want to go the restaurant route or jump into something big, so I started exploring what it would be like to bake and sell pies at the farmers market,” she tells. She found a commercial kitchen to work out of, and on that first day at the market, Skelton brought 20 pies to sell, not knowing what her customer base was going to look like. She sold out in half an hour, and that’s when she knew it was time to bring her pies to the people.
Farmhouse Pies is the epitome of local. It operates out of a commercial kitchen on Skelton’s hobby farm in Bend, which creates an incredible work environment. “I think my employees love coming out here; to walk outside on their break and see the horses, it’s just a sweet environment out here.”
In the summertime, the pie fillings are made from fruits sourced from fellow vendors at the market like Marquam Hill Berries out of Silverton and The Farmer in Odell, a woman-owned farm on the eastern slopes of Mt. Hood where Skelton sources apples, pears, peaches and more.
In the winter when the markets are inactive, Skelton works with Aloha Produce to source fruits from the Willamette Valley and Hood River areas. This is also when Skelton makes “Key lime and lemon and chocolate, some of those diner-style pies that I don’t offer as much in the summertime when I want to feature our most local fruits.”
What’s inside the pie is very important, of course, but for Farmhouse Pies, it should not overshadow the skillfully made crusts. Before making her way to Central Oregon, Skelton spent her childhood in Indiana where her aunt taught her how to make pie crusts. To this day, her crusts are rooted in family recipes… and butter. You won’t find Crisco or any other oils in these crusts: “I use the most unprocessed ingredients I can; butter offers a good way of making crust that also appeals to my customers.”
So, there’s the backstory to the business. Now, let’s talk about the most important part: What it’s like to eat the pie! Because of the hyperlocal focus, the flavors vary weekly based on available produce. In preparation for Pi Day (Friday, March 14), I tried several.
The triple berry pie has a jam-like filling — thick and seedy — with its blueberry flavor taking the spotlight. This pie boasts a classic crust with a flakey top layer, its buttery shell glistening.
The apple streusel’s crumbly topping is a thick layer of finely ground dough that offers a kiss of classic cinnamon atop to complement the pure apple flavor. The filling is smooth and creamy, unlike many apple pies that have large fruit slices that create an inconsistent textural experience with each bite.
The winter fruit crumble is a favorite in our house, with raspberries at the forefront of flavor, followed by plum and apple, creating a sweet backdrop to the bitter berry. The crumble on top is a chunkier consistency than the streusel, with full pieces of oat that give a grainy chewiness to each bite.
The crusts on these three pies are impressively dense and substantial, like a flakey pastry bread, which create a delightful sense of closure and fulfillment for the last few bites of each pie.
Finally, let’s talk about the Key lime pie. The custard introduces sour and sweet flavors with a smooth, soft texture. The meringue on top, in contrast, is dense and rich in texture but gentle in flavor, establishing a calming balance to the Key lime. The snap of the crust was, dare I say, classy? Certainly not your ordinary graham cracker crust; it’s a thick wall of crumbly, salty graham that holds its crunch through to the last bite, finalizing this flavorful and textural trifecta.
You can find Farmhouse Pies at Central Oregon Locavore, Jackson’s Corner, Sebastian’s Seafood, Wild Petals Provisions and Schoolhouse Produce in Redmond. Online orders are not available in the winter, but special orders can be made via email and picked up directly from the commercial kitchen.
This article appears in The Source Weekly March 13, 2025.
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