25 April 2014

Oh, Happy (Earth) Day

by Kelly Merrick

Once a year, at the end of April, comes a day where we take the time to honor the planet we live on, and we call this day Earth Day.

Lucky for us, we live in a city that makes it easy to love the earth every day of the year, not for just one day. We have more than 10,000 acres of public parks and natural areas to enjoy, we’re just a short drive to the ocean, the mountains and the desert; and we have such an abundance of local and fresh food that we can honor the earth even when we shop for our groceries.

Speaking of honoring the earth and buying groceries, there’s a great chance for you to do both this DSC_0205Saturday, April 26 at the Arbor Day Festival, which will take place from 8:30am to 2pm right in the middle of the Portland Farmers Market at PSU.

The festival is put on by Portland Parks & Recreation along with the Urban Forestry Commission and is Portland’s annual gathering to honor the culmination of Arbor Month.

There will be interactive games, and educational activities for kids of all ages, including the highlight of the event – the Bill Naito Community Trees Award ceremony at Noon. The ceremony will honor the 936 people who made the Guinness World Record for largest tree-hug a reality, as well as Phil Hamilton, who put in over 21,000 hours over the course of 20 years to help document and restore the forest of the Tryon Creek State Natural area.

The Arbor Day Festival will feature something for everyone, so come do your shopping at the market and then stop by to enjoy the fun. The weather is even supposed to clear up just in time for the event, so you can leave your umbrella (yes, Oregonians do use umbrellas) and galoshes at home and soak up some sun while you celebrate trees in the city.

In other market news, you can also catch the following vendors at PSU this week in a limited market appearance:IMG_0661

  • Portland Mushroom Company – making a one-time guest appearance (they will be a regular at the Buckman and Pioneer Courthouse Square markets this season)
  • My Wreaths – last day until the fall
  • Cascade Naturals
  • Dave’s Killer Bread

And last, but certainly not least, three markets are joining in on the springtime fun this week! Buckman opens Thursday, May 1; King on Sunday, May 4 and Shemanski is back starting Wednesday, May 7.

Happy shopping!