Northwest Event Sources: Sailboats, Lavender, U-Pick Farms, and Lots More!

Summer, summer, summer!  As much as the heat makes me want to just laze around in the grass at any old park- it also makes me want to do do do as much as possible.  It's light out later, swim suits double as undies half the time, and dinner is often just an assortment of nibbles and a big glass of lemon water.  Fine by me!

Sequim Lavender Festival from cmmgrove

- The 14th Annual Sequim Lavender Festival is coming up quickly (July 16-18), and looks to be a fantastic weekend.  Farm tours, U-pick lavender fields, tons of lavender infused edibles, and a market full of lavender focused goods.  Um, YEAH.  I'm in.

- Sail Sand Point still has upcoming adult classes throughout July and August.  I did a two-week course years ago in boats this size and it was a ridiculous amount of fun.  I won't be able to partake this summer, but it's definitely something that I'm considering in the future.  If you're interested in learning how to sail a larger boat- my friend Ben Hackett runs Allied Sailing here in Seattle and does amazing day trips to a lot of nearby islands- with the choice of just relaxing and enjoying the trip- or getting down and dirty and learning how to work the boat.

- PickYourOwn.org is still the best resource I've found for locating U-Pick farms.  My link goes straight to Washington, but the site lists farms all over the US.  I've found great farms year-round, and am hoping to do some berry picking sometime very soon.

- Portland Pietopia is August 5th at the Buckman Farmers Market!

-  August 22nd is An Incredible Feast which I am missing again this year!  I was in Alaska last year, and will be camping this year.  It's such a wonderful event and if you're near Seattle and love your farmers market it's definitely worth the splurge.

"With farmland continuing to disappear across the nation (due to development and urban sprawl), it is more vital than ever to support and protect our local farmers, farmland, and the markets where small family farms earn the full dollar value of their products.  Our health, our environment, our local economies cannot thrive without healthy, sustainable systems of food and agriculture."



What are your plans for the rest of the summer?