If Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial beginning of Summer, then what better way to continue the summer vibes than to have a BBQ? I don’t know about you, but after that lovely three-day holiday weekend filled with sunshine, BBQs, and spending time outdoors, I’m ready for another.

Fortunately, New Seasons Market has the same idea. On May 30 and 31 from noon – 4PM, all New Seasons stores will be hosting BBQs where the proceeds will go to a local community group as specified by each store:

Arbor Lodge – Ethos Music Center;
Cedar Hills Crossing – Farmers Ending Hunger;
Concordia – North by Northeast Community Health Center;
Happy Valley – Father’s Heart Street Ministry;
Mountain Park – Autism Service Dogs of America;
Orenco Station – Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center;
Raleigh Hills – Raleigh Hills Elementary and Middle School Art Program;
Sellwood – Sellwood Middle School Garden Program;
Seven Corners – Dinner and a Movie.

For $6, you can have fresh lemonade and a veggie or hot dog and know the money will stay in the area. So, choose your store — or choose more than one — and support these community groups. Oh, and while you’re going, you may as well bring along your canvas bags and grocery list to do some shopping inside the store, too.

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Here’s what we’ve found as we’ve traveled the local PDX web (complete with our comments):

• An Exploration of Portland Food and Drink » Whole Foods Gall Reaches New Levels – Goliath wants David's financial information & is using the FTC to make it happen? Guess who's *NOT* shopping at Whole Foods any more (and our ranks are growing)…
• Tommy Habetz wants to make you a sandwich | Portland Dining and Bars Guide – Oregonlive.com – Bunk Sandwiches – now open in inner SE PDX. (I made a stop there the day after Thanksgiving; look for a post with pictures soon…!

Note: you can share bookmarks back to our site if you have a Mag.nolia account – just join our group and then send relevant links to that group when you mark a site, article, or post!

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I’ve always been a decent cook and provider for my family, but the abrupt season change has me contemplating a different path: Making more food myself all of the time (not just some of the time), and using local ingredients to do so.

Sure, I’ve always been a Farmer’s Market fan, and I do shop at New Seasons—from time to time, that is. But while I know (and agree with) the benefits of buying local, sustainable, organic food—well, the spirit is willing but the flesh is often weak. More accurately, I don’t often find the time, energy, or copious disposable income to always buy local, to always cook for the family instead of grabbing something to go on the way home from work.

But I’m now taking my lead from Tricia. I’m getting inspired by people like Audrey, my friend LeLo (who’s been canning and preserving all summer) or that whirling dervish of energy, Sarah Gilbert.

And I now have my very own sourdough starter sitting out, beginning the fermentation process & capturing the wild yeast from the air. I’ll get my crockpot started on some homemade applesauce and apple butter tomorrow (after a visit to the Portland Nursery Apple Tasting, that is.) And I’ll figure out if it’s possible to buy local and sustainable *without* going bankrupt, or spending all of my time in hunter and gatherer mode.

What advice can you offer me about how to make the changes I seek without losing my mind in the process? And—what changes are you making in your lives as the world turns chilly?

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Here’s what we’ve found as we’ve traveled the local PDX web (complete with our comments) for September 29th

• WordCamp Portland (#wordcampdx) 2008: Ironically, words escape me » Silicon Florist – Rick's left speechless; while the rest of us aren't!
• Like WordPress and OpenID? wp-openid 3.0 to launch at Demolicious » Silicon Florist – Mark your calendars and show up on 10/1 at Nemo Design to see what Will Norris has cooked up for the next iteration of the WordPress openID plugin!
• Ignite Portland 4 Submission Opens! at Ignite Portland – Deadline's October 14th; will need to huddle with 10 year old to figure out how best to bring the bling…!

Note: you can share bookmarks back to our site if you have a Mag.nolia account – just join our group and then send relevant links to that group when you mark a site, article, or post!

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photo.jpg

Originally uploaded by dieselboi

After I posted last week about the news that New Seasons would be opening a new store on the corner of N. Williams and Fremont, I got an email from an individual who is in a position to know the know. This source said that while New Seasons is a “front runner,” other firms are vying for the spot. This list includes Trader Joe’s and possibly other grocery type stores.

The land is owned by PATH/Kaiser who had originally wanted to build the Backbridge lofts there. That project must be off as all the signage is now gone. All that sits on the corner is a little rubble left over from the demolition of the Franz Bread building. Something else to note for whomever gets to build – just south one block, there is signage about a proposed development that looked to be housing. Further north on Williams, Myhre group, a local architecture firm, has designs on the former House of Sound building and lot. Lots of development is going to happen in just that small area. Whomever snags the grocery spot should be a store that caters to the changing demographic.

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This morning’s feeds and Twitter bring news that New Seasons is planning on building yet another store in North Portland. At this time, they have 1 store in Arbor Lodge. According to Food Dude and a tip from @suzame on Twitter, New Seasons will build another store on the corner of N Fremont and Williams. This is just down from PIX, Lompoc, Lincoln and Nutshell. Wow, that area – everyone said it would boom – and it is.

I wonder if this is part of the original project called the Backbridge Lofts. See, they leveled the old Franz Bread building in order to build and then the bottom dropped out of the credit market. Ergo, nothing has been happening at that corner for over a year.

This is great news for the neighborhood. While the other New Seasons isn’t that far away (maybe 2 miles,) there really aren’t any other choices for this neighborhood other than Safeway up on MLK and Wild Oats out on NE Fremont.  New Seasons will be very very crowded.  I’ll post more info as I find it.

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Local Berries from Sauvie Island

Originally uploaded by tb222

Yes, it’s a word—and apparently it won “Word of the Year 2007″ from the New Oxford American Dictionary. But, I digress.

This weekend kicks off Eat Local Week (July 4-11), which includes a series of community events organized by Sustainable Business Network of Portland to “Celebrate our Independents.” The goal of the week-long celebration will be to educate the public about local ecosystems, support local small businesses, and give back – proceeds from participating businesses will be donated to the Oregon Food Bank.

From the Eat Local Week flyer:

Folks will be invited to bike, walk or take TriMet to eat at their favorite locally-owned neighborhood restaurants, cafes, coffee shops and to buy a portion of their groceries from neighborhood food co-ops, grocery stores and farmers markets.

You can start this week by participating in the Eat Local Week launch event on Wednesday, June 25th. The program, titled “A Taste of Eat Local Week,” will include food samples from participating restaurants and a talk from Lisa Sedlar, president of New Seasons Market, about the relationship between local restaurants, farmer’s markets, grocery stores and food co-ops with area farmers and residents.

The event will also include a discussion with Michael Shuman (Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in a Global Age, The Small-Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses are Beating the Global Competition) on how people are increasingly working together to create their own food communities rather than relying on outside resources, and the large economic, social and environmental benefits of this movement.

I, for one, will be getting out to enjoy the weekend sunshine—eat good, feel good, and save money on gas–what more could you ask for?

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