The weekend lineup

Looking for something to do over the next several days? Here are some highlights from the home/garden/community front:

Saturday: The annual South Perry Street Fair starts at 9 a.m. Events include a quilt raffle to benefit the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery, a parade, and an outdoor movie at The Shop coffeehouse. Spokesman-Review reporter Pia Hallenberg Christensen wrote up more details here .

Also on Saturday is the ninth annual Goodwill Donation Drive at Huckleberry’s Natural Market from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Bring your gently used furniture, small appliances, books, clothing or other items and you’ll be entered to win gift certificates to the store. KREM-2 will be there publicizing the event, and the Down to Earth crew—me included—will be on hand giving out green bags (while supplies last) with goodies inside. Stop by and say hi!

Sunday: The Community Roots Market will do its thing Sunday at Fresh Abundance’s North Division store.

Wednesday: Vegetable Gardening 101.

With more people concerned about where their food comes from, how far it travels to get here and how it’s grown, vegetable gardens are all the rage. If you’re like me, you can’t go for a walk these days without oohing and ahhing over a neighbor’s patch.
The Spokane County Library District is hosting a class at the Otis Orchards branch where novice gardeners can learn the basics: design, soil prep, watering, weeding and more.
At first I thought it was a little odd to hold this class in the middle of summer, when all your seeds really should be in the ground. But it makes sense because now is when many questions are fresh on newbies’ minds, like, how do I thin my carrots so they don’t look like the jumbled mess I had on my hands last year (see photo above).