Freeway Estates Community Orchard’s 13th Annual Cider Fest is Saturday, October 21st, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. This sustainable community garden just west of I-5 has lots to see, from perennial gardens to vegetable beds. Come for the free cider and music, and stay for the kids’ activities! You can also shop a selection of pies, jams, salads, and native plants!
Images courtesy of Freeway Estates Community Orchard
Cider Fest
Saturday, October 21, 2023 @:00-4:00 p.m.
Freeway Estates Community Orchard
6030 6th Ave NE, just north of NE 60th St – on the west side of I-5
Fremont Arts Council Credit: Joe TymGreen Lake Luminata, Image, Fremont Arts CouncilImage, Fremonts Art Council
It’s back! The Luminata festival returns on Saturday, Sept. 25th to celebrate the autumnal equinox in style. Take an enchanted stroll around Green Lake lit by candles, string lights and all kinds of luminaries – on boats, humans, and dogs!
You can help make lanterns at several events hosted by the Fremont Arts Council. See them here .
Whether you are heading back to school yourself, or are a parent doing an internal happy dance that school is in session again, this neighborhood fall festival is a great way to kick off the school year.
Celebrating 40 years, the Great Wallingford Wurst Fest takes over the playyard at St. Benedict School filling it with amusement park rides, local music, and plentiful tables of food and drink. Proceeds support St. Benedict School.
Come check it out Sept. 15-16th, 2023, at 4811 Wallingford Ave. N, 4:00-10:00 p.m. Friday, Sept. 15th, and 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. Saturday, Sept 16th.
For latest information, see the event’s Facebook page here.
Looking to kick off summer with some free local music? This Saturday, July 1, head to 2326 N. 56th Street between 1st Ave. N and Kensington Pl. from 4:00 -8:00 p.m. for a BYOB block party open to all ages. Four homegrown bands will bring the tunes, and you are welcome to bring your own food and beverages.
As the flier says, the party runs only in shine. Come dance in summer!
Find more details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/588865726725399?ref=newsfeed
One of the most awaited restaurant openings this year is happening at 7900 E Green Lake Drive N. Cult favorite sandwich truck Layers started construction on its first brick-and-mortar home in May, planning a Wes Anderson-summer camp vibe“, owners told WhatnowSeattle.com.
Image courtesy of Layers
Co-owners and spouses Avery and Ashley Harding, a chef and former food photographer respectively, became known during the pandemic for fun and artistically presented sandwiches like “I’d Date that Jalapeno,” and when the property right across from the wading pool became available, they couldn’t pass it up.
The new restaurant planned to be open in summer from Wednesday -Sunday from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. The menu is branching out from sandwiches to breakfast, specialty breads, salads, seasonal vegetables – and beer and wine, including a bespoke lager from Urban Family Brewing, according to WhatnowSeattle.com.
“No turning back now!!” a post on Layers’ Facebook page proclaims after getting the keys to the new location.
“Ha! We couldn’t, nor do we want to – instead, we intend on being at Green Lake for years and years to come serving as a place our community can visit, feel at home, and be nourished.”
A good day for the food truck Image courtesy of Layers
If you need some spring color, a pop-up flower stall has returned just outside Mighty-O Donuts on N. 55th Street at the corner of Keystone Pl. Lia’s Garden of Snohomish is offering daffodils and mixed bouquets on Fridays. They plan to be there through spring they say, from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Lia’s is part of the Hmong Flower Farmers of Washington, a group of growers and artists formerly based in Pike Place Market. If you missed them today, you can also find them Sundays at the Ballard Market, or order online. You can also reach them on Instagram.
This Tangletown community garden will get your garden ready for spring at this year’s spring sale – find everything from vegetable and plant starts – including native plants – free seeds, and – wait for it – fairy furniture!
Freeway Estates Community Orchard (FECO, freewayestates.org) is on the West side of I-5, nestled under it, a charming oasis packed with take-home ideas for ecologically friendly gardening.
Saturday, March 25th, 2023
10am-1 (or while supplies last)
Freeway Estates Community Orchard
6030 6th Ave. NE
For more background on this community gem, read our story here.
Seattleites can help restore forests and salmon habitat by fostering a mini-forest with Grow it Forward, based in Greenwood.
Jim Wright, a former environmental engineer and biologist, started Grow It Forward in 2020, funding the supplies and plants himself – with 23 volunteer home gardeners around Seattle – each growing a mini-forest of 100 saplings to donate to restoration projects. It only takes a space of four feet by four feet.
Home gardeners care for these “Micro-Nurseries” for one to two years, growing the saplings to the point where they are able to fend for themselves after planting with minimal help. The trees are donated to local parks and forest restoration projects. Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group, for example, has received over 3000 trees in the last two years.
Jim Wright taking a batch of seedlings to their new forest home. Photo via Jim WrightA “Micro-Nursery” of Western Hemlock seedlings freshly potted up Photo: Jim Wright
Grow It Forward aims to assist the restoration process while saving habitat restoration organizations time and money, by producing some of the expensive tree seedlings they must buy for their sites. This lets the organizations focus on identifying and accessing habitat locations and removing invasive plant species to prepare the site for restoration. Wright hopes to obtain grant funding to expand and offer seedlings to more organizations.
Forest foster parents need basic gardening skills and about 16 square feet of garden space. Initial planting takes about five hours followed by consistent watering over the next one to two years.
Ready to become a mini-forest ranger for a year or two? Applications are open until April 1; the cost covering plants, soil, and pots, is $100.
The group is also looking for volunteer pickup-truck drivers to help deliver materials.
A winter tradition for over 40 years, the Green Lake Pathway of Lights returns December 10, 2022, from 4:30-7:30 – transforming the lake path into a candelit wonderland. Falling on the second Saturday in December, Pathway of Lights illuminates Seattle’s darkest month with a night of good cheer.
Courtesy Seattle.gov
Stroll the inner pathway lit with thousands of glimmering candles, and enjoy stations with complimentary cocoa, live seasonal music, and hot air balloons ascending from the Community Center ball fields.
Pathway of Lights is back after it was skipped in 2021 for the first time in 42 years.
The Hot Air Ballon Glow runs from 4:30-5:30 when weather allows. Organizers and sponsors include the Green Lake Advisory Council and with help from community partners, Lake & Company Real Estate, Green Lake Masons, Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, PCC Community Markets, and Aegis.
Help Make it Happen
A free event like this is a massive community effort, and you can help! Volunteering as a family is a great way to bond and create unforgettable memories while supporting this fun event.
Volunteer shifts are available from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. and include set-up, placing luminaries, recycling, as well as litter patrol and cleanup. For more information or to sign up to volunteer, please contact John Frazier, Seattle Parks and Recreation, at Johnny.frazier@seattle.gov or 206-684-7381.
Orange cones mark the new bike trail opening Friday, Nov. 4 until concrete curbs are added. Courtesy Seattle.gov
The new Outer Loop path enabling bikes, scooters, and rollerblades to circumnavigate Green Lake debuts Friday morning, Nov. 4th. Sections along Aurora Ave. N and Winona Ave. were the final pieces connecting a full loop of the lake. The goal of the project was to increase transportation options for folks on wheels or on foot, while enhancing connections to surrounding neighborhoods.
According to Seattle.gov, funding comes from the Levy to Move Seattle and the city’s Vision Zero Program, “which prioritized this project due to its safety benefits and potential to address recent collisions that have occurred in this area.”
The additional areas close the loop. Courtesy Seattle.gov
Based on community feedback in recent months, several changes were made to the original plan, including maximizing sight lines on Aurora Ave. N, and a double flashing beacon and other traffic calming measures in the Winona Triangle. A new pedestrian crossing on Winona Ave. is planned as well which may not be completed until 2023. You can see the updated plan here.
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