Wow, what a weekend! To me, the Mother Earth News Fair felt like it was much longer than just two days, with all the things we saw and did during that time. Before we embarked, I looked through the list of exhibitors and circled some on my map that I wanted to be sure to visit. We also looked through all the workshops and speakers. Ideally, I thought it would be great if Jeff, Bracken, and I could each go to a workshop that we were excited about. We circled our top picks. Jeff thought about going to the talk on gophers, moles and voles (a topic very important where we live), but when the time came he was busy doing other things and really wanted to be in our booth, he loves chatting with people.

When I looked at the workshops for kids, there were two that stood out that I thought Bracken would enjoy the most. Jeff agreed. Some friends visited us at the fair on Saturday and we all went over for the ‘Kids Can Build with Sticks and Mud’ workshop with Uncle Mud. The boys played with mud and straw and I loved seeing all those bare toes squishing around. Very fun. We hung out for a little while and then the boys were satisfied and ready to check out other things. Later that day we listened to a talk by Dave Boehnlein called ‘Homestead Resiliency: Planning for climate change and other uncertainties with permaculture design.’ I found it inspiring and full of great information. The fun thing was that the stage was right behind our booth and Jeff was able to listen to most of it too.

On Sunday Bracken and I went to another workshop for kids called ‘Fungi in the Classroom’ with Tradd Cotter. (Bracken has always had a knack for finding mushrooms since he was really little. He used to find garden giants in our yard all the time when Jeff and I didn’t see them. We search for chantrelles in our woods each fall and had fun growing white elm mushrooms in the greenhouse last summer. That workshop inspired us further in our mushroom explorations.) The kids wrapped some blue oyster mushroom spawn in wet cardboard, like a burrito, to take home that day. Bracken has been treating his mushroom like a pet and has been taking the care of it very seriously. He keeps telling us he needs to feed it regularly, paper and cardboard. (All of our toilet paper rolls are now being saved for his pet mushroom. I think it needs a name.) At the end, a little girl gave Bracken a tattoo with the Mother Earth News tree on it. He was delighted.

In the morning we also happened to be walking by when Joel Salatin and David Schafer were doing a live poultry processing demo. I have helped with the butchering of ducks in the past, but not chickens. It really does give you a new appreciation for your food. We stuck around for part of the demo, before going to check and see if Jeff needed a break in the booth. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve ever read by Joel Salatin and it was fun getting to see him speak in person. He has a great sense of humor. Later that day, we watched ‘Perma-What? How you can create your own paradise homestead with permaculture’ by Jessi Bloom. As you can see from two of my choices of talks to attend, I’ve been hearing a lot about permaculture and have been wondering what it is. I would have loved to watch the talks on natural beekeeping and bee nutrition, mushroom cultivation, fruit tree pruning, edible wild plants, vegetable fermentation and food forest gardening. To name just a few. Can you tell it was hard to choose?

So, those were the workshops we attended, but there were also so many booths to see! I got to visit one of my blog sponsors, Scratch and Peck Feeds, and meet Diana (the President/Founder) in person. It’s always such a treat to get to meet people face to face and not just through the computer. Bracken liked seeing the animals in that building, especially the baby ducks and the “fluffy head” chickens.

I enjoyed connecting with the Taproot ladies. A highlight for me was getting to meet one of my favorite writers, Amanda Soule in person. I’ve been reading her blog since Bracken was a baby and it’s a constant source of inspiration for me. At the Taproot booth I also got to meet Phoebe Wahl (I absolutely adore her artwork) and their photographer Demetria. Bracken made new friends at the fair. And he actually cried when it was time to leave because he said he was going to miss them, bless his heart. (Oh, and those of you who read this blog regularly know that Bracken likes to be as silly as possible for pictures. Including sticking a strawberry in his mouth for a “strawberry smile.”) He received some gifts at the fair and I think he felt pretty loved.

A favorite booth of Bracken’s? Definitely the reusable glow sticks booth. (Seriously, so cool!) Some other favorite companies were there and so many amazing exhibitors, but I won’t mention any more now or this post will get crazy long. (But I will say those tiny wooden houses were amazing!)

I got to meet a sweet blog reader named Julie and that made my day. I’m humbled and grateful, as I always am, when someone tells me that they read my words here and appreciate them.

We’ve been doing the Eugene Saturday Market for many years and one of our goals this year has been to branch out and start doing more festivals. The Mother Earth News Fair was such a great opportunity for us. At this fair, many people who were not familiar with our business, learned about us for the first time. We met so many new people and made so many great connections.

Being out in the extreme heat for days really started getting to us, regardless of all the ice we had with us. (Though I’m still really glad we set up outside, our whole family is always happiest when we have a booth outdoors.) Finding a booth selling frozen blueberries (!) was like a taste of home (since our family eats frozen blueberries together most nights.) I got a headache later in the day on Sunday and by the time we were in Eugene that evening, it was a migraine. Jeff handed me a bottle of peppermint essential oil and I held onto it like a lifeline the rest of the way home. Simply smelling it greatly relieved my nausea (that I get with migraines) and helped me make it home so I could crawl up to bed and sleep it off. We all slept like rocks that night. And the next day I woke up feeling great (and wanting a break from the intense heat for awhile.)

But besides that not-fun headache at the end, the fair was a great experience for us. My favorite part was the people we met and the connections we made. And I loved leaving the fair feeling full of inspiration. Inspiration to set up rain barrels, grow more mushrooms, learn new skills, and so much more.

Mother Earth News Fair, thanks for having us!