I love farmers market season! Finally, there’s a weekday farmers market open! The Wallingford Farmers Market opens today!

From their website, it appears that they are really planning to expand the market this year. I always found it a very pleasant market, a little more laid back than the busy weekend markets like Ballard and the University District. Though the vendor list was definitely shorter last year. From cooking demonstrations to honey, meat, fish, and even garden art, the market appears to be going strong and growing steadily. I’ll be there today grabbing some fresh veggies for dinner. See you there!

Wallingford Farmers Market
Wallingford Center Parking Lot
3-7pm

I’m not confident that it’ll last, but at least right now the sun is shining where I am. So this weekend for me is all about the outdoors. There’s the University District, Ballard, and West Seattle Farmers Markets of course, as there have been all year. But this weekend the Broadway Farmers Market comes back! If you tried Trevani Truffles after reading about them here, they are moving to the Broadway Farmers Market soon, so get over there and get yourself some amazing chocolate!

If you missed the Seattle Tilth Plant Sale last weekend, you’re not out of luck for your summer gardens. The Friends of the Conservatory Plant Sale is Saturday from 10-3pm. You can also enjoy a wide variety of indoor plants as well. There will be experts on hand to help you resurrect any plants you might have languishing at home.

And last, Daily Candy reports that a new artisan ice cream shop is opening in Wallingford. Molly Moon’s looks to be my kind of ice cream shop. And with flavors such as Balsamic Strawberry and Salted Caramel, and the possibility of a local celebrity or two showing up, it just might be the place to be this weekend.

Some time next week I’ll be getting a new bicycle and I couldn’t be more excited about it, but I’m a little bit nervous, too.  The last time I was on a bicycle was circa 1979, so obviously I’m a little out of practice.  I’m not worried about being able to get on the bike and ride–there’s got to be a reason “it’s like riding a bike” is the cliche that means something’s easy, right?–but I am concerned about where I’ll be riding my bike.  At least until I’ve got some quality practice riding time in, I really don’t want to be out on the streets with a bunch of cars.

 That’s why I am so glad to hear about Seattle Parks’ “Group Health Bicycle Saturday and Sundays“.  Co-sponsored by Group Health Cooperative and the Cascade Bicycle Club, Bicycle Saturdays & Sundays allow bike riders to ride Lake Washington Boulevard south of Mount Baker Beach and around Seward Park free of motorized vehicles from 9 am to 6 pm on selected weekends in the summer. 

 The first Bicycle Saturday is this very weekend on May 10; later in the month on May 18 is the Sunday date.  The remaining dates are June 14 & 29, July 12 & 20, August 9 & 17 and September 13 & 21.

Tomorrow afternoon the Parks Foundation and friends will be opening the first phase of South Lake Union Park, the other project aside from the Streetcar that has been snarling traffic and throwing up fences and piles of mud in the neighborhood for the past forever. From 11:30 - 1:00 there’s going to be a party for the 1.6 acre preview of what will eventually be a 12-acre span of green space [SPF].

Things that will be happening include: a salmon bake, boat rides, history lessons with MOHAI, the Bubble Man (!), basketweaving, and prize giveaways. I suppose you could even ride the streetcar down during lunch to check out the festivities, make it a complete South Lake Union experience.

I haven’t heard anything further about what role the Wawona will play in the park, not since September when Northwest Seaport announced their intention to berth it on land near the entrance, but I’m sure it’ll eventually show up in some form or another, although probably not until the full opening in 2010.

A dispatch from Patricia:

Can you feel it?

Tonight is, much like last month’s Vernal Equinox, or the glorious weather we had on Saturday, one of those things that makes you realize that, despite the weather, Summer is coming.

Tonight, sunset enters the primetime, setting at 8pm.

It isn’t the almost 16 hours of sunrise-sunset we’ll have on the Solstice, and there probably won’t be any naked cyclists, but, I’m happy to take 13h40m25s of sun-upped-ness, even if it is hidden behind a bank of grey.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I plan on spending as much time as humanly possible outdoors tomorrow. If you’re looking for things to do, here are a few suggestions.

• Take in the U-District Farmers Market. More and more vendors are showing up at the markets each week. I can’t wait until the asparagus comes back!
• Take a picnic to Gas Works Park
• Rent kayaks at Agua Verde (they have a shiny new dock all ready for you)
• Bike or run the newly completed Ballard end of the Burke Gilman Trail. It takes you down to the beach at Golden Gardens.
• And to end your day, stop off at the Ballard ArtWalk (pdf map). From 6-9pm, various artists (including my exceedingly talented husband) will be showing their works at some of Ballard’s best businesses.

The big race going on this weekend is the Nature’s Path Organic Whidbey Island Marathon and Half Marathon to benefit the Whidbey Animals’ Improvement Foundation and Return to Freedom American Wild Horse Sanctuary. The course takes place on the North end of the island and runs down country back roads and along the coastline. Ultra Marathon Man Dean Karazes will be the Master of Ceremony for the post event celebration. If you’re looking for something to do this Sunday and are in the mood to run 13.1 or 26.2 miles you can still sign up for the race at the Expo at Oak Harbor High School on Saturday. If you’re not in the mood for running, you can always volunteer (just sign up at the Expo), or just head on over and cheer on all the runners.

Other races happening around the area this weekend:

Robin Hill 3 Mile & 10K Run. Sequim, WA.
Y Run for Kids 5K. Tacoma, WA.
Trout Lake 5K, 10K & Half Marathon. Trout Lake, WA.
Mt. Si Relay & Ultra. Snoqualmie, WA.

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend! I wish I could join you, but an injury sidelined my training for Whidbey Island, so I’ve had to defer my entry to next year. Oh well, I’ll be joining the Dalai Lama (and a ton of other people) at Qwest Field for the Seeds of Compassion event instead.

I started a balcony garden 3 summers ago when I lived in a perfectly-situated south west corner apartment. All day sun exposure allowed me to grow tomatoes, bell peppers, spinach, basil, more basil, even more basil, Thai red chili peppers, and green beans. Last May, I downsized to an apartment with a dismal northern exposure. I grew nothing last summer, instead taking note of what limited sunlight my balcony received.

Mere days after the official start of Spring, the weather cooperated enough do a few hours of weekend gardening. I pulled out a few dusty pots, opened a fresh bag of dirt, and dug in (pun intended). I planted romaine and spinach from seed and potted a starter-cilantro (an impulse buy from Home Depot). We’ll get these little guys going with the use of a grow light inside for a few weeks, then hopefully move everything outside by the end of April. While I won’t be able to grow full-sun plants like tomatoes and bell peppers this year, I can still grow something.

Home Depot was filled with people grabbing gardening supplies early this afternoon, so I imagine that we weren’t the only ones feeling the urge to get dirty. Did anyone else take advantage of the early spring weather to do any garden/yard work? What do you look forward to planting? Any tips on what a north-facing balcony with limited direct sunlight starting in June can grow?

Anybody else get some good turns in? This family did.