I’m heading to the Mother Earth News Fair in a few weeks. This is a four-year-long tradition now – I think I’ve attended every Seattle-area Mother Earth News Fair since it started. I always come away from the Fair re-energized and re-inspired about what we’re trying to do here on our own one-third acre.
I wrote a post last year called Practical v. Political: People Who Give A Damn after attending the 2013 Fair. I think it captures what I love most about the Fair. When you put a fair together with topics like raw milk and mortgage-free DIY homes and sustainable gardening, a group of people shows up that represents the full spectrum of political viewpoints. And yet, we find this common ground in practical strategies for creating a life on our own terms.
This strange-bedfellows, hippie/prepper aspect is my favorite thing about attending the Fair. It makes me deeply reassured that, if push came to shove, those of us who care enough to just show up and get our hands dirty would be able to put the fear-mongering aside and get to work.
That said, you don’t have to get all misty-eyed like me about this philosophical community crap to get a ton from attending your local Mother Earth News Fair.
The amount of info the Mother Earth News team manages to cram into two days, and the talent they get to speak, is staggering.
What do you want to learn more about? Beekeeping, craft distilling, marketing your farm, picking out a tractor, growing nutrient dense fruits and vegetables, making raw milk goat cheese, heritage breed livestock from rabbits to hogs, poultry slaughter and processing, gluten free breads, herbal healing, straw bale homes, basic seed starting? Something else?
All those topics and many, many more are covered. And if you just want to look at cute baby animals, well, the MEN Fair has that too.
Joel Salatin, Toby Hemingway and Bob Moore of Bob’s Red Mill will be there, being all famous and stuff. Jessi Bloom (Free Range Chicken Gardens), Sherri Brooks Vinton (Put ‘Em Up), Lisa Kivirist (Farmstead Chef), Matt Reed of Bee Thinking, and a ton of other experts in sustainability will be giving talks and leading demonstrations.
There are also hundreds of exhibitor booths where you can check out everything from composting toilets to tiny home kits to permaculture and rare fruit nurseries like Raintree.
My friends and sponsors, High Mowing Organic Seeds, will be showing off their 100% organic seeds at Booth 819 (tell ’em Erica sent you!), and if there’s any interest I’m happy to set aside an hour on Saturday or Sunday for a NW Edible reader meet-up. Just let me know!
Bottom Line, if you are within a few hours drive of Puyallup, WA (or any of the other sites), the Mother Earth News Fair is totally worth the trip. And at $20 for one day or $25 for both Saturday and Sunday – kids 17 and under get in free – it’s very reasonably priced. Last year I ate at least $25 worth of Theo’s Chocolate samples (Coconut Curry forever!) if that helps in your decision making.
Info At A Glance
What
The Mother Earth News Fair – A giant weekend of modern homesteading and sustainable living awesomeness!
Where
Puyallup, WA at the Puyallup Fair Ground
110 9th Avenue Southwest
Puyallup, Wash. 98371
When
Saturday May 31st, 9:00 AM-7:00 PM
Sunday June 1st, 9:00 AM-5:00 PM
Tickets
One day (Saturday or Sunday) tickets are $20 if you pre-order and $25 at the gate.
Weekend tickets (both Saturday and Sunday) are $25 if you pre-order and $30 at the gate.
Youth 17 and under free. Like, totally free, so bring the kids!
Everything Else
More info on the Mother Earth News Fair website.
Giveaway!
I’d really like you to come to the Mother Earth News Fair, and so would the folks at Mother Earth News! In fact, they want you to come so much they’ve set aside five pairs of full weekend tickets to the 2014 Puyallup, WA Mother Earth News Fair for you guys!
Each winner will have two passes left at the will-call pick up window of the Puyallup Fairgrounds under their name. I ask that you only enter if you think you are actually able to attend the Fair. It would be a shame for these free tickets to not get used, so if you live in New Zealand and know you aren’t flying out for this, please refrain from entering.
To enter to win one pair of free tickets to the Puyallup, WA, 2014 Mother Earth News Fair, leave a comment below telling me which presentation you are most excited to see . I’d also love to know if you are interested in a meet-up type thing at all.
Five winners will be picked. One entry per person, please. Additional entries will be disqualified.
Contest is open until Friday, May 23rd at 8:00 pm. Winners will be notified by email and have 48 hours to claim their prize. Good luck! Tell your Seattle and Portland friends, and I hope to see you at the Fair!
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Looking forward to the presentation on do-it-yourself solar!
Info on Beekeeping and solar.
the class called herbs plain and fancy looks like fun.
I’m so excited! As a disabled, permaculture-conscious artist living frugally on a small circle of wooded land, I want to do everything I can to live a healthy, ecologically responsible life. I’m interested in wall gardens, roof gardens, rainwater, bees, nutritionally dense foods, plant genetics as family trees, chicken/compost and worm/compost partnerships, herbs … and, well, just about everything . Thanks for telling us about the fair!
I went last year for the first time (with my 9 month old – that was interesting!) and really enjoyed a lot of talks. This year I’d like to hear Jessi Bloom’s Easy Peasy Edibles talk as I look at adding more of that type of thing into my yard as well as a few chicken classes and the Sustainable Living Simplified talk. I’m tempted to sit though Lisa Kivirist’s Farmstead Chef talk again too, just because I enjoyed it a lot last year and I think I might absorb more of it this time without the distraction of a baby. 🙂
I don’t think I can pick just ONE presentation–I want to see them all! Since we’re apartment dwellers, though, and many of them aren’t going to be applicable for a while, I’d have to say I’m pretty excited about Herbal Medicine Making Basics and Artisans Supporting Agrarians.
I’m still working on convincing my partner to come with me. She’s not all that interested in “that hippie fair” lol! (Maybe if I mention the chocolate?)
There are so many options to choose from! Maybe something about chickens, or permaculture, or canning…
I went for the first time last year and had a blast! I’d like to see Chicken Whispering and Gardening for Life Made Easy. I would also totally be interested in a meetup !
Wow, you want us to pick one!?! I’d have to say, “From Hobby to Business: How to transform your farming hobby into a right livelihood”. Looked like it was right up my alley.
I would to hear Bob of Bob’s Red Mill talk about whole grains. I have enjoyed his products for years and would love to meet him! A meet up would be fun depending on the day/time. Thanks for your informative blog. I live in Edmonds also!
I’m a big Joel Salatin groupie, so getting to hear him talk again would be my favorite! so excited for this event. Would love to participate in a meetup if timing works for me (er, for the baby).
Bob’s red mill! Looking forward to the fair this year!
I have been wanting to go to this fair and I want to actually do it this year! I’m most excited about the Food Hub workshop. Looks like a great solution for small farms to work together to bring fresh food to more people!
I live in the Portland area and have never attended the fair. Free tickets would certainly get me up there, though!
I’d be excited to learn more about butchering or beekeeping, both are on my list of interests.
Not sure if I would be into a meet-up. With 4 little ones, that might be a challenge!
Geez… I want to got to all of them. However, as I can’t teleport or make duplicates of myself, I really want to know more about DIY projects for kids, preserving foods, improving my soil, and growing industrial hemp. No, really! I have a pipe dream (ha) of becoming a small-time organic industrial hemp farmer…
I haven’t decided which day I’m going, so I think that will affect what I go see. I did see Jessi Bloom at the garden show a couple of years ago & loved her presentation on gardening with chickens. I’d like to learn about energy sources and tiny houses. I love living in a small space!
I saw Joel Salatin and Toby Hemenway (**note** he has an unusual spelling of his name) at the Permaculture Voices conference, and they were both great! (You can read my notes at permies.com) I live in Portland, and for free tickets I would certainly make the drive up! I think if I picked one talk it would be about ducks, because I’ve kept hens for over a dozen years, but now that I’m in the damp PNW I’m thinking about also having ducks. . .
I was fortunate enough to go to the first two Mother Earth News Fairs and was overwhelmed with the numerous classes, attending as many as I could. Unfortunately, I missed out last year and it looks like, unless I win your tickets, I will miss out again this year. I would LOVE to attend the “Down and dirty ways to amend your soil” workshop as I’m sure it would be a fabulous addition to my knowledge base. Of course there are so many other workshops from Bioshelters: Design and Management of Solar Greenhouses to Brewing Honey Mead and Kombucha and the list just keeps going on. Having our own little 2 acre farm has afforded us the ability to raise chickens for egg production, have a large garden and orchard and the variety of fruits increases each year, kiwi and figs this year alone. We added honeybees in 2011 and their pollination of our fruit trees has been phenominally successful and their honey more delicious than any we’ve tasted. I have been following you on Facebook for a few years now and would LOVE to meet up with you during the show if I’m able to attend. Being able to attend the Mother Earth News Fair is like being a little kid in a candy store and no one to supervise or tell you “no”, it is pure heaven!
I want to see raw milk goat cheese making, and dairy goats, and fiber goats, and goats, and free range chickens hanging out with goats, and goats installing solar panels, and permiculture using goat waste byproducts, and baby goats, and funny goats, and goat rescue farms, and did I say goats? This is going to be so much goat-a-licious fun!
I would Definently like a meet up. It would be a lot of fun to meet you and fellow readers. As for the talks, I am most interested in getting into beekeeping now.
No question: Toby Hemenway – “Agriculture, Horticulture, Permaculture: How a society based on gardens rather than farms offers a sustainable future.” This man has changed my life. I would feel very privileged to see him in person and hear him speak.
We would love to go to the weekend! I am very interested in the workshop on Brewing Honey Mead + Kombucha. Also, the talk on Herbal Remedies for Pain Relief by Stephanie Tourles would be amazing. Oh and I really want to learn how to use a pressure cooker/canner. All of the talks given by Mt Rose Herbs from Eugene, Oregon will be on my list. They are such a great company. You know, there are so many talks to choose from that, in the end, any that we’re able to attend will be a blessing. The Mother Earth News Fair is an incredible opportunity to learn, glean and connect. If we get free tickets, it will be a huge blessing for us! Thank you!
I am interested in all information on vegetable gardening and how to grow more in a smaller space.
My husband and I are excited to go to the Basic Beekeeping and The Busy Bee presentations. We are hoping to start our own hive at our home within the next year or two, so we’ll take all the information we can get! We’ve gone the past three years and seen all the bigwigs (Joel Salatin, etc.) speak, which was fun, but this year we’re hoping to go in and glean very specific, targeted info on only the projects we already know we’re going to do. If we let our gaze wander, our eyes get too big for our budget sometimes, if you know what I mean. 😉
We would definitely be interested in a meetup if such a thing happened!
-Margo Carroll
so many presentations, so little time! we love the MEN fair. if I had to pick just one workshop it would be the Building With Mud as we are starting up a small farm from scratch, have lots of clay soil and need to build a home. We are also going off grid with solar and micro-hydro so definitely want to attend those workshops. oooooh, pick me! pick me!
oh, and my husband is a big fan – he’s the one that turned me on to your blog – we’d both love to meet you at the fair.
Hi Erica. We’ve already got our weekend passes. We went last year and had a blast and learned a lot. Discovered Theo chocolates too…yum. BTW, Theo’s factory tour is also well worth the small fee… Any chance that you’ll be a presenter someday? I’d love to come to one of your salad sessions! Love your blog…you’re one of our Wise Ones!
Would love, love the opportunity to go!! I would love to check out the Easy Peasy Edibles class! And would love to do a meet-up — great idea!
Wow! What difficult choice to make! Have to attend the Brewing Honey Mead and Kombucha, Finding and Cooking Wild Edible Foods, and Crafting Homemade Medicinal Mushroom Recipes….but really the list is way longer than that!
Now wouldn’t it be great if the Sounder (train) ran on weekends so we could ride from our “back yards” right to the fair grounds?…sigh.
Hello from Olympia! It’s hard to pick but my two favorites are Ed Begley and the DIY solar workshop. We are looking for a little bit of land and maybe a small house to use while we build something sustainable. Hubby will have a look at the earth abode w/s.
A meetup would be wonderful!
I want to see them all! Erin Mcintosh from mountain Rose Herbs and Jealous Sakatin will be must sees for me. Thank you so much for posting this I did not know it was going on and it looks amazing. Just recently found your blog and have been avidly reading it over the past few days.
My pick for workshop is the The No-Mortgage Natural Cottage presented by Chris McClellan of the Natural Cottage Project. The idea of living in a house that we have built ourselves out of renewable resources is incredibly appealing. Using Permaculture principles, a small amount of land can easily support two people, so we wouldn’t need much. Looking forward to meeting with people with like interests.
Would love to attend the Heritage Breeds Marketing presentation. My husband and I own a feed and garden center in Chapel Hill, NC (right down the road from the Livestock Breeds Conservancy, who is presenting on this) and would love to have more knowledge about selling heritage and rare breed poultry in the store.
90% of them look fascinating, but I think the beekeeping ones would me most immediately useful to us. And I’d totally be down for a meetup!
Thanks for the opportunity to win! 🙂
My top three are; Growing Dry Beans and Grains in Your Backyard, Basic Bee Keeping and Easy Peasy Edibles! So many wonderful choices! I would love to have a NW Edible meet-up on Saturday morning, how fun!
Wow, this would be an awesome event for my family to go to. Only an hour and a half drive too. I am most excited to learn more about butchering, rabbit keeping and bee keeping! How exciting!
My husband and I are already downsizing and planning on a tiny house so we would love to attend Andrew Morrison’s workshop on the benefits of tiny living. My husband also thinks alpacas would be enjoyable so maybe that workshop could convince me too.
I would like to catch Jo Robinson’s talk. I heard her interviewed on NPR when her book first came out and all that she had to say rang so true and so mind blowing. I am new to the world of phytonutrients and am hungry to learn more. With the degradation of our food sources through various means, it is so important to be as informed a grower and consumer as possible.
I would definitely be interested in any gathering…..appreciate your website and am renewed by the sense of. Immunity of like minded folks.
It takes a lot to tear me away from my garden on the weekend, this fair is worth it. A gathering of NW Edible Life-ers would be fabulous. My life and little 5 acre plot has been enhanced by Erica’s blog; love a chance to say thanks and check out “Growing a Sustainable Diet”, “Solar Power & WA Incentives”, and “Growing Dry Beans and Grains”.
Wow, I definitely would attend the permaculture (Easy Peasy Edibles) one, along with the duck class. 🙂 We are closing on our first (quite small!! so we’d probably need to attend the tiny home class as well) home in a few weeks and would love to get rid of *most* of the lawn (grass is good for the dog, ha!) and replace it with productive garden space. The ducks would just be a slug-eating friendly bonus.
I too like the idea of nutrient dense foods class. So much of it looks good though!
I would love to attend “Raising Happy Healthy Chicks”! My husband and I are new homeowners and are super excited to have a garden space and the possibility of raising chicks for eggs 🙂