The Mill Creek Festival and Street Fair on Saturday July 13th and Sunday July 14th is a popular, fun event for the whole family to enjoy.

Over 200 local businesses will be participating in the event and more than 50 talented artists will be selling their handcrafted items.

This event is free to the public.

The festival is produced by the Mill Creek Business Association and will be taking place on the weekend of July 13-14.

Spring in the northwest is often described by what flowering trees happen to be in bloom. For example, “Cherry blossom time” is a familiar term used here as well as all the way on the other coast at our nation’s capitol. We think of Dogwoods as always blooming around Mother’s Day (although the Korean Dogwoods usually bloom around Father’s Day). The ubiquitous purple-leafed flowering plums are always the first trees to bloom in spring, coloring up in early to mid March in a cloud of pink that reminds me of a giant mass of cotton candy. Blooming simultaneously with the cherries are the flowering pears and the Magnolias (often called Tulip Trees). But now that the cherries are about finished (except for a couple varieties) and before the dogwoods open up there are the underutilized crabapples and oh can they be beautiful.

Historically, crabapples have had their issues, the same kind of issues the we find on our fruiting apple trees, namely, diseases like scab and mildew and often as not by the end of summer they could be almost completely defoliated (just like scarlet hawthorns but that is a topic for another column). Over time breeders have done wonders with flowering crabapples so that nowadays there are many varieties to choose from that have nice form, attractive leaves, beautiful flowers (most with fragrance) and best of all, disease resistance.

The Mill Creek Town Center Business Association along with the City of Mill Creek’s Art & Beautification Board is pleased to announce the artists for the June 13th Mill Creek Town Center Second Thursday Art Walk.

The event will run from 5 to 8 pm on Thursday, June 13, 2013.

Donna Michelson, Mill Creek City Councilmember liaison to the Art & Beautification Board, has been involved in the planning, “The Art & Beautification Board are very excited about the upcoming Art Walk.  This is the second year for this new event and we have added an extra month (June) to make it four months total.”

“The Board members have been working extremely hard to make this very successful and have tried to match up artists with appropriate businesses.”

Lately, I have been hearing and reading a lot about genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Maybe you have too? Most recently I read a great article in Experience Life Magazine called “Fankenfood."

Before reading the article I thought I was fairly informed about GMOs and understood the threats that they pose to the environment, organic farming communities and healthy sustainable food sources but I had not considered the extent of GMO’s effects on our health.

Mike Gold writes for the News of Mill Creek on a regular basis. He is a retired entrepreneur and describes himself as a, “relatively recent transplant to the West Coast. I have lived (born and raised) in the Northeastern U.S. So these observations are based upon ‘living the dream’ in the Pacific Northwest.”

Okay, let me say right off, I don’t like bureaucracies. There is just an unnerving aura about them that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Just entering any public office to do business starts my dry heaves. I always carry a barf bag with me. Why? Well when you enter their turf, you have surrendered any semblance of power and/or control you have over your life. I imagine it is not unlike your first week of basic training in the military when you are told over and over you are just a “puke,” that your life has no meaning and is worthless unless and until some public official (your drill sergeant) deems you are actually worthy.

Mike Gold writes for the News of Mill Creek on a regular basis. He is a retired entrepreneur and describes himself as a, “relatively recent transplant to the West Coast. I have lived (born and raised) in the Northeastern U.S. So these observations are based upon ‘living the dream’ in the Pacific Northwest.”

As I learned to drive in New York City – then perfected my techniques in Boston, Massachusetts, I can safely say I’ve driven in two of the worst US cities for bad drivers. However, after six years here, I’m not certain that greater Seattle is not in contention for first place. Here is my reason:

Seattle drivers are among the most “timid” I’ve experienced. Whenever you encounter any possible reason (including potato famine) for slowing down, Seattleites will do so.

May is such a busy month that it is always hard for me to focus on any single subject. So many plants are coming into bloom that it will make your head spin. The weeds and the bugs are also building up populations and there is pruning to do and fertilizing to complete. So here are some scattered thoughts that I hope will be helpful.

This little cool and wet spell we are experiencing (which is not uncommon for the month of May) is a good reminder for us to get rapidly growing perennials staked before they get completely out of control. Link Stakes and Grow Through Rings are the tools of choice for me but good old bamboo works well too. Get it done now.

Roses are prime for contracting black spot when it is damp like this and mildew and rust aren’t far behind. Fungicides work best as preventatives so get something on your beauties BEFORE you see any diseases. And while you are spraying be sure and hit the hollyhocks and snap dragons which both always get rust sooner or later.

Lilacs are just about finished blooming so this is the time to prune them if you think they are too tall for the spot they are growing in. You should also prune out any dead twigs that succumbed to lilac blight this spring. Actually, all spring blooming shrubs like rhodies and azaleas and heather should all be pruned this month.

This weekend I had the pleasure of participating in the 2nd Annual Celebration of Food Festival. Thousands of people turned out to learn about the benefits of eating real, how to grow their own food, support local farmers and enjoy delicious samples! I was so impressed with the presenters, booths and attendees. I was thrilled to see so many people supporting and interested in the movement to create whole health with real foods.

At my booth we talked about Green Smoothie Basics. I enjoyed great conversations with folks at the festival about the powerful benefits of green smoothies and how drinking smoothies daily helped them to lose weight, increase energy and kick cravings. Everyone from teens to grandparents were telling me how much they loved making green smoothies.