Portland Spoke – The Official Blog of Travel Portland

Image courtesy of Sauvie Island Farms

Though there are four seasons of fun to be had on Sauvie Island, a rural paradise just north of Portland, you couldn’t pick a better time to visit than summer. That’s when local growers like Sauvie Island Farms and Kruger’s Farm throw open their gates and let families pick their own berries by the bushel — a truly sweet way to spend a summer day. About the size of Manhattan, Sauvie is one of the largest river islands in the U.S., and in addition to being a hot spot for fruits and veggies, it’s also a paradise for bird-watchers, beach-goers, bicyclists and kayakers.

But in the family-owned fields of Sauvie Island Farms, it’s all about the crops — from peaches to peonies. Open Monday through Saturday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., this a great place to pick up some of nature’s candy. Right now, strawberry season is winding down, with blueberries and raspberries on their way.

Kruger’s Farm also lets visitors select sweet eats, with Marion berries, boysenberries and blackberries among their most popular hauls. The farm, which is open daily from 9 a.m. to sunset, also celebrates with events like farm-to-plate dinners and Thursday night concerts, which feature beer and food vendors, so you can order a hamburger or sausage, in case you’ve had enough of the farm’s fruits and vegetables — as if that could ever happen!

For some, there’s nothing like the taste of a cool beer on a hot summer day. Others pine for their favorite fruits to be in season, so they can pop nature’s sweet treats into their mouths. Both, no doubt, would agree on the Portland Fruit Beer Festival (June 9-10) and the North American Organic Brewers Festival (June 29 – July 1), two celebrations of suds that tap local ingredients to delicious effect.

Kicking off more than a month of beer festivals in Portland, the Fruit Beer Festival proved popular in its first outing last year. This time around, 25 breweries are slated to pour their creations in the street-party setting outside Burnside Brewing Company. Rare kegs will be tapped and a fruit beer home brewing competition allows amateurs put their recipes to the test. An all-ages event, the Fruit Beer Festival will also feature live music and plenty of eats — food cart PBJs Grilled is even making a special sandwich just for the occasion.

The North American Organic Brewers Festival’s eighth annual event is a weekend-long, no-admission-fee gathering that pairs ales with eco-friendly ideals. Serving organic beers and ciders, NAOBF takes over North Portland’s tree-lined Overlook Park, a sunny spot with great  views of the downtown cityscape. With compostable drinking glasses, a supervised bike corral, organic food and other sustainable vendors, the entire event leaves a minimal footprint. But with great beers, a children’s play area and live music, it’s sure to leave behind some great memories. — John Patrick Pullen