On Saturday, May 14, First Parish on the Common will host its 58th Annual Plant & Craft Fair with gardeners’ delights (heritage perennials, a grocery garden and annuals); a petting zoo featuring members of Bedford’s 4-H club at Chip-in Farm; live music by the Yankee Doodle Dixieland Band of Harvard, MA; a traditional cook-out lunch and bake sale; and more than 50 community organizations and crafters.
Some of the heritage perennials will include monarda punctata; stokesia; veronica spictata; doronicum; anemone robustissima; penstemon; lychnis viscaria; Japanese painted fern; large faced Johnny jump-ups and blue lilacs. There will also be epimediums; iris; shasta daisies; coral bells; salvia; hostas; astilbes; day lilies; iris cristata; asters and alchemilla. There will also be a grocery garden (herbs and veggies); annuals; peonies; hydrangeas; and some shrubs.
Craft vendors and community organizations will fill the front of the Common. Visitors will find booths representing the Bedford Farmers’ Market, Bedford Center for the Arts and the Job Lane House Museum as well as vendors stocking an amazing array of hand-made goods.
Those seeking things of interest to children will find wooden toys; several vendors of hand-crafted clothing for American Girl dolls; “diaper cakes” that make terrific baby shower gifts; a Barefoot Books tent; a sand art crafts area; and name bracelets that are made to order on the spot. In addition to multiple jewelry vendors, there will be pet accessories; hot sauce (sales of which will benefit the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation); garden accessories; gifts; and a wellness professional offering chair massages.
The fair, a major fundraiser to support the work of First Parish in the community, is open from 10 am to 3 pm. The fair free and fully handicap accessible.
