Get your garden ready at In Bloom

Locavores — the term for people who want their food grown locally — will be delighted to find vegetables and herb plants at the popular Royal Oak In Bloom event, Sunday, May 10, from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the city hall parking lot.




There, thousands of visitors will shop for traditional favorites of annuals, landscaping plants and garden art and accessories.

The sale takes place on the south side of 11 Mile, just east of Main Street in Royal Oak. This is its 16th year as a Mother's Day tradition for many families who enjoy breakfast or brunch at downtown restaurants before or after they shop.

“We think this year more people are interested in vegetable gardening,” said Chamber of Commerce Event Coordinator Shelly Kemp. “They see it as a way to save money, eat the freshest possible food, save energy and gain a sense of personal satisfaction.”

A locavore is one who eats food grown or raised within 100 miles of home, according to Locavores.com. The term even made the Oxford American Dictionary's 2007 Word of the Year.

For the first time, the nonprofit organization Slow Food Detroit will have a booth at the event. The organization promotes locally grown foods and indigenous foods and the farmers who grow them.

“We're seeing a raised interest in the movement,” said SFD President Stacy Ordakowski. The organization helps its members volunteer with urban gardens, find local sources for food and support the restaurants and stores that offer locally grown products. She noted that Royal Oak's Holiday Market sells a lot of locally grown produce.

“It doesn't get more local than your own back yard,” said Laura Uhlianuk of Uhlianuk's Specialties from the Farm. “I think this is the year people are going to have an interest in growing food. We want to bring things to people that they can't find and that they can grow just as easily as anything else.”

She will sell tomatoes, okra, artichokes, jicama, 12 types of heirloom melons, heirloom peppers, fennel, Japanese cucumbers and squash, Guatemalan squash, wonder berries, giant cape gooseberries, greens, bok choy, rhubarb and stevia.

And as always, chamber volunteers will drive carts to transport customers and their purchases to their vehicles or pickup points.




Exhibitors include: 2nd Nature, Blue Turtle Designs, Brendan Bielat Greenhouses, By Golly By Holly, Community Arborist, Craig's Lawn Care Service, Creations By Carla, Decotique, Farmbrook Designs, Four Seasons Garden Center, Gaier Farms & Greenhouses, Gourdology, Gracia's Greenhouse, Heavens Garden, Hilltop Greenhouse & Farms, Holiday Market, I Will Engrave, Iron Ivy, J&T Gracia's Greenhouse, Jan's Pottery, JRobb Clayworks, Kathy Eaton, KRG Inc., LaRoche Artifacts, Laurie's Landscape, LX Metal Design, Marsh Greenhouse, Martin Farms & Greenhouses, Marvin's Garden, Mary Mayes, MI Natural, N.W. Kaltz & Sons Farms, Patrick's Antiques, Peace, Love & Planet, Potteryland, PresentAbility, Rosa Cottage, ROWC Group #7, Royal Oak Animal Shelter, Royal Oak Garden Club, Royal Oak Nature Society, Schuman Landscape Lighting, Slow Food Detroit, St. Paul Lutheran Church & School, Stahl Greenhouse, Stoneful Creations, Summer Gardens, Susan Scherer, The Painted Garden, Todosciuk Farms & Greenhouses, Two Women and a Hoe, Uhlianuk's, Uhlianuk's Farms, Uhlianuk's Specialties from the Farm, Van Houtte Farms, Weig's Greenhouse, Wendy Lewis, Wenz Brothers Farm and Worry Free Lawn Care & Snow Removal.