Biz Beat 9-22-2016

Mrs. Thompson’s Herbs, Gifts & Folklore is an herbal apothecary and Celtic import retailer located in downtown Eugene at 347 W. 5th Avenue. Clinical herbalist Heather Nic an Fhleisdeir founded the apothecary in 1994, the apothecary says in a press release, and she is preparing to have her 22nd anniversary celebration and grand reopening 3-6 pm Thursday, Sept. 22. Live music, door prizes and refreshments will be provided. According to Mrs. Thompson’s, approximately 85 percent of their “therapeutic grade botanicals are locally or regionally sourced often in partnership with small scale farms in the Willamette Valley.” Mrs. Thompson’s can be found online at celticherbs.com and on Facebook or by calling 541-686-6136.

• Join BRING Recycling, WildCraft Cider Works and three conservation nonprofits for a community cider pressing party 11 am to 2 pm Saturday, Sept. 24, at BRING’s Planet Improvement Center, 4446 Franklin Boulevard in Glenwood. The event supports WildCraft Cider Works’ Urban Orchard Fruit Drive for Friends of Buford Park & Mt. Pisgah, the Long Tom Watershed Council and the McKenzie River Trust. “Bring your apples, pears and plums” that otherwise might be wasted to contribute to the cider, BRING says. For every 40-pound box of fruit donated, you’ll get a quart of fresh juice or a coupon for a pint of cider. WildCraft will give a filled, 32-ounce commemorative growlette for four boxes. More info at bringrecycling.org.

  • St. Vincent de Paul of Lane County tells EW that the “St. Vinnie’s store at Oak Street and West 11th Street in downtown Eugene will have a different look and inventory beginning Thursday, Sept. 22.” Spokesman Paul Neville writes in a press release that, “Instead of the usual range of items that can be found in the nonprofit’s other 14 retail thrift stores, the Oak Street store will primarily feature upcycled fashions by resident designer Mitra DeMirza Chester, as well as original styles curated to attract younger shoppers.”

• New Frontier Market’s aquaponics and permaculture farm in Dexter, Yep Yep Farms, acquired Organic Certification from Oregon Tilth to become the third certified organic aquaponics farm in Oregon and one of very few such farms in the U.S., Yep Yep says. Aquaponics is a unique growing system that incorporates growing fish) and combining it with growing plants. According to Yep Yep, “It is a versatile system that can incorporate biomimicry to be able to produce crops in the greenhouse all year, to be resistant to climate change and to save on water and other inputs.” The farm says that “In the Willamette Valley, recirculating aquaponics uses about 95 percent less water than other forms of agriculture.”