WEDNESDAY – SATURDAY, Aug. 4-7

The Clatsop County Fair runs through Saturday, Aug. 7 at the Clatsop County Fairgrounds. You can reach the fairgrounds from Astoria by taking Oregon Highway 202 about five miles to Walluski Loop Road. Watch for signs and the entrance on the left. From Seaside and south, cross Youngs Bay Bridge and turn right at the intersection of Oregon 202, traveling to Walluski Loop Road. Fair hours are 9a.m. to 9 p.m. each day. This year’s theme is “Old Kind of Feeling With a New Kind of Fun.” For more information, pick up an exhibitor s handbook at local nurseries and feed stores or call (5030 325-5004.

SATURDAY, Aug. 7

The Hardy Plant Society of Oregon offers a session, “Perennial Combinations,” with Cole Burrell, Glenn Withey and Charles Price. The workshop is 9 a.m. to noon, with open doors at 8 am., at Portland State University’s Hoffman Hall. Garden tours are offered at 1 p.m. Burrell is an award winning writer and author of “Perennial Combinations.” Withey and Price are partners in Withey-Price Landscape and Design, and are codesigners of the NW Perennial Alliance borders in Bellevue Botanical Gardens. For information, see the Web site www.hardyplantsociety.org or call (503) 224-5718.

SUNDAY, Aug. 8

The Astoria Sunday Market takes place downtown, with a free plant clinic offered by the Clatsop County Master Gardener Association, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Joy Creek Nursery in Scappoose offers a free, 1 p.m. session about paths and circulation. How you move around your garden is basic to your visual and physical enjoyment of that space. 20300 N.W. Watson Road. (503) 543-7474.

The Santiam Heritage Foundation garden tour takes place in the Stayton area. The 1-5 p.m. tour features seven gardens and the cost is $10. For more information, call (503) 769-5863.

UPCOMING AND ONGOING

The Clatsop County Master Gardener hotline gives gardening advice, noon to 3 p.m. Mondays and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesdays. Call (503) 325-8573 with your questions. The new Clatsop County Master Gardener Web site is www.geocities.com/clatsopmg

The annual Great Northwest Tomato Taste-off takes place Sept. 18 at the Gathering of Gardeners Festival. Territorial Seed Company helps sponsor the tasty contest, which features a $500 first place award, a $250 second place award and a $100 third place prize. For more information, see the www.territorialseed.com Web site.

The National Gardening Association joins the Hydroponics Merchants Association for the “Hooked on Hydroponics Awards” for education programs. The deadline is Sept. 30. For more information, go to the Web site www.kidsgardening.com or write the National Gardening Association, 1100 Dorset Street, South Burlington, VT 05403.