Pre-Fourth cookout: Earth Fare grocery at Asheville’s Westgate Shopping Center will dish out bison burgers, potato salad and limeade at a pre-Independence Day “All-American Cookout.” The event, which will be held under a tent to shade revelers from the midsummer sun, runs from 4 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 2. For more information, call 253-7656 or visit www.earthfare.com.
Homegrown: Summer’s here and the time is right for buying local groceries — and this season we’ve got a new place to do it. Three days a week, Greenlife Grocery (on Merrimon Avenue in Asheville) hosts tailgate markets offering mostly organic produce, homemade soaps, organic plant starts and many more homegrown items. The markets are held Wednesdays from 2 to 6 p.m., Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon, and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. For more information, see www.appalachiangrown.org, or visit Greenlife to pick up a free copy of the Local Food Guide prepared by the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project.
Well-bred celebrates: The Well-Bred Cafe, a Weaverville fixture for fresh-baked goodness and gourmet foods, is celebrating its success over the past two years with a two-day “re-grand opening” and customer appreciation event. The party, on the evenings of Friday, July 8, and Saturday, July 9, will feature exotic coffees, wine and cheese, imported beer, and the musical stylings of three acts: old-time string band the Peg Twisters, Jon Cooley and his Cardboard Dulcimers, and MorningStar. Well-Bred is located in a historic building at 26 N. Main St. that used to serve as the town drug store and soda fountain. For more information, call 658-8146 or visit www.well-bredbakery.com.