Oregon Guide and Deals

With more than 1,100 stores in 14 countries, Edible Arrangements brightens birthdays, anniversaries, and other celebrations with bushels of fresh fruit bouquets carved into myriad floral arrays. Fresh-cut fruit disguised as flowers or hand dipped in gourmet chocolates in 6- or 12-piece boxes make for quick gifts or edible apologies for eating the last piece of mistletoe. Selections include a dozen chocolate apple wedges that lie beneath salty and sweet sprinklings of coconut and almonds ($39), or 12 dipped strawberries that don creamy suits of semisweet or white chocolate ($32).

After produce and herb shop Limbo closed in Southeast, Joshua Stephens revamped the space in which he had been a manager for nearly a decade and opened Stone Cottage. The latter-day apothecary honors its predecessor with a curated selection of herbs, spices, and loose-leaf teas alongside artisanal soaps, seaweed, and fresh pastries from Pearl Bakery. The shop keeps its wares in rows of accessible glass jars, which shoppers can ogle, smell, or tap with a timpani mallet. An onsite florist makes the storefront vivid with living flowers and herbs ready for planting.

Like most of their produce, Spicer Brothers Produce has roots in the Portland area. Over the course of more than two decades in business, the natural grocery store has built relationships with local farmers and companies such as Bob’s Red Mill, Spring Valley Dairy, Sisters Coffee, and Portland French Bakery. These connections allow them to keep track of where that food comes from and how it is produced. Each morning, delivery drivers arrive with fresh supplies of fruit, veggies, and baked goods, and a selection of samples are generally available to showcase the shop’s fresh produce. Alongside apples in an autumnal palette of greens and reds, oranges, tangelos, and tangerines beg to be included in juices and fights about what the difference between a fruit and a vegetable is.

Expanding on a tradition of supplying firewood and landscaping supplies that stems back to 1968, the Stroupe Family gave the public a literal taste of their ranching lifestyle when they decided to start selling their locally raised meats in 2009. All meat––including tenderloin steaks, pork spare ribs, and whole free-range chickens––comes from animals raised without antibiotics or hormones, which ensures a more peaceful upbringing unmarred by temper tantrums over the cattle's curfew. These animals are also pasture raised on a vegetarian diet of fruits, vegetables, grass, and hay, and all meat is cut and processed at a local USDA-approved facility to guarantee its quality.

Nestled in the heart of the lush Hood River Valley, thick forests of cherry trees sweep across McNeill Orchards. Tractors rumble beneath their leaves, bearing farmers who collect plump Bing, Lapin, and Rainier cherries from their branches. The farmers' stands sprout up on local roads, peddling boxes of their fresh fruit to passing pedestrians, drivers, and low-flying extraterrestrials. As a local business, the farm strives to improve the community around it by donating a portion of its profit to local charities.