We’re Paige and Mason. The Bend Banner is our way of keeping tabs on this wild, beautiful place we call home. To the mornings that start with coffee and mountain air, the trails that somehow always lead to a brewery, and the kind of small-town stories that remind you why you chose to live here in the first place.

Sponsored by GreenSavers
The Free Home Energy Check I Didn’t Know Existed

I had GreenSavers at my house this week. Not for a repair. Not because anything was broken. Mostly because I was curious.

Their thing is a free home energy consultation. They walk through your house and point out where heat escapes, where air leaks in, and where your system might be working harder than it needs to. No pressure. No surprise pitch. Just a very calm, very thorough look at how your house actually functions.

They checked doors, vents, insulation spots, and a few places I never would have thought to look. For example, I only have 6 inches of insulation in my attic, well under what the code recommends in Bend. Time for me to put some insulation in.

If you’ve ever had one room that never feels right or wondered why your heating bill jumps for no obvious reason, this is worth doing. It’s free. It’s informative. And it made me look at my house a little differently.

And don’t forget to use code BENDBEST when filling out the consultation scheduling form. If you decide to move forward with a project, GreenSavers will take $250 off your project total, now through the end of the month.

Book The Free Energy Check

The Garlic is Up

It was 29 degrees when I saw it. Frost on the grass. Breath in the air. Bachelor looking very much like winter still had plans.

And there it was. Little green shoots. Straight out of the dirt. Garlic. Already sprouted.
In February.

If you’re new here, that sounds illegal. We live at 3,600 feet. Our average last frost doesn’t clock out until late May or early June. We’ve had snow on Memorial Day. The weather is unpredictable.

Tomatoes wouldn’t dare. Basil would simply pass away.
But garlic? Garlic is built different.

Garlic needs cold. It relies on winter to form proper bulbs later on. So while we’re inside debating whether winter it will snow, those cloves are building roots underground. Waiting.
Then we get a few mild days. A little sun. Soil temps creep up.
And suddenly, green.
It feels premature. Like the guy you see in shorts the second it hits 45 and sunny. But it’s not reckless. It’s resilient. And honestly, that’s Bend.

We grow food in a high desert that used to be lava. We open businesses in shoulder season. We ski powder in the morning and answer emails by noon. We don’t wait for perfect conditions. We work with what we’ve got.

So when a local farm says their garlic has already sprouted, it’s not just a crop update. It’s a quiet flex.

Because farming here isn’t easy. Every season is a gamble.

That’s where a CSA comes in.

Community Supported Agriculture. You buy a share at the start of the season. You pay upfront. In return, you get a weekly box of whatever the farm harvests once things really get going. Greens. Roots. Eventually, garlic that survived a Central Oregon winter and came out stronger. First boxes usually go out in May.

You’re not just buying vegetables. You’re buying into the season. Sharing the risk. Backing the people who believe this place can grow more than sagebrush.

That’s part of what makes Bend amazing.

Not just the mountains. Not just the river. But the fact that, even in February, something is already pushing through the soil.

The garlic is up.

Explore Local CSA Boxes

View of the Week

🐾Bend’s Best Good Boys & Good Girls 🐾

🐶 Diesel – 8 years, Corgie
Diesel is waiting to snuggle up to his new owner on the couch and be the only dog in the house.

🐱 Cue – 11 months - Border Collie/Mix
He’s a very energetic pup and will thrive with some structure and daily exercise. Loves to play with all the other pups.

🐶 Juniper - 5 years- Retriever/Lab
A shy girl, Juniper is quieter and calmer than most and reportedly good with kids.

The Bend Banner is as local as it gets — written here, for the people who actually call this place home.

No big media machine, no out-of-town editor guessing what Bend cares about. Just a weekly letter built from real conversations, real places, and real curiosity.

If you choose to support it, every bit helps me bring you more of the good stuff — the stories, the characters, the weird corners of this town that deserve a spotlight.

Appreciate you, friends. Thanks for being part of this.

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