400 Free Trees Will Be Given Away Saturday At Bel Air Farmers' Market

BEL AIR, MD — Bel Air Mayor Kevin Bianca and his family prepped about 90 eastern redbud seedlings that are part of a massive tree giveaway at Saturday's first Farmers' Market of the year.

Bianca, wife Kelsey, and their sons Lee, 6, and Emory, 2, wrapped the seedlings' roots in paper, dipped them in a bucket of water and set them inside plastic bags. A total of 400 trees of varying species will be given away at the start of the Farmers' Market, which opens at 8 a.m.

The market, with more than 50 local vendors, runs from 8 a.m. to noon in the parking lot of the Mary E. W. Risteau state office building at Bond and Thomas Streets.

The town’s tree committee obtained the tree seedlings from the Harford County Forestry Board, which purchased them from Maryland’s John S. Ayton State Tree Nursery on the Eastern Shore.

Bianca issued a proclamation designating Saturday as Arbor Day in Bel Air, which also is a Tree City USA.