Click here to read this week’s Sitka Local Foods Newsletter courtesy of Linda Wilson. Don’t forget, you can sign up for the e-newsletter by typing your e-mail address in the box on the left side of the page.
Month: August 2009
• Juneau Empire features Sitka Farmers Market Table of the Day Award winners
Screenshot from Sunday's Juneau Empire with the Table of the Day Award for Hope Merritt and Judy Johnstone at the third Sitka Farmers Market of the summer (Aug. 15).
Click here to see the photo in Sunday’s Juneau Empire of Sitka Farmers Market (Aug. 15) Table of the Day Award winners Hope Merritt and Judy Johnstone of Gimbal Botanicals and Sprucecot Gardens. Presenting the award is Ellen Frankenstein.
Join us for the fourth Sitka Farmers Market of the summer from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29, at Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall, 235 Katlian St.
• Alaska Grown hosts the “Eat Local Challenge 2009” on Aug. 23-29
The Alaska Grown program will launch its “Eat Local Challenge 2009” this week, Sunday through Saturday, Aug. 23-29 (click here to read more).
During the next week, Alaska residents are encouraged to:
• Try eating at least one home-cooked meal this week, made of mostly local ingredients.
• Try to incorporate at least one never-before-used local ingredient into a meal.
• Try “brown-bagging” at least one meal this week made primarily of local ingredients.
• Try talking to at least one local food retailer and one food producer about local food options.
• Try to choose local food products whenever possible.
By the way, a good time to buy local food this week is the fourth Sitka Farmers Market of the summer, which takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29, at Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall (235 Katlian St.). We’ll see you there.
• Local foods in the news this week
Many of Alaska’s newspapers had articles about local foods this week. Here is a sampling of some of the offerings.
Click here to read an article called “Beware of wild things in the blueberry patch” from the Capital City Weekly, about slugs, bugs and bears.
Click here to read an update on the Second Annual Juneau Farmers Market and Local Foods Festival from the Capital City Weekly. This event is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29, at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center.
Click here to read an item in Capital City Weekly about a tree planting and pruning workshop here in Sitka on Monday, Aug. 24, at Harrigan Centennial Hall.
Click here to read an article and photo package from Fran Durner’s “Talk Dirt To Me” gardening blog in the Anchorage Daily News about Dan Bilyeu of Nikiski, who grows and sells gourmet oyster mushrooms.
Click here to read a “Berries of the Kenai Peninsula” feature from the 2009 Peninsula Clarion Recreation and Tourist Guide.
It’s not from an Alaska publication, but the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service has a story (click here to read it) about new research into phytochemicals and other healthy plant compounds in potatoes.
• Sitka Farmers Market promoted in Ukiah, Calif.
Screenshot of the Ukiah Blog Live site with a photo of Kerry MacLane and Linda Wilson holding the Sitka Farmers Market sign
You can find some interesting things surfing the Internet. In July, the Ukiah Blog Live site from Ukiah, Calif., featured a photo of Sitka Farmers Market managers Kerry MacLane and Linda Wilson holding the Sitka Farmers Market sign out in front of ANB Hall. There wasn’t a story about the market, but the picture was on the site. Click here to see the post.
• A reminder to vote for the Sitka Farmers Market in the ‘Love Your Farmers Market’ contest
Sitka Farmers Market Calls On Community To Vote For It In The ‘Love Your Farmers Market’ Contest In An Effort To Win $5,000 From Care2.com
Prizes to help farmers markets across the country promote fresh, local foods and small family farms
SITKA, Alaska, Aug. 21, 2009 — Sitka residents have until Sept. 17 to show the Sitka Farmers Market some love — and help this farmers market win $5,000 through a fun, online contest.
The “Love Your Farmers Market” contest, sponsored by Care2.com and LocalHarvest.org, will award the voters’ favorite farmers market the grand prize, which will go a long way to help the Sitka Farmers Market support local family farmers and provide Sitka with fresh, healthy, locally grown food. Voting opened on June 19 and closes on Sept. 17. In addition to the $5,000 grand prize for the top farmers market, there are several other prizes including weekly $250 prizes for a random market and some prizes for voters (tote bags, $50 prizes for top recruiters to spend at their market, etc.).
Such a contest couldn’t be more timely. With a global recession, food scares and growing concern over industrial farming practices, Americans are searching for ways to reconnect with local, healthy and safe foods for themselves and their families. “Recession gardens” are popping up around the country. Organic food is now a $20 billion industry and still expanding in spite of the economy. Earlier this year, First Lady Michelle Obama broke ground on the new White House organic vegetable garden. More and more, Americans are visiting their local farmers markets to feed their families and support their local farmers.
Care2 (www.care2.com), the largest online community of people passionate about making a difference, is teaming up with LocalHarvest (www.localharvest.org), America’s most popular website for finding food grown close to home, to bring public awareness to the need to support family farms, fresh healthy food, and the farmers markets that connect these farms and food to our communities.
In addition to the grand prize, Care2 is awarding $3,000, $2,000 and two prizes of $1,000 to the four runner-ups respectively. Local residents and market supporters will determine the winners of this contest, and can vote for the Sitka Farmers Market by going to this link.
“This is the best time to support America’s farmers markets,” said Randy Paynter, president and founder of Care2.com. “More and more Americans are taking an interest in local foods, sustainable farming and healthy eating. Care2 is proud to reward the farmers markets that our members love, and to grow the local food movement, one vote at a time.”
“People across the country are rediscovering the benefits of local food,” said Erin Barnett, Director of LocalHarvest.org. “Not only is the food at your farmers market fresher, tastier, and better for the environment, it’s also good for your local economy. By supporting farmers markets, we support family farmers and help them stay in business.”
“Five thousand dollars would make a huge impact on the kinds of support we can offer to farmers and outreach we can do to the community,” said Kerry MacLane, president of the Sitka Local Foods Network, which sponsors the Sitka Farmers Market. “We encourage all of our neighbors and customers to visit the contest web site and vote for us.”
Click here to vote or click on the contest logo above.
• Herbal medicine workshop to be taught Sept. 4-6 at UAS-Sitka Campus
“Native American Herbal Medicines: Going Into The Woods,” a workshop teaching about the harvest, preparation and use of medicinal plants in Southeast Alaska, will take place Friday through Sunday, Sept. 4-6, at the University of Alaska Southeast-Sitka Campus.
The emphasis will be on treatment based on Native American and other approaches to acute disorders, with some discussion of chrinic illnesses. The focus will be on external remedies, including wild herbal oils, salves, ointments, foot baths and more.
The class fee is $149. For more information or to register, call the UAS-Sitka Campus Continuing Education and Professional Development office at 747-7762.
• Sitka Native Education program to host Jam and Jam on Aug. 28
The Sitka Native Education Program will host a Jam and Jam at 5 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 28, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall with the Gajaa Heen Dancers and others.
The group will prepare salmonberry and rhubarb/strawberry jam in the Alaska Native Sisterhood kitchen at ANB Hall starting at 5 p.m. Following the class, all attending are invited to a campfire jam session on the Mt. Edgecumbe High School campus.
Materials will be provided for the jam-making class, which is targeted toward youth. Participants wanting to take home jam may bring their own jars, lids and berries to the class.
The Learn and Serve workshop is free. Participating youth are reminded that the final product will be for local elders. For more information, call the Sitka Native Education Program (SNEP) at 747-8561.
• Alaska Division of Forestry hosts tree planting, pruning class Aug. 24
Sitka residents are invited to learn how to select the right tree for the right place — and how to plant, maintain and prune it — at an all-day class on Monday, Aug. 24, at Harrigan Centennial Hall.
The class is taught by urban forester and arborist Jim Flott. He has 25 years of experience in urban forestry and the nursery and landscape industry to offer to participants. He teaches tree workshops nationwide.
Chief among the topics the class will cover is how trees function as complex systems and how to use this information when selecting, siting, planting, pruning and maintaining landscape trees. A classroom presentation will be followed by a demonstration in the field and hands-on experience in pruning and planting.
The class is sponsored by the Alaska Division of Forestry Community Forestry Program and the Alaska Community Forest Council, with financial support from the U.S. Forest Service.
For more information, go to the Alaska Division of Forestry Web site at http://www.forestry.alaska.gov/community/, or the Kettleson Memorial Library, or contact Lisa Moore in Sitka at 747-5534 or moorelisa@aol.com. The registration fee is $35.
• Hope Merritt, Judy Johnstone win Table of the Day Award from third Sitka Farmers Market
Hope Merritt, left, and Judy Johnstone, right, of Gimbal Botanicals and Sprucecot Gardens receive the Table of the Day Award from Ellen Frankenstein during the third Sitka Farmers Market of the season on Aug. 15.
Hope Merritt and Judy Johnstone of Gimbal Botanicals and Sprucecot Gardens won the “Table of the Day Award” for the third Sitka Farmers Market of the season on Aug. 15.
The Sitka Local Foods Network selected the shared table — which featured a variety of fresh produce, herbal teas and ornamental plants — to receive the $25 cash prize, an Alaska Farmers Market Association tote bag, a DVD of “Eating Alaska” and a certificate of appreciation. A similar prize package will be awarded to a deserving vendor at each of the four remaining Sitka Farmers Markets.
The fourth market of the season takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29, at Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall. Keep your eye on this site for more information.
Also, a new photo gallery from the third Sitka Farmers Market on Aug. 15 has been posted on Shutterfly (an online photo-sharing site). Click this link to check out the photos.
Maybelle Filler, left, Ellen Frankenstein, center, and Lisa Sadleir-Hart at the Sitka Local Foods Network booth.
Sammee of Sammee's Creations shows off some of her beaded jewelry
Sitka Local Foods Network 
You must be logged in to post a comment.