Month: September 2012

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• Sitka Food Co-op to host first annual membership meeting on Sept. 24

The Sitka Food Co-op will host its first annual membership meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 24, at the Rasmuson Center on the Sitka Fines Arts Camp/Sheldon Jackson Campus.

This membership meeting is an important part of the co-op’s development. The co-op incorporated one year ago and now it has to file official by-laws with the Alaska Department of Commerce and Economic Development. The Sitka Food Co-op is a community-based, member-owned buying service dedicated to making wholesome foods and products available to its members as inexpensively as possible.

During this meeting we will establish co-op membership, discuss and vote on the co-op bylaws and elect board members for the next year.

This will affect the bulk ordering aspect of the co-op, so please come and share your opinions and your vote.

“Thanks to you all for making this such a successful operation thus far,” co-op organizer Ann Jenny said. “I look forward to the next phase of our development and, as always, am open to all of your ideas.”

For more information, send an e-mail to Ann at sitkafoodcoop@gmail.com or contact Keith Nyitray at 752-2335. Any person, organization or business interested in becoming a member or just interested in learning about the benefits of becoming a member of the largest local cooperative buying service in Sitka is welcome to attend.

• Sitka Food Co-op annual meeting flier to print out and post around town (PDF file)

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• Lori Adams discusses everything she’s learned about growing Brussels sprouts in her latest Daily Sitka Sentinel garden column

(Lori Adams, who owns Down-To-Earth U-Pick Garden and is a frequent vendor at the Sitka Farmers Market, will be writing a regular garden column in the Daily Sitka Sentinel this summer. The Sentinel is allowing us to reprint the columns on this site after they first appear in the newspaper. This column appeared on Page 4 of the Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012, edition of the Daily Sitka Sentinel.)

GARDENING IN SITKA

By Lori Adams

EVERYTHING I’VE LEARNED ABOUT GROWING BRUSSELS SPROUTS

Brussels sprouts grow really well in Sitka. They are a late crop that actually tastes best after the first frost. I have had good Brussels sprouts every year except this year … it just wasn’t warm enough.

Brussels sprouts are heavy feeders so amend your soil this fall with nitrogen (salmon carcasses a foot apart) and potassium (seaweed a foot deep) and lime (an inch of seashell sand). In mid-March start seeds indoors, till up the bed either with a rototiller or by hand, and then transplant the starts mid-April with 18-20 inch spacing. Make a dish-shaped depression in the soil and then dig a hole for the transplant right in the middle of the depression. Bury the starts up to their first set of true leaves.

It’s very helpful to mulch the entire bed with four inches of seaweed that has a small amount of herring eggs on it, but be sure the seaweed does not touch the starts or they could be burnt from the “hot” eggs. Cover the entire bed with floating row cover and for best results suspend the cover with hoops to keep the starts from getting beaten down from the rain. As with all brassicas, you should leave the row cover on until July 15 to protect the crop from the root maggot fly.

In the summer you will start to see little baby cabbages growing at the base of each leaf right on the stem.  These are the “sprouts.”  The sprouts closest to the ground are the biggest and the ones at the top of the plant are the smallest because they ripen from the bottom up. When the sprouts reach the size of a marble, start cutting or breaking off the leaves (by pulling down or sideways until they snap off). This allows the plant to put more energy into growing sprouts and less energy into growing leaves. The leaves are edible and can be used like kale.

Brussels sprouts are ready to eat at any stage, but it is best to wait until they are about the size the circle your fingers make when using the OK gesture. The sprouts can be harvested from the plants by pulling them sideways until they snap off.  If you see a sprout start to open up, it has gone past maturity. It is still good to eat but not as choice as a tight, tender sprout.

To prepare Brussels sprouts, just cut the stump off including the bottom sliver of the sprout.  This will allow you to peel off some of the outer leaves which are so hard they feel like you are eating plastic.  Some people like to boil or steam their sprouts and others like to roast them in the over drizzled with olive oil and salt and pepper. But I’ve never heard of anyone that likes to eat them raw.

In September, it is a good idea to prune the top of the plants off to encourage them to stop growing new sprouts and to plump up the sprouts already on the stalk.   The tops are edible and can be used like kale.

Brussels sprouts are extremely hearty and can be left outside in the snow for a month or two, but keep an eye on them because after prolonged cold weather they start to deteriorate.  If you have a good cool storage area it is a good idea to cut the plants off at the ground and stack them inside.  Whenever you want sprouts for dinner just go break off the ones you want and leave the rest on the stalk for later.

Brought to you by Down-To-Earth U-Pick Garden

2103 Sawmill Creek Road

Open June-August / Monday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

747-6108 or 738-2241

http://downtoearthupick.blogspot.com/

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• Slack Tide to be special musical guest at the final Sitka Farmers Market of the season

The last Sitka Farmers Market of the summer will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 15, at Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall, so the Sitka band Slack Tide will be the market’s special guest.

Slack Tide is rock and dance band that’s jamming Sitka style. The members of the group are Joe Montagna on guitar and vocals, Jen Reid on vocals, “Pignose Bob” Jacobs on guitar and vocals, Peter Apathy on bass and Colin Herforth on drums.

Also, don’t forget the Sitka Farmers Market now accepts Alaska Quest electronic benefit cards and debit cards. You can use these cards to purchase tokens, which you then can spend with participating vendors at the market. Look for the Sitka Local Foods Network booth inside ANB Hall for more details.

In addition, we always need volunteers to help us set up before the market and to take down the market after we’re done. Please contact Sitka Farmers Market coordinator Johanna Willingham at 738-8336 if you’re interested in helping out.

Finally, don’t forget to mark your calendars for the Running of the Boots fundraiser for the Sitka Local Foods Network on Saturday, Sept. 29, at Crescent Harbor Shelter. Race registration is at 10 a.m., costume judging is at 10:30 a.m., and the race starts at 11 a.m. Paint up your Xtratuf boots and get your costumes ready for this fun event that’s great for kids and families. We will have a booth or two selling late-season produce at this event. Watch for more details coming soon.

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• Newly published Alaska Farmers Market Cookbook helps you turn your produce into a delicious meal

Are you looking for ideas on how to turn your farmers market produce into a delicious meal? Heidi Rader of Fairbanks recently published the Alaska Farmers Market Cookbook, which should provide you with lots of inspiration to cook “simply good food full of Alaska Grown ingredients.”

According to Heidi’s website, “The Alaska Farmers Market Cookbook is an unpretentious cookbook featuring Alaska Grown ingredients. It’s the only cookbook you’ll need to turn your basket of Alaska Farmers Market produce into a delicious meal. Organized by season, you’ll find recipes that make use of local, Alaskan ingredients in the spring, summer, fall, and winter. Many of the recipes were developed using produce from the Little Alaskan Garden. This full-color cookbook features many photographs taken by Heidi Rader. Recipes like Rhubarb Pie with Saffron and Mayan Zucchini Brownies will make you forget all about peach pie or banana bread.”

The book can be purchased off Heidi’s website by going to the book’s page clicking the “Buy Now” link, which takes you to a PayPal page. Heidi is charging $19.95, plus $6.99 shipping and handling ($26.94 total). Alaska farmers market groups interested in selling the book should contact Heidi to discuss possible bulk-purchase discounts. The cookbook is supported in part by the Alaska Division of Agriculture‘s Alaska Grown ProgramFairbanks Daily News-Miner.

Heidi is a lifelong Alaskan who earned a master’s degree in natural resources (with an agriculture focus) from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Colorado. In addition to her Little Alaska Garden farm, Heidi also serves as the tribes extension educator for the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service and Tanana Chiefs Conference, and she provides agriculture education to remote communities around the state. To learn more about Heidi and her work, check out this recent feature from the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

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• Lori Adams discusses everything she’s learned about growing raspberries in her latest Daily Sitka Sentinel garden column

(Lori Adams, who owns Down-To-Earth U-Pick Garden and is a frequent vendor at the Sitka Farmers Market, will be writing a regular garden column in the Daily Sitka Sentinel this summer. The Sentinel is allowing us to reprint the columns on this site after they first appear in the newspaper. This column appeared on Page 4 of the Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012, edition of the Daily Sitka Sentinel.)

GARDENING IN SITKA

By Lori Adams

EVERYTHING I’VE LEARNED ABOUT GROWING RASPBERRIES

Raspberries grow in Sitka without a lot of care or fuss. I’ve had a good crop every year in my garden — even this year.

Raspberries are perennials. With proper care they should come back year after year and never need to be replanted. So choose your planting site very carefully — someplace sunny where the wind doesn’t blow its hardest and where there won’t be shading or crowding other crops.

Raspberries send out many runners underground that pop up yards away, so if you plant them right next to another crop or flower bed the runners will cause problems. The best spot would be up against a building to minimize rain and maximize heat with a wide pathway in between the raspberries and the next crop.

All red raspberry varieties do well in Sitka, but it seems that most of us got our starts from Florence Welsh (tall with large berries and handles the weather fine) or the geodetic experimental agriculture site (shorter with smaller berries and less appreciative of wet weather).

To prep the soil for raspberries loosen up the soil, remove the largest stones to a depth of about six inches and remove all salmonberry roots. The two will complete for space and the salmonberries will always win.

I think planting in rows is much preferable to planting in a patch. Weeding, mulching, pruning and harvesting are all easier when every plant is easy to see and access. Fence posts and wire can be very handy to support the plants efficiently in a row. I have been growing raspberries in a patch for years and have had good success, but am planning to move the entire patch into rows next year. Down-To-Earth U-Pick Garden customers do not like to crawl through wet plants and many berries go to waste simply because they can’t be seen.

As with most berries, raspberries do not need any lime. But they do like rich soil, so I mulch with about 10 inches of seaweed every fall and aspire to add more in the spring but usually don’t get it done. Healthy raspberry leaves are green. If yours appear yellow they need more nutrition.

All of the berries will not be ready at once, so be faithful to pick them every three days — RAIN OR SHINE. You don’t want to waste a single berry, and they deteriorate when wet with rain for even a couple of days. Excessive rain will cause berries to become crumbly. This is annoying when you are picking, but they still taste delicious so don’t throw them away. I have noticed that the first picking is the worst and they seem to hold together better as the season progresses.

You must understand how raspberries grow to know how to prune them properly.   First-year canes do not produce berries. Prune the tops off if they grow taller then five feet to keep them from falling over (this does not hurt the plant and will encourage it to branch out more). When winter comes, the canes will look dead but they are very much alive and will sprout leaves the next spring.

Second-year canes will produce berries.  During that same year the plant also will send out more first-year canes. It is very important to protect these first-year canes from damage to ensure a harvest every year. The canes die during their second winter and need to be pruned off the plant that fall or the next spring when you can tell dead ones from live ones easily. Eventually the plant will die, but they are always sending out shoots underground and new plants replace the old ones.

Raspberry plants always send up more shoots than you want, so be vigilant about pulling them up or your whole yard will become a raspberry patch. Pulled shoots can be planted and will take root easily, so be generous and share the love with your friends and neighbors.

Brought to you by Down-To-Earth U-Pick Garden

2103 Sawmill Creek Road

Open June-August / Monday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

747-6108 or 738-2241

http://downtoearthupick.blogspot.com/