March 11, 2017 by Charles Bingham

Like what we do? Now you or your business can sponsor the Sitka Local Foods Network

The Sitka Local Foods Network has a sponsorship program to help promote our mission, and Sitka businesses and individuals are welcome to join. The goal of the sponsorship program is to make the projects we undertake (Sitka Farmers Market, St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm, gardening education, etc.) more sustainable.

“Sitka has a precarious position when it comes to food security, and the Sitka Local Foods Network is trying to improve our food security through our mission to increase the amount of locally harvested and produced foods in the diets of Southeast Alaskans,” Sitka Local Foods Network president Charles Bingham said. “Sponsors of the Sitka Local Foods Network are working with an organization and a farmers market that values local, fun, premium quality goods and experiences.”

This year there are seven Sitka Farmers Markets from July through September. The 2017 farmers markets take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays, July 1, July 15, July 29, Aug. 12, Aug. 19, Sept. 2, and Sept. 9, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall (235 Katlian St.). We grow most of the local produce sold at the markets at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden and a couple of other locations in town. In the next few days, we will be posting a list of upcoming gardening education courses this spring. We also are helping with a project to create a new community garden program in Sitka.

There are four levels of sponsorship available, and each has its own set of perks.

Grower ($2,500-plus) — We’ll hang your banner at ANB Hall during the Sitka Farmers Markets, include your logo and company name prominently in our merchandise and advertisements, and thank you on our social media and web pages. If appropriate for the Sitka Farmers Market, you may set up a free promotional booth.
Harvester ($1,000-$2,499) — We’ll hang your banner at ANB Hall during the Sitka Farmers Markets and include your logo and company name in our merchandise and advertisements.
Planter ($250-$999) — Your banner will hang at ANB Hall during the Sitka Farmers Markets.
Friend ($50-$249) — You are listed on our online sponsor page.

We have limited space for banners at the Sitka Farmers Markets, so please contact us by May 1 to guarantee your spot. To learn more about the sponsorship program, click the link below for details and a registration form. For more information, contact Charles Bingham at (907) 623-7660 or by email at charleswbingham3@gmail.com, or email us at sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com.

• 2017 Sitka Local Foods Network sponsorship program details and registration form

March 7, 2017 by Charles Bingham

SEARHC offers healthy cooking demonstration March 21 at Sitka Kitch

The SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) will offer a free “Putting Your Best Fork Forward” cooking demonstration from 6-7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 21, at the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen (located inside First Presbyterian Church, 505 Sawmill Creek Road).

The demonstration will be led by SEARHC Health Educator Heleena van Veen and SEARHC Registered Dietitian Jessica Holland. Heleena and Jessica will demonstrate how to cook healthy breakfasts, snacks and even an entire meal.

This free event is open to the entire community. For more information, contact Heleena van Veen at 966-8914.

March 5, 2017 by Charles Bingham

Lori Adams switching her u-pick garden to a community-supported agriculture program

Down-To-Earth U-Pick Garden will be changing formats in 2017. It will no longer be a u-pick garden open to the public and will become a community-supported agriculture (CSA) program where local residents can subscribe and receive regular boxes of fresh veggies, berries, eggs and other items.

“After eight years of business Down To Earth U-Pick Garden will no longer be open to the public,” Lori wrote in an email. “Starting this year we will be selling weekly CSA shares to a select group of customers who are committed to supporting locally grown food.”

At this time, Lori said she has 20 subscribers to get through her first season and isn’t looking for new subscribers. She didn’t say if she will continue to have a booth (or farm truck) at the Sitka Farmers Market this summer to sell extra produce. Her book, Gardening in Southeast Alaska, is still available at local book and garden stores.

March 1, 2017 by Charles Bingham

Scenes from the Sitka Kitch’s Cooking Around The World series class on Chilean cooking

Students learned how to make a pastel de choclo (a Chilean version of shepherd’s pie) on Monday, Feb. 27, at the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen. This was the second of five classes in the Cooking Around The World class series offered this spring.

The class was taught by Barbara Palacios, a Chileno who works as a chef with the Westmark Sitka Hotel and the Dock Shack (Totem Square Inn). Barbara taught students how to make the pastel de choclo, which features a layer of ground beef and onions, chicken, boiled egg, olives, a layer of creamed corn, and pebre (a Chilean pico de gallo without the jalapeños).

Future Cooking Around The World series classes include:

Thailand — 5:30-7 p.m., Tuesday, March 28, taught by Nancy Knapp. Nancy is a longtime health educator from Sitka who spent several years in Laos and Thailand. She still hasn’t announced which dishes she will teach for this class, but she taught a Thai cooking class last year that sold out quickly and had a long waiting list. The registration deadline is 9 p.m. on Saturday, March 25.
Austria — 6-8:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 12, taught by Suat Tuzlak. Suat is the former owner of the Alpine Bakery in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, and co-author of “Little Cookbook For The Great Outdoors.” For this class he will teach students how to make a savory strudel with two fillings and a sweet strudel with apples that’s great with ice cream. The registration deadline is 9 p.m. on Sunday, April 9.
Turkey — 5-7:30 p.m., Monday, April 17, taught by Suat Tuzlak. For this class, Suat, who is Turkish, will teach students how to make a Turkish dinner that is vegan and gluten-free without using sophisticated ingredients. You will learn to make red lentil soup, green beans with olive oil, festive rice pilaf with currants and pine nuts, and a fusion dessert, chia-coconut pudding. The registration deadline is 9 p.m. on Friday, April 14.

When registering, students should prepay for the class through the Sitka Kitch online registration site, http://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com, using PayPal or credit/debit card. If you need other payment arrangements, contact Chandler or Clarice of Sitka Conservation Society at 747-7509 to arrange a time when you can pay with cash or check. To qualify for a partial refund, please notify us at least three days in advance if you need to cancel. The registration deadline is three days before each class so our instructors have time to purchase materials. Please email sitkakitch@sitkawild.org with any questions.

Also, the Sitka Kitch has another upcoming class series this winter/spring — Nourish: Using Food As Medicine For Optimum Health — which will be taught by Sitka nutritionist Holly Marban during National Nutrition Month in March.

Class topics include nutrition foundations, balancing blood sugar, everyday superfoods, foods to fight inflammation, and and detox. There will be five classes from 6-8 p.m. on Mondays, March 6, 13, 20, 27 and April 3. When we opened registration, the entire series was posted first (we sold out of our spaces set aside for a series-purchase discount), and now the individual classes are being posted about a week or so before each scheduled class as we fill any empty spaces remaining.

Watch the Sitka Kitch page on Facebook or our online registration page to see when these and any future classes are scheduled (there will be a Preserving The Harvest class series this summer).

A slideshow of scenes from the Chilean cooking class follows below.

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