Have you thought about being a vendor at the Sitka Farmers Markets, but need more info before you commit? The Sitka Local Foods Network, the nonprofit that hosts the markets, will hold a vendor meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 11, at the Sitka Public Library.

Join us to learn more about the vendor rules and responsibilities. The meeting will be led by Sitka Farmers Market manager Nina Vizcarrondo and assistant manager Charles Bingham, who will try and answer your questions about the market. We hope to have a representative from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation’s food safety program at the meeting to discuss state food service regulations. We also will take market registrations at the meeting.

This year our markets take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on seven Saturdays this summer — July 6, July 27, Aug. 10, Aug. 17, Aug. 31, Sept. 7, and Sept. 21 — at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall (235 Katlian Street). You can learn more about being a vendor at this link.

The Sitka Kitch, in partnership with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service’s Juneau office, will host a “Starting A Cottage Foods Business” class from noon to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, June 19, in Room 106 at the University of Alaska Southeast Sitka Campus. Sarah Lewis of the UAF Cooperative Extension Service will teach the class by videoconference from Juneau and she will detail what types of foods can be sold under a cottage foods exemption. The class costs $10, with the money going to the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen. Students who take the class and then bring a food business to the Sitka Farmers Market will get half off their first market’s table fee. You can learn more about the class at this link.

For more information about the Sitka Farmers Market, email us at sitkafarmersmarket@gmail.com, or call Nina at 738-9301 or Charles at 623-7660.