Thank you to everybody who helped us test our new procedures for the Sitka Farmers Market on Saturday, June 20. There is no market this weekend (June 27), but we will hold produce pick-up days every Saturday in July, August and September this summer.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we’re having to change a lot of our operation this year, and Saturday gave use a chance to see how things will work out. We have a greatly scaled back market this summer, due to state mandates and space limitations. Right now, we have converted to a market where people order produce online, then pick it up on Saturday.
We will take a break this week (June 27), but then we will have market pick-up days every Saturday in July (4, 11, 18, 25), August (1, 8, 15, 22, 29), and September (5, 12, 19, 26). We will open up our online ordering portal on the Salt and Soil Marketplace website, http://www.saltandsoilmarketplace.com, from 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 30, until it closes at 8 p.m. on Thursday, July 2. Our next pick-up time is from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, July 4, at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm (located by the See House behind St. Peter’s By The Sea Episcopal Church, 611 Lincoln Street). This is where we grow most of our produce for the Sitka Local Foods Network farm stand.
“We wish we could have a regular farmers market, but we’re glad we’re able to at least do this, get fresh, local produce into the hands of Sitka residents,” said Charles Bingham, board president of the Sitka Local Foods Network which is hosting its 13th season of Sitka Farmers Markets. “We miss the camaraderie and vendors of a normal market, and we hope to be able to go back to that next summer. In the meantime, it is what it is, and we’re trying to make the best of the situation.”
On June 20, we had the Sitka Local Foods Network farm stand and Middle Island Gardens as vendors, but there may be additional vendors using Salt and Soil Marketplace that will sell food products in Sitka later this summer. Most of those vendors will distribute their products at our pick-up days, although they may not be physically present.
We expect to start taking WIC farmers market coupons and SNAP Alaska Quest EBT cards beginning with the July 4 pick-up day. Thanks to grants from the White E, Sitka Legacy Fund and The Alaska Community Foundation, people using WIC and SNAP benefits will be able to use $5 of their benefits to receive a $20 small basket of produce from the Sitka Local Foods Network farm stand. Since you won’t be able to use Salt and Soil Marketplace, you will need to call our Sitka Farmers Market phone at 738-7310 or email us at sitkafarmersmarket@gmail.com to reserve your basket, You will need to bring one WIC coupon or your Alaska Quest card to the pick-up site so we can process your order. There is a limit of one small basket of produce per family per week for WIC/SNAP benefits.
Due to COVID-19, we are trying to minimize exposure as much as possible. This means using the online format to reduce our handling of cash and checks. It also means all of our volunteers are gloved and masked (and our request that you also mask up). When you arrive to pick up your produce, we ask you park in one of the parking spaces at the top of the hill and turn off your engine. We will get your name and bring you your produce basket so you can transfer the produce into your own tote bag or box (we do need our plastic baskets back).
A slideshow of scenes from the first market is posted below.
Sitka Local Foods Network 
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