May 16, 2014 by Charles Bingham

• Sitka Kitch, First Presbyterian Church announce grant to renovate kitchen for classes, rentals

The Sitka Health Summit congratulates the folks at Sitka Kitch and First Presbyterian Church on their $13,000 grant. The funds will go a long way towards renovation of their community kitchen. “Sitka Kitch is a community collaboration to augment and strengthen Sitka’s workforce through the development of food-based curriculum and training.” It is an initiative of the Sitka Health Summit. From left are Patrick Williams, Marjorie Hennessy, Clara Gray, Cheri Hample, Martina Kurzer, Suzan Brawnlyn, Cyndy Gibson, and Betsy Decker. (Photo Courtesy of the Sitka Health Summit)

Sitka Kitch is the community food project that arose from the 2013 Sitka Health Summit. The overall goal of Sitka Kitch is to improve community capacity and community development through the lens of food security.

The Sitka Kitch will start with food-based education and emergency preparedness at the household level. As it grows, the Sitka Kitch seeks to provide career and technical training, and entrepreneurial development opportunities. This will be achieved through a shared-use community kitchen and will work to educate, incubate and cultivate community sustainability.

Sitka Kitch also has a sub-group that is currently working to improve storage of emergency food with the Salvation Army. Eventually the kitchen would also like to generate a food ‘income’ stream to augment immediate relief efforts by local food banks and soup kitchens.

Sitka Kitch is pleased to announce a new partnering with the Sitka First Presbyterian Church to kick off its first year through the use of kitchen space. The groups collaborated in April to prepare an application to the Northwest Coast Presbytery Community Blessings Grant. The proposal outlined a budget to renovate the church’s existing kitchen to meet the requirements of becoming an Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)-certified kitchen and thus meet the needs of Sitka Kitch users.

The church and Sitka Kitch were awarded the grant, in the amount of $13,000, and the funds will go towards renovating and improving functionality of the kitchen. These renovations will begin in June and Sitka Kitch plans to start offering classes in July.

For more information, contact Marjorie Hennessy at the Sitka Conservation Society (marjorie@sitkawild.org or 747-7509). Click here to listen to a KCAW-Raven Radio morning interview with Marjorie and Suzan Brawnlyn to learn more about Sitka Kitch.

May 16, 2014 by Charles Bingham

• Sitka Local Foods Network education committee to host third classes in new garden mentor program

Garden maintenance will be the theme of the third round of classes in the Sitka Local Foods Network’s new garden mentoring program.

This year, the SLFN education committee chose two families from a list of first-time gardeners to mentor for the summer. The two families agreed to allow other first-time gardeners to attend the six proposed classes at their homes, in exchange for help building their gardens from more experienced Sitka gardeners.

These free classes are open to all first-time gardeners in Sitka. The classes will be similar at each location, so people wanting to participate only need to sign up for one class. New classes will be added as the spring/summer progress, so keep watching for more.

The first class was on garden preparation, and the second class was on planting. During the third round of classes on garden maintenance we will review choosing easy vegetables to plant and how to plant them, and then discuss and do garden maintenance (weeding, thinning, spacing plants/transplanting, inspecting for good and bad bugs, disease, slugs, deeper watering, hilling/propping up potatoes, etc.). If new people attend, we will review garden preparation, too.

The two garden maintenance classes will be:

Sunday, May 25, 4 p.m. at Tami O’Neill’s house, 2309 Merganser Drive.
Friday, June 6, 4:30 p.m. at Anna Bradley’s house, 4764 Halibut Point Road.

For more information, contact Michelle Putz at 747-2708 or michelleputzfood@yahoo.com.

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May 12, 2014 by Charles Bingham

• Sitka Farmers Market vendor forms, information sheets and regulations for 2014 now available

Vendors looking to sell local food, arts and crafts, and other items at the 2014 Sitka Farmers Markets can find all the vendor forms, information sheets and regulations for this year by going to the Documents page on this site, or look at the bottom of this post for the documents. The forms are in downloadable Acrobat PDF files.

The 2014 Sitka Farmers Markets will be managed by Ellexis Howey and Debe Brincefield, and they can be reached at sitkafarmersmarket@gmail.com or 738-8683 during the market season. Our 2014 Sitka Farmers Markets will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on six alternating Saturdays starting in late June (June 28, July 12, 26, Aug. 9, 23, and Sept. 6) at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall on Katlian Street.

Ellexis and Debe will host at least one pre-market meeting for potential market vendors, tentatively scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 21, at the See House behind St. Peter’s By The Sea Episcopal Church. They will be available to answer questions and to make suggestions that will help new and returning vendors adjust to any food regulation changes from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, changes to the Alaska Quest electronic benefits program, and any other changes.

For more information, contact Ellexis or Debe at the numbers above.

Sitka Farmers Market vendor forms

• Guide to Operating a Successful Home-Based Food Business (March 2014 document from UAF Cooperative Extension Service and Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation includes Alaska food safety information and regulations for farmers markets and other food sales)

• 2014 City and Borough of Sitka Sales Tax Form for Sitka Farmers Market Vendors

• 2014 Sitka Farmers Market Vendor Rules And Responsibilities Packet

• 2014 Sitka Farmers Market Vendor Registration Packet

• 2014 Sitka Farmers Market Vendor Guidelines Signature Page (this must be on file for all vendors)

May 9, 2014 by Charles Bingham

• It’s time to … get down and dirty and plant the veggies at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm

The Sitka Local Foods Network will host planting parties from 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, May 10, and from 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, May 31, to start planting this summer’s crops at the St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden (located behind St. Peter’s By The Sea Episcopal Church on Lincoln Street).

Produce grown at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm is sold during the Sitka Farmers Markets to help fund Sitka Local Foods Network projects throughout the year. Some of it also is sold to people using SNAP benefits (food stamps) and to local schools for their lunch programs.

In addition to planting, there may be other garden chores to do. During these work parties we usually need people to shovel dirt and sift soil, weed, mulch and spread fertilizer (seaweed) on the existing garden beds. Most garden tools will be provided, but we will need people to bring shovels and pick-axes if they have them. These garden parties are a great place for Sitka residents new to gardening to get some hands-on instruction on how to plant their own veggie garden.

For more information, contact St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm lead gardener Laura Schmidt at 623-7003 or 738-7009, or contact Lisa Sadleir-Hart at 747-5985.

May 9, 2014 by Charles Bingham

It’s time to … get outside and finally plant your garden

Plots at various stages of planting at Blatchley Community Garden

Your Sitka Local Foods Network reminds you it’s time to get out in the garden and, finally, plant your garden. Michelle Putz, Perry Edwards, and master gardener Jackie Barmoy will host a free discussion and hands-on planting lesson at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 10, at 131 Shelikof Way.

Learn about planting some of Sitka’s easiest-to-grow vegetables, including carrots and cabbage, and lettuce and parsnips. Anyone may attend, but parking space is limited, so those interested in participating are asked to please consider walking, bike riding or carpooling.

The Sitka Local Foods Network is hosting a series of “It’s time to …” workshops this spring and summer designed to help local residents learn about various aspects of vegetable gardening and fruit growing. Many of these classes will be informal get-togethers at various gardens around town. Please watch our website, Facebook page, Facebook group, and local news media for information about upcoming classes. If you have an “It’s time to …” workshop you’d like to teach, contact Michelle Putz at 747-2708.

We are still looking to expand our network of local volunteers who can teach classes (formal and informal) this year about growing food, so please attend if you’re interested. If you can’t attend, please email Charles Bingham at charleswbingham3@gmail.com with info about what topics you can teach, your gardening experience, and contact information so we can add you to our database of instructors.

April 30, 2014 by Charles Bingham

• Sitka to host two-week Introduction to Ethnobotany course for college credit

Sitka will be the site of a two-week Introduction to Ethnobotany summer fieldwork course May 19-30 offered by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Kuskokwim Campus (Bethel).

The Ethnobotany Certificate Program operated by the UAF Kuskokwim Campus is the first such program in this state and only one of a handful that are currently being offered in the entire United States. Ethnobotany is integral to life in Alaska because it recognizes cultural knowledge and deepens our connection with the expansive and exceptional natural world at our doorstep.

Students enrolled in the EBOT program will learn basic plant biology and floral ecology of Alaska, economic applications of ethnobotany, basic applied chemistry of plants, research methods for local specific projects, as well as traditional and new uses of Alaska native plants. These skills will prepare Alaska Native students for employment in wildlife and cultural management agencies, education, and other rural-based jobs, as well as further college milestones such as the associate’s and bachelor’s of
science degrees.

The Sitka-based class EBOT 100, “Introduction to Ethnobotany,” will discuss the relationships between people and plants in the Sitka region as well as other parts of Alaska and the rest of the world. People relate to plants in many ways, for example, by eating them, using them as medicine, naming them and telling stories about them.

To give you an idea of the types of things we’ll discuss, we have included a few sample pages from our ethnobotany program’s upcoming book on the ethnobotany of the Yukon-Kuskokwim region, in Western Alaska. This will give you a feeling for how people of a different region relate to a few species you may also have in your area. Please read the descriptions on the EBOT program website of fireweed, Labrador tea and cloud berry. Then you can take a short quiz to see what you learned, and what you already know about plants and the study of how people use them.

The three-credit class (biology credits) costs $600 for tuition, books and materials, but there are scholarships available for Alaska-based students enrolled in the EBOT certificate program. In addition to the class, there will be a three-day program stakeholder meeting that will end on May 31 with a local foods dinner.

Registration forms for the class and the ethnobotany program are linked below. For more information, contact Kuskokwim Campus Ethnobotany Program Coordinator Rose Meier, PhD, at 1-907-474-6935 (voice), 1-907-474-5952 (fax) or by email at rameier@alaska.edu.

• Kuskokwim Campus Introduction to Ethnobotany 100 (Sitka) course application 2014

• Kuskokwim Campus Ethnobotany Program Application 2014

• UAF College of Rural and Community Development Registration Form

April 30, 2014 by Charles Bingham

• Sitka Community Greenhouse and Education Center committee to present project update to Sitka Parks and Rec Committee

Are you interested in seeing year-round produce and flower production in Sitka? The Sitka Community Greenhouse and Education Center ad-hoc committee will give a project update to the City and Borough of Sitka Parks and Recreation Committee at noon on Thursday, May 1, at the Harrigan Centennial Hall Exhibit Room.

The Sitka Community Greenhouse and Education Center idea started off as a project from the 2008 Sitka Health Summit, but problems acquiring land kept the center from advancing much beyond the concept stage. In recent months, the project gained some new momentum when city officials suggested using land at the city’s Turnaround Park (the old amphibious plane turnaround near the corner of Halibut Point Road and Katlian Street, where the Sitka Skatepark and Sitka Trail Works office are located).

The current proposal is to build a 25-foot-diameter geodesic dome in the middle of the site’s current parking lot. As the project grows, the plan is to build a 90-foot-diameter geodesic dome in the center (the smaller geodesic dome will be moved to another location), with two conventional greenhouses along the ridge by Katlian Street and by the guardrail by the Sitka Trail Works building. There also are plans for some garden landscaping around the site to help clean it up and make it a more attractive place to visit. The greenhouse project will not impede the use of the Sitka Skatepark.

The slideshow below includes several concept drawings by James Patterson. These plans are subject to change, but they help give people an idea of where the project stands right now. Another option is to start off with a high tunnel greenhouse and build around it.

Sitka residents are encouraged to attend the meeting Thursday to show their support for the project. “If we don’t make it through this committee meeting it be ‘back to the drawing board,'” project coordinator Kerry MacLane said. “Your appearance for even a few minutes from 12:10 12:30 p.m. would mean a lot.”

The project was presented to the Sitka Historic Preservation Commission in mid April (the Sitka Turnaround Park is a historic site). If the greenhouse concept is approved by the Parks and Rec Committee on Thursday, it then will be presented to the Sitka Planning Commission on May 6. After that, the proposal will go to the Sitka Assembly to approve a lease to use the property.

Linked below are some concept points and a response to some questions by Parks and Rec’s partner, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. For more information, contact Kerry MacLane at 747-7888.

• Sitka Community Greenhouse and Education Center proposal bullet points

• Sitka Community Greenhouse and Education Center response to DNR questions

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April 25, 2014 by Charles Bingham

• Kake to host three-day shellfish mariculture workshop on May 1-3

The Southeast Soil and Water Conservation District (SESWCD) will host a comprehensive three-day shellfish mariculture workshop on Thursday through Saturday, May 1-3, in Kake. (NOTE: Capital City Weekly ran an article covering this event, http://capitalcityweekly.com/stories/051414/new_1206564746.shtml).

This program will be aimed at teaching best management practices to beginning oyster farmers. The workshop curriculum will consist of lectures, labs, and hands-on field operations on working oyster farms. This workshop is open to the public and the District anticipates participation from shellfish farmers in Kake, Hoonah, and Angoon. Participants will learn from experts about nearly every aspect of oyster farming in Southeast Alaska.

The workshop also features a shellfish-oriented educational program at the Kake Community School, as well as a community presentation at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 1, at the Kake Community Hall Kitchen. Topics at the community presentation include: food security and mariculture, shellfish enhancement activities for subsistence use, indirect economic benefits of mariculture in the community, and commercial aquaculture diversity.

The District’s partners in this project are the Organized Village of Kake and the University of Alaska Fairbanks Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program. Other participating organizations include the Hoonah Indian Association, Haa Aaní LLC, Alaska Division of Economic Development (Alaska Department of Commerce, Communities and Economic Development), and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

One of the SESWCD’s strategic focus areas is mariculture development (shellfish farming). The intent is to facilitate increased mariculture development in Southeast Alaska to increase food security and support rural economies. This shellfish farming workshop will be the district’s first project in its mariculture program. The Southeast Soil and Water Conservation District is a statutorily authorized quasi-state agency that leverages public funding with private sources to help the communities of Southeast Alaska become more sustainable and self-sufficient.

To register or receive more info, contact James Marcus at 1-907-586-6878 (Juneau number) or districtmanager@seswcd.org.

• Southeast Soil and Water Conservation District Shellfish Mariculture Workshop in Kake press release (with tentative schedule on second page)

April 23, 2014 by Charles Bingham

• Alaska State Parks now requires special permit to harvest seaweed at Halibut Point Recreation Area

Because of a major increase in the collection of seaweed from Halibut Point Recreation Area for gardens and compost, the Alaska Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation (aka, Alaska State Parks) is limiting the amount residents can remove in order to continue to provide reasonable qualities for all users.

Alaska State Parks has permitted collection of seaweed washed ashore at Halibut Point Recreation Area for many years. However, effective immediately a special-use permit is required to collect seaweed at Halibut Point Recreation Area. Commercial use will not be permitted.

Special-use permits are required for any vehicle access to Halibut Point Recreation Area due to increased damage to park terrain. Seaweed collection will be allowed for anybody willing to walk in and not use a vehicle. KCAW-Raven Radio recently ran this story, which provides more information about the new policies.

The Sitka Park office, which is located at the recreation area, is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, but staff is often away from the office. Residents should make an appointment to obtain a seaweed special-use permit in advance of using it, at least a day prior to collecting, by calling state parks at 747-6249. Please note that those people needing a permit on a weekend should call during the week so staff can be available to open the gate. There is no charge for the permit. The access gate will be locked starting April 12. Gatherers are asked to limit the amount of seaweed they take.

Alaska State Parks said it appreciates the public’s cooperation in the implementation of the seaweed collection special-use permit. Access to Halibut Point Recreation Area for the disabled to get to the picnic and day use area will continue to be accommodated as quickly as possible, the park said. Contact park staff for more information.

• Alaska State Parks special-use permit for seaweed gathering at Halibut Point Recreation Area

April 22, 2014 by Charles Bingham

• It’s time to … plant your broccoli, cauliflower and other brassicas class on May 7

Broccoli growing in the garden

The Sitka Local Foods Network reminds you that it’s time to plant your broccoli, cauliflower and other brassicas.

Linda Wilson will present a short workshop on planting brassicas at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, May 7, at 3509 Halibut Point Road. Broccoli, cauliflower and other brassicas are good for stir fries and other meals, and they’re fun to grow. Parking space is limited, so please consider walking, riding your bike, taking the bus or carpooling. More information is available by calling Linda at 747-3096 (nights, weekends) or by emailing her at lawilson87@hotmail.com.

In addition, don’t forget the Sitka Local Foods Network education committee will meet from 5:30-7 p.m. on Monday, May 5, at Harrigan Centennial Hall to discuss future workshops and classes for the rest of the spring and summer.