After harvesting some potatoes with her mother earlier this week, Sitka 4-year-old Violet Harrison let her creativity flow and she created several potato sculptures. Thanks to Violet’s mother, Erin Rofkar, for sharing these photos of Violet with her sculptures of a scorpion, a moose, a bridge, the sun, a frog and a house with dogs.
Author: Charles Bingham
• How does your garden grow? Sitka wants to see its best gardens
Does your neighbor have an incredible garden? Do you think your own garden looks pretty impressive? Then help the Sitka Local Foods Network find out who grows the best gardens in Sitka.
If you know of someone with an impressive garden, take a picture or two and e-mail the photos by Sept. 11 to charleswbingham3@gmail.com. Tell us why you think the nominated garden is one of Sitka’s best, and don’t forget to tell us the owner of the garden and address (NOTE: if you’re nominating a neighbor, please double-check with them to make sure they want their garden nominated). The Sitka Local Foods Network focuses on food production, but there is a category for flower gardens.
Hopefully we’ll get enough nominations so we can create an informal garden tour of Sitka to show how people are growing their own food. The better gardens will be featured here in a photo slideshow toward the end of September.
Here are some categories to consider:
- Best of show (top overall gardens in Sitka)
- Biggest variety of food (most different kinds of food)
- Most productive garden (which garden produces the most food)
- Best looking food garden (for productive gardens that really look nice)
- Most unique plants (who grows stuff in Sitka nobody else grows)
- Best use of limited space (for apartment dwellers and container gardens)
- Best greenhouse
- Best flower garden
Again, e-mail a photo or two to charleswbingham3@gmail.com to nominate your favorite Sitka gardens, then I’ll post them on the site. Please help the Sitka Local Foods Network recognize the best gardens in Sitka.
• Feedback provided during debriefing meeting for inaugural Sitka Seafood Festival
Here is a run-down of the Tuesday, Aug. 17, debriefing meeting for the Sitka Seafood Festival. The following notes were provided by Alicia Peavey, who chaired the steering committee that organized the festival.
Thank you to those of you who were able to make the debriefing meeting for SSF. It went fairly well, and we were able to discuss quite a few aspects that we liked, or want to change about next year. I will list the highlights below. The biggest topics discussed were our first
meeting for next year’s festival, and our celebration/party for all
volunteers for this year’s event.The celebration will be held on Sunday, Aug. 29th (EDITOR’S NOTE: Event postponed to a time TBA). SSF will provide drinks and some food. The Rec is already reserved, so we are looking into the Fly In Fish Inn or Talon Lodge. If anyone else has ideas let me know, and I will let everyone know as soon as I hear.
The first committee meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 4, at Harrigan Centennial Hall. We will discuss next year’s event, but a
large part of the meeting will be devoted to figuring out committee
chair positions. Everyone who is interested at all in helping next
year should TRY their hardest to make this meeting please.
Thanks again to everyone who helped this year, what a fantastic event!!!
- Not enough food vendors during the Saturday event
- The fishing community was not asked about a specific date (we did try to address this, and we were told they did not know when the closure would be, but we are sending out info to all the fishing community now for next year’s event, and if you know anyone please ask their opinion on a date)
- We are leaning toward the first week in August again for 2 reasons: 1) there are no other large events going on at this time other than Coast Guard Day and 2) We can piggyback off the Haines fair again and fiscally this is the only way we will be able to pull larger name people up
- Need to advertise/organize salmon canning class better, and have a sign-up so people aren’t filtering in and out
- We played with the idea of paying the head organizer position, or possibly paying a couple positions…we will talk more about this during the first meeting in October
- We discussed continuing to use Sitka Conservation Society as a non-profit umbrella or trying to form our own. I am checking if we can use SCS again in that this seems like the easiest choice for this next year.
- We need a head of the culinary committee position (hopefully someone involved in the culinary profession, but not actively cooking during the summer so they have the time for the festival)
- We need to have solid committee chair people for each committee
- We also discussed the budget, which was amazing!!!! We did such a fantastic job for the first year…I attached this, but as of now, we grossed about $12,000. You can look through and see what were the best money makers: the banquet brought in the most money, followed by the passport event. NANDA didn’t bring in any money, but I have not stopped hearing people talking about how great they were and how it was such a highlight. We decided something like that was the point of
our festival, to offer an affordable celebration for all to take part in. So, although this didn’t make money, we decided it was an important part of the festival.Much more was discussed, but these were some of the main topics.
Hope to see everyone at the party…you all deserve a LARGE celebration!
• Sammee’s Creations wins Table of the Day Award at third Sitka Farmers Market of the summer
Sitka Local Foods Network board president Kerry MacLane, left, and secretary/treasurer Linda Wilson, right, present Sammee Falk of Sammee's Creations with the Table of the Day award at the third Sitka Farmers Market of the summer on Saturday, Aug. 14, at Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall in Sitka.
Sammee Falk of Sammee’s Creations won the Table of the Day award at the third Sitka Farmers Market of the summer on Saturday, Aug. 14, at Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall.
The local jewelry maker was presented with a certificate, $25 cash and a farmers market cookbook by Sitka Local Foods Network board president Kerry MacLane and board secretary/treasurer Linda Wilson. Sammee has been at every market for the last two years. She uses beads and a lot of found objects in her jewelry, such as broken glass found on the beach.
One vendor at each of the five scheduled Sitka Farmers Markets this season will receive a similar prize. The next markets are from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on alternate Saturdays, Aug. 28 and Sept. 11, at historic ANB Hall. We look forward to seeing you at our next market.
A slideshow of photos from the third Sitka Farmers Market is posted below, and a similar slideshow can be found on our Shutterfly site.
By the way, if you haven’t already done so, please go to the America’s Favorite Farmers Markets contest site, run by the American Farmland Trust, and vote for the Sitka Farmers Market.
Voting is broken down into four categories based on the number of vendors at each farmers market. The four categories are Boutique (15 or fewer vendors), Small (16-30 vendors), Medium (31-55 vendors) and Large (more than 56 vendors). The Sitka Farmers Market competes in the Boutique category, and we need about 50 votes to climb into the national top-20 ranking for our category.
Even though the Sitka Farmers Market is in the smallest size category, it was the leading vote-getter for Alaska as of Thursday, July 29. But a flurry of voting that night vaulted HomeGrown Market of Fairbanks (originally listed as a Medium market, but now listed as Boutique) well ahead of us in the battle for the top market in the state. Voting continues through Aug. 31 so we need your votes to close the gap.
And don’t forget, the Alaska Grown Eat Local Challenge takes place on Aug. 22-28 and our next market is on the last day of this special week that promotes eating locally grown and harvested foods. Stop by the Sitka Farmers Market on Aug. 28 to buy what you need to make a local meal.
• Sitka Seafood Festival to hold debriefing meeting on Tuesday (Aug. 17)
Now that the inaugural Sitka Seafood Festival is over, the steering committee will host a debriefing meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night, Aug. 17, at the wine bar at the New Bayview Restaurant. The debriefing session will be informal and shouldn’t last long. People who can’t make it, but have comments, can contact festival coordinator Alicia Peavey.
To learn more about the Sitka Seafood Festival or to find out how you can be a part of the second annual festival, send an e-mail to sitkaseafoodfestival@gmail.com. You also can contact Alicia Peavey at alaska_al33@hotmail.com or 1-928-607-4845.
Anyway, here is a slideshow of scenes from the inaugural Sitka Seafood Festival. A similar slideshow can be found at the Sitka Local Foods Network’s photo site on Shutterfly.
• Alaska Grown, Alaska Center For The Environment team up to host the Eat Local Challenge 2010 on Aug. 22-28
The state’s Alaska Grown program will host its “Eat Local Challenge 2010” on Sunday through Saturday, Aug. 22-28 (click here to read more). This year, the Alaska Center for the Environment, has joined Alaska Grown as a sponsor as part of the center’s local foods and sustainable communities program.
Alaskans have many ways to eat local, from veggies they grow in their own gardens or buy from Alaska farmers, berries they pick, fish they catch, game meat they hunt, seaweed and other beach greens they gather, etc. The benefit of eating local food is it’s fresher so it tastes better and has more nutrients, and you cut out the thousands of miles of transportation costs needed to ship food from the Lower 48 and other countries to Alaska. Growing local food makes a community more sustainable.
During the week of Aug. 22-28, Alaska residents are encouraged to:
- Try eating at least one home-cooked meal this week, made of mostly local ingredients.
- Try to incorporate at least one never-before-used local ingredient into a meal.
- Try “brown-bagging” at least one meal this week made primarily of local ingredients.
- Try talking to at least one local food retailer and one food producer about local food options.
- Try to choose local food products whenever possible.
By the way, a good time to buy local food for the Eat Local Challenge is during the third Sitka Farmers Market of the summer on Saturday, Aug. 14, and during the fourth market on Saturday, Aug. 28. The Sitka Farmers Markets take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on alternate Saturdays (through Sept. 11) at historic Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall, 235 Katlian St. We’ll see you there.
• Sitka Spud Walk to take place on Thursday (Aug. 12)
Photo courtesy of USDA Agricultural Research Service Image Gallery / Photo by Scott Bauer -- The average American eats 142 pounds of potatoes a year, making the tubers the vegetable of choice in this country
Jodie Anderson with the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station will host a walking tour of local potato patches on Thursday (Aug. 12).
The one-and-a-half-hour walk starts at 4:30 p.m. at the Crescent Harbor Shelter, near the corner of Lincoln Street and Harbor Drive. The tour will visit several of Sitka’s potato gardens and participants should be prepared to walk about 1 1/2 miles in whatever weather conditions exist at the time.
The UAF Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station conducts potato-growing trials statewide to evaluate various potato varieties and to assess potato plant diseases in Alaska communities. There is no charge for the tour, which is open to the public.
For more information, contact the Sitka office of the UAF Cooperative Extension Service at 747-9413.
• Malinda and Karen’s Bakery wins Table of the Day award from second Sitka Farmers Market
Sitka Local Foods Network boardmember Johanna Willingham, left, presents Karen Christner, center, and Malinda Bonsen, right, of Malinda and Karen's Bakery with the Table of the Day award at the second Sitka Farmers Market of the summer on July 31 at Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall in Sitka.
Karen Christner and Malinda Bonsen of Malinda and Karen’s Bakery won the Table of the Day award at the second Sitka Farmers Market of the summer on July 31 at Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall.
The two local home bakers were presented with a certificate, $25 cash and a farmers market cookbook by Sitka Local Foods Network boardmember Johanna Willingham. Karen and Malinda baked bread, cinnamon rolls and other desserts to sell at the July 31 market. They also sold some flowers and vegetables from their home gardens.
One vendor at each of the five scheduled Sitka Farmers Markets this season will receive a similar prize. The next markets are from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on alternate Saturdays, Aug. 14, Aug. 28 and Sept. 11, at historic ANB Hall. We look forward to seeing you at our next market.
A slideshow of photos from the second Sitka Farmers Market is posted below, and a similar slideshow can be found on our Shutterfly site.
By the way, if you haven’t already done so, please go to the America’s Favorite Farmers Markets contest site run by the American Farmland Trust and vote for the Sitka Farmers Market.
Voting is broken down into four categories based on the number of vendors at each farmers market. The four categories are Boutique (15 or fewer vendors), Small (16-30 vendors), Medium (31-55 vendors) and Large (more than 56 vendors). The Sitka Farmers Market competes in the Boutique category, and we need about two dozen votes to climb into the national top-20 ranking for our category.
Even though the Sitka Farmers Market is in the smallest size category, it was the leading vote-getter for Alaska as of Thursday, July 29. But a flurry of voting that night vaulted HomeGrown Market of Fairbanks (a Medium market) well ahead of us in the battle for the top market in the state. Voting continues through the end of August so we need your votes to close the gap.
• The Sitka Farmers Market needs your vote in the America’s Favorite Farmers Markets contest
Do you enjoy the Sitka Farmers Market? Do you feel like it helps contribute to the community of Sitka? Then we need your vote in the 2010 America’s Favorite Farmers Markets contest, which is a national contest sponsored by the American Farmland Trust.
The contest is designed to raise national awareness about the importance of supporting fresh food from local farms and farmers. Market shoppers will vote to support their favorite farmers market starting June 1 until midnight (Eastern time) on Aug. 31, 2010. People can vote for as many participating farmers markets as they choose, but can only vote for each market once.
At the end of the contest, one small, medium, large, and a new category, boutique, farmers market will win the title of “America’s Favorite Farmers Market” for 2010. The reward for the winning market in each category will be a shipment of No Farms No Food® tote bags, along with other prizes including free printing services from igreenprint and free graphic design services from Virginia based design firm, SQN Communications. The categories are based on the number of vendors the farmers market has. The four categories are Boutique (15 or fewer vendors), Small (16-30 vendors), Medium (31-55 vendors) and Large (more than 56 vendors). The Sitka Farmers Market competes in the Boutique category.
In addition to the national competition in each of the four size categories, there also is a ranking for the top vote-getters in each state. The Sitka Farmers Market was leading for Alaska on July 29, but a flurry of votes moved HomeGrown Market of Fairbanks (which competes in the Medium category) into a commanding lead. We need your help to close the gap.
Voting is simple, just click on the America’s Favorite Farmers Markets contest logo in the right-hand column of this webpage, or click this link and follow the prompts. Then, after you vote, please spread the word to your friends or post a note on Facebook to let other people know to vote. Your vote shows your support for fresh, locally grown produce.
The Sitka Farmers Market features locally grown produce, locally caught wild seafood, home-baked goods, jams and jellies, arts and crafts, music and fun for the whole family. Our emphasis is on local foods and fun.
By the way, the remaining Sitka Farmers Markets this year are from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 14, Aug. 28 and Sept. 11, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall. We’ll see you there.
• Second Sitka Farmers Market of the summer takes place this Saturday (July 31) at ANB Hall
The Sitka Local Foods Network will host the second Sitka Farmers Market of the 2010 summer from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 31, at Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall (235 Katlian St.). This is the second of this summer’s five big markets that started on July 17 and take place on alternate Saturdays through Sept. 11. The remaining markets will be Aug. 14, 28 and Sept. 11 at ANB Hall. A smaller market will be held on Sept. 25 at the Crescent Harbor shelter as part of the annual Running of the Boots fundraiser for the Sitka Local Foods Network (more details on this event later).
The Sitka Farmers Markets give Sitka residents a chance to buy and sell locally produced food and crafts. The markets feature wild local seafood (fresh, frozen, and cooked, ready to eat), locally grown and harvested fruits and vegetables, baked bread, locally picked berries, jams and jellies, cooking demonstrations, live entertainment, locally brewed and roasted coffee, music, local arts and crafts, and a variety of other items gathered or made in Sitka. We emphasize local products and lots of fun.
Because many Sitka residents had concerns about food security and how they could access more local food, the Sitka Farmers Market and Sitka Local Foods Networks started out as community projects that came out of a health priority planning meeting during the 2008 Sitka Health Summit. The markets are sponsored by the Sitka Local Foods Network, Alaska Native Brotherhood Camp No. 1, Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp No. 4, Baranof Island Housing Authority, Sitka Conservation Society, the Alaska Farmers Market Association and the SEARHC Health Promotion and Diabetes Prevention programs.
Vendor fees are just $15 per market. Due to construction in the parking lot, only indoor booth space is available this year. We are the first farmers market in Southeast Alaska to accept WIC coupons. To learn more or to sign up for a table, contact Sitka Farmers Market Co-Coordinator Linda Wilson at 747-3096 (evenings and weekends) or e-mail lawilson87@hotmail.com. Vendor rules, registration forms and other information for potential vendors can be found at this link.
Also, don’t forget that you can vote for the Sitka Farmers Market in the America’s Favorite Farmers Markets contest, sponsored by the American Farmland Trust, by clicking this link or the logo in the right-hand column and following the prompts. As of Thursday night (July 29), the Sitka Farmers Market was the leading vote-getter among Alaska’s markets participating in the contest, but we only had a five-vote lead over HomeGrown Market of Fairbanks. You can vote through the end of August, but only once per computer.
Sitka Local Foods Network 
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