April 5, 2016 by Charles Bingham

UAF Cooperative Extension Service to offer statewide online Alaska Master Gardener class

Are you interested in earning an Alaska Master Gardener certification? The University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service is offering a statewide summer online Master Gardener class from May 23 through Aug. 12.

The Alaska Master Gardener online course is an intensive, sustainable gardening class specific to Alaska growing conditions. This is a non-credit, self-paced, online course offered through UAF eLearning using Blackboard Learn. The course fee is $375. Register here for the Summer 2016 Alaska Master Gardener online course — Course Number: ED F595P (50942) or NRM F595P (51014), choose either one when registering.

This curriculum for this online course includes lessons on botany, starting plants, soil, composting, season extension, greenhouses, landscaping, house plants, entomology, pest management, plant disease diagnostics and sustainable gardening. The course also covers growing vegetables, fruits, berries and flowers. The text for the course is Sustainable Gardening: Alaska Master Gardener Manual, which can be purchased for $50 a copy from this link. The text is optional for the course, but it is a good resource for any Alaska gardener even if you’re not taking the course.

Students complete 12 self-paced lessons and quizzes, a book report, participate in ongoing discussions, and complete a final exam. On average, the course takes students approximately three hours per week to complete. The course is pass/fail and the summer course is not for credit.

In addition to the coursework, students also pledge to volunteer at least 40 hours teaching what they’ve learned in their communities. Examples of how students can volunteer include helping with local school garden programs or 4H clubs, working with local foods groups, writing gardening blogs, and more.

The classroom-based Alaska Master Gardener course hasn’t been offered in Sitka for about three years, so the statewide online course is the only way Sitka gardeners can obtain the training until a new Cooperative Extension Service agent is hired in Sitka. Gardeners from Sitka can contact Jasmine Shaw at the Sitka District Office of the UAF Cooperative Extension Service (jdshaw2@alaska.edu or 747-9440) to see if there will be a local classroom at the University of Alaska Southeast Sitka Campus for the online course, otherwise they will need to take it from home.

For more information about the statewide online Alaska Master Gardener course, contact instructor Heidi Rader in Fairbanks at 907-452-8251, Ext. 3477, or by email at master.gardener@alaska.edu

April 2, 2016 by Charles Bingham

Sitka Local Foods Network seeks two coordinators for our garden mentoring education program

The Sitka Local Foods Network is looking to contract with two Sitka residents to coordinate our garden mentoring education program. This year we’re splitting up the duties, so one of the coordinators will work with our returning families and the other will work with our new families (and be paid slightly more).

These contracts run from spring through fall 2016, and the coordinators will be in charge of developing curricula, teaching classes, obtaining supplies, and providing evaluation of the program. A full list of job duties and expectations can be found in the linked document at the bottom of this article.

Applicants should have at least 3-5 years of varied vegetable gardening experience, preferably in Southeast Alaska. They also should have 3-5 years of project coordination experience, as well as demonstrated communication, organizational, and teaching/mentoring skills.

The garden mentoring project began in 2014 when two families of first-time gardeners were chosen to receive help planning and building a simple garden to grow four relatively easy plants for Sitka (kale, rhubarb, potatoes, lettuce). In 2015, the program was expanded to provide mentoring service to four new first-time gardening families, plus the two families from 2014 will receive a second year of mentoring as they learn to grow plants that are a bit more difficult for Sitka (carrots, peas, chard, green onions).

There are six classes with each family, and they usually are open to the public. In 2016, we expect three returning families and three new families (one of our first-year families from last year asked to repeat as a first-year family this year).

Applicants should submit a letter of interest and resume by 5 p.m. on Friday, April 8, to sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com. Please put “Garden Mentor Coordinator” in your email subject line. The contracts pay in three installments over the summer. Questions about the contracts can be directed to sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com.

• 2016 SLFN garden mentoring coordinator contract information

April 2, 2016 by Charles Bingham

Sitka Farmers Market vendor registration information for 2016 now available

Registration for the 2016 Sitka Farmers Markets is open, and vendors looking to sell local food, arts and crafts, and other items at the markets can find all the vendor forms, information sheets, rules 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 include information about how to register your table for this year’s markets.

The 2016 Sitka Farmers Market manager will be hired soon, and he/she can be reached at sitkafarmersmarket@gmail.com or 738-8683 during the market season. The tentative dates for our 2016 Sitka Farmers Markets will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on seven Saturdays — July 2, July 16, July 30, Aug. 13, Aug. 20, Sept. 3, and Sept. 10 — at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall at 235 Katlian Street.

The Sitka Local Foods Network already held two pre-market meetings to discuss market changes for potential vendors, and we may hold additional meetings as we get closer to the market season. Most of the info about changes is in the 2016 Vendor Rules and Responsibilities document. This document also includes information about commercial kitchens in Sitka and other helpful hints to make your booth more successful, plus it has your registration form for this year.

Sitka Local Foods Network board liaison Matthew Jackson is 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, updates to the Alaska Quest electronic benefits program, etc.

There are several changes to the 2016 rules and responsibilities, so please read them carefully. For more information, contact Sitka Farmers Market board liaison Matthew Jackson at (907) 821-1412 or jackson.mw08@gmail.com, or you can email the Sitka Local Foods Network Board of Directors at sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com.

Sitka Farmers Market vendor forms

• 2016 Vendor Rules and Responsibilities (with Registration Form, updated March 30, 2016)

• Link to 2015 Farmers Market Resource Fact Sheets from Alaska Division of Agriculture

• 2015 City and Borough of Sitka Sales Tax Form for Sitka Farmers Market Vendors

• Cottage Food Fact Sheet — “Understanding Alaska’s Cottage Food Exemptions”

• Cottage Food Exemptions

• Washington Farmers Market Vendor Marketing Guide (March 2014)

• 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)

March 29, 2016 by Charles Bingham

Scenes from the fourth Basic Culinary Skills class at the Sitka Kitch

Students made rockfish in parchment paper, chicken piccata and fettucine with a Thai peanut sauce March 28 during the fourth of four Basic Culinary Skills classes offered on Mondays in March at the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen.

The class series is designed to help people gain the kitchen skills they need for restaurant jobs, but many of the students are taking the series to improve their home kitchen chops.

These classes are taught by Kathy Jones, executive chef at the Westmark Sitka Hotel and the Totem Square Inn, with assistance by her sous chef, Barbara Palacios. The classes are modeled after a similar basic culinary skills program Chef Kathy knows from Indianapolis offered by a food relief nonprofit called Second Helpings.

In the first class (March 7) the students worked on chopping skills, and also learned about basic kitchen sanitation and a variety of kitchen tools. The second class (March 14) featured basic cooking techniques, basic nutrition, and sauces, soups and stocks Part 1 (making a cucumber raita, mushroom ragout, and a Caesar dressing).

The third class on March 21 focused on sauces, soups and stocks Part 2, salads, and measurements. The fourth class on March 28 focused on poultry, meats, and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) safe food handler’s card.

The Basic Culinary Skills class series is supported by a grant from the Northwest Farm Credit Services rural community grant program.

The Sitka Kitch was a project of the 2013 Sitka Health Summit, and the project is coordinated by the Sitka Conservation Society in partnership with the Sitka Local Foods Network. The Sitka Kitch can be rented to teach cooking and food preservation classes, by local cottage food industry entrepreneurs who need a commercial kitchen to make their products, and for large groups needing a large kitchen for a community dinner. To learn more about how to rent the Sitka Kitch, please go to the website at http://www.sitkawild.org/sitka_kitch.

For more information about the Sitka Kitch and the classes, please email sitkakitch@sitkawild.org. You also can go to our class registration page at https://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com/ to see all of the available classes (click on the class titles to register). We should announce some new classes in the next week or two, so watch the site.

A slideshow of scenes from the fourth class of the series can be found below.

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March 28, 2016 by Charles Bingham

Check out the April 2016 edition of the Sitka Local Foods Network newsletter

The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the April 2016 edition of its newly launched monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.

This edition of the newsletter has brief stories about how you can donate to the Sitka Local Foods Network through the 2016 Pick.Click.Give. donation program through the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend application (don’t forget the PFD filing deadline is March 31), a March 29 meeting to discuss changes to the Sitka Farmers Market, and an abundance of education opportunities this spring. Each story has links to our website for more information.

You can sign up for future editions of our newsletter by clicking on the registration form image in the right column of our website and filling in the information. If you received a copy but didn’t want one, there is a link at the bottom of the newsletter so you can unsubscribe. Our intention is to get the word out about upcoming events and not to spam people. We will protect your privacy by not sharing our email list with others.

March 25, 2016 by Charles Bingham

Chuck Miller to discuss traditional Tlingít herring roe and intertidal food harvesting on Saturday

In a special Discovery Day event for the Sitka Herring Festival, Chuck Miller will lead the program, “Storytelling and Sharing: Traditional Tlingít Herring Roe and Intertidal Food Harvesting,” from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, March 26, at the Sitka Sound Science Center.

Miller is the youth program coordinator for the Sitka Tribe of Alaska, and he will captivate you with his personable way of sharing Tlingít wisdom through stories and conversation. He will share two different one-hour interactive programs about the important animals in Tlingít culture, such as ravens and salmon.

At 10 a.m., Miller will share a story followed by an activity about the bounty of food that can be found right out our back door. At 11 a.m., he will tell another story and share about the traditional method of harvesting herring eggs (roe).

The free Discovery Days education program is for Sitka Sound Science Center annual pass holders and takes place on various Saturdays (usually alternate Saturdays). This is a family event and open to learners of all ages. Annual passes are sold at the door and run $90 for families and $30 for individuals for the full year.

For more information, contact Kristina Tirman at the Sitka Sound Science Center at 747-8878, Ext. 1.

March 23, 2016 by Charles Bingham

Scenes from the third Basic Culinary Skills class at the Sitka Kitch

Students made crab stock, Italian tomato sauce, a balsamic vinaigrette, and an alfredo sauce March 21 during the third of four Basic Culinary Skills classes offered on Mondays in March at the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen.

The class series is designed to help people gain the kitchen skills they need for restaurant jobs, but many of the students are taking the series to improve their home kitchen chops.

The third class on March 21 focused on sauces, soups and stocks Part 2, salads, and measurements. The fourth class on March 28 will focus on poultry, meats, and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) safe food handler’s card.

The classes take place from 6-8:30 p.m. on each Monday in March (March 7, 14, 21, and 28) at the Sitka Kitch, which is located inside the First Presbyterian Church (505 Sawmill Creek Road). The classes are full, with only wait-list spots available.

The Basic Culinary Skills class series is supported by a grant from the Northwest Farm Credit Services rural community grant program.

A slideshow of scenes from the third class of the series can be found below.

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March 16, 2016 by Charles Bingham

Second Annual Food Security Awareness Week includes free showing of ‘Just Eat It’ movie

The Second Annual Food Security Awareness Week is March 21-25, and Sitka is joining other Alaska communities to provide a free showing of the movie, “Just Eat It,” that week to discuss the need to reduce food waste in Alaska.

The movie will be shown at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 24, at the Sitka Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall (408 Marine Street, parking off Spruce Street). The Sitka Local Foods Network is coordinating the showing of the movie in Sitka. The movie also is being shown in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau during the week.

In Alaska, roughly one in seven people (105,000 people) live in food insecure households. About one in six people in Sitka (1,500 of 9,000) are on food assistance programs, such as SNAP (food stamps) or WIC. The Food Bank of Alaska is able to recover and distribute about 5 million pounds of food that might otherwise be wasted each year, but the need is growing and that isn’t enough food to take care of Alaska’s hungry. Even food that’s gone bad can be recycled into compost for school gardens.

Statewide, the Second Annual Food Security Awareness Week is sponsored by Rep. Geran Tarr (D-Anchorage) and Rep. Scott Kawasaki (D-Fairbanks) in support of HCR 18, sponsored by Rep. Tarr, which will encourages schools and businesses to reduce, recover and recycle food waste in Alaska. In addition, Rep. Tarr, Rep. Kawasaki, and Rep. Chris Tuck (D-Anchorage) co-sponsored HB 92, requiring labeling of genetically modified food (including salmon).

A trailer for the movie is posted below.

• HCR 18 regarding the reduction of food waste in Alaska

• HB 92 regarding labeling of genetically modified food (including salmon) in Alaska

March 16, 2016 by Charles Bingham

Scenes from the second Basic Culinary Skills class at the Sitka Kitch

Students made cucumber raita, mushroom ragout, and a Caesar dressing during the second of four Basic Culinary Skills classes offered on Mondays in March at the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen.

The class series is designed to help people gain the kitchen skills they need for restaurant jobs, but many of the students are taking the series to improve their home kitchen chops.

In the first class the students worked on chopping skills, and also learned about basic kitchen sanitation and a variety of kitchen tools. The second class featured basic cooking techniques, basic nutrition, and sauces, soups and stocks Part 1. The cucumber raita is a sauce used in Indian dishes to cool spicy dishes, and it goes well with fish, vegetables and can be used as a dip. The mushroom ragout goes well with game meat (venison, goat, lamb, etc.).

The third class on March 21 will focus on sauces, soups and stocks Part 2, salads, and measurements. The fourth class on March 28 will focus on poultry, meats, and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) safe food handler’s card.

The Basic Culinary Skills class series is supported by a grant from the Northwest Farm Credit Services rural community grant program.

A slideshow of scenes from the second class of the series can be found below.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

March 15, 2016 by Charles Bingham

Did you file for your PFD yet? Add a Pick.Click.Give. donation to the Sitka Local Foods Network

It’s mid-March, which means the deadline is rapidly approaching to file for Alaskans to apply for their 2016 Alaska Permanent Fund Dividends. As usual, Alaskans can share their wealth with a variety of Alaska nonprofits, including the Sitka Local Foods Network, through the PFD’s Pick.Click.Give. charitable giving program.

This is the third year the Sitka Local Foods Network is participating in the Pick.Click.Give. program, which allows people to donate in $25 increments to their favorite statewide and local 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations when they file their PFD applications from Jan. 1 through March 31. We thank the 64 donors who pledged $3,350 to the Sitka Local Foods Network in 2015, and we appreciate your support again in 2016.

When you choose to donate part of your PFD to the Sitka Local Foods Network, you support the Sitka Farmers Market, St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm, education programs about growing and preserving food, the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen, Blatchley Community Gardens, the sustainable use of traditional foods, the Sitka Community Food Assessment, the Sitka Food Summit, and a variety of other projects designed to increase access to healthy local foods in Sitka.

In 2015 a record 33,421 Alaskans made 53,851 pledges of $3,329,575 to their favorite nonprofit organizations, up from $545,000 donated by 5,175 people in the program’s first year of 2009. Some Alaskans choose to donate to just one group, while others may spread several donations around to many groups. There now are more than 500 total 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations participating in Pick.Click.Give. for 2016 (including multi-location nonprofits), including 24 from Sitka.

To encourage more Alaskans to donate through the Pick.Click.Give. program, this will be the second year of the Double Your Dividend contest. Anybody who makes a non-anonymous Pick.Click.Give. donation to at least one of the registered nonprofits will be entered into a contest where 10 lucky Alaskans will win a second PFD check. The winners will be announced in October, about the time the PFDs start hitting bank accounts.

So how do you make a donation to the Sitka Local Foods Network through the Pick.Click.Give. program? First, go fill out your Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend application at http://pfd.alaska.gov/. When you get to the section of the application asking if you want to participate in Pick.Click.Give. Charitable Contributions program, click on the PCG link and search for the Sitka Local Foods Network. You also can look for us by using the town search for Sitka.

The Pick.Click.Give. program is available only to people who file their PFD applications online, and not to those who file by mail. Even though you can’t file a new PFD application after March 31, you can go back into your application and update your Pick.Click.Give. donations through Aug. 31 each year.

You still can donate to the Sitka Local Foods Network if you aren’t from Alaska or aren’t eligible for a 2016 PFD. To donate, send your check to the Sitka Local Foods Network, 408D Marine St., Sitka, Alaska, 99835. You also can donate online by going to our online fundraising page on Razoo.com, and clicking the Donate button to make an online contribution. Please let us know if you need a receipt for tax purposes. For more information about donating, you can send an email to sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com.