education

by

Check out the September 2021 edition of the Sitka Local Foods Network newsletter

The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the September 2021 edition of its monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.

This month’s newsletter includes short stories about the last two markets of the 2021 Sitka Farmers Market season, information about how you can support the Sitka Local Foods Network by buying a t-shirt or hoodie from our online store, an update on new high tunnels at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm where we grow our produce, an invitation to join our board of directors, and information about our 2021 sponsorship program. Each story has links to our website for more information.

You can sign up for future editions of our newsletter by clicking on the newsletter 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. Don’t forget to like us on Facebook, like our Sitka Farmers Market page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter (@SitkaLocalFoods).

by

Pacific High School receives USDA Farm To School grant for edible garden

RAISED EXPECTATIONS – Pacific High School ninth-grade student Henrey Ward brushes dirt from a garlic bulb he pulled Monday morning (Aug. 30, 2021) from raised garden beds behind the building. Dozens of students from the school picked garlic, rhubarb, potatoes and other vegetables, as well as gathered berries and pruned trees, while the school body took advantage of fair weather to harvest crops and winterize their campus. (Daily Sitka Sentinel Photo by Reber Stein, used with permission) Bottom photo is Pacific High School students planting garlic (Photo Courtesy of Mandy Summer).

The Sitka School District’s Pacific High School is one of two schools in Alaska to receive a Farm To School (F2S) grant from the USDA Food and Nutrition Service. The grant is for $50,000 and will be used to improve Pacific High School’s edible garden.

The USDA Farm To School grant program in 2021-22 will support 176 grant-winners from around the country, serving 6,800 schools and more than 1.4 million students. The other Alaska site to receive a grant was the Cordova School District, through its nonprofit partner the Copper Valley Watershed Project.

According to the USDA’s list of Farm to School grants and their project descriptions, “The Pacific High School (PHS) Edible Garden project will support the installation of an edible garden, adjacent to both PHS and Baranof Elementary School (BES). PHS is a school of choice, serving high-needs students who have been underserved in the traditional system, and BES serves all of the district’s grades K-1 students. The edible garden will be used as an experiential outdoor classroom and integrated into both schools’ curriculum. Food produced will supply the Pacific High School meal program and the Sitka Tribe of Alaska summer meal program, in addition to being consumed as part of school and partner agency learning experiences.”

Pacific High School principal Mandy Summer said the grant will be used in several ways.

“The F2S grant is a total of $50,000 of funding for one year which we intend to use to hire a school gardener,” Summer wrote in an email. “This person will be responsible for overall planning and maintenance of the school garden, organizing a PHS garden committee, creating a sustainability plan that will address future maintenance needs, and developing curricular resources to assist teachers (PHS and Baranof) in leading garden experiences with their students.  Until now, PHS has not had a staff member solely dedicated to working in the garden and developing garden resources and activities, which has slowed the growth of our Farm to Table program. It is our hope that the funding provided though the Farm to School grant will provide the means for us to grow produce year-round for our school breakfast and lunch program, and expand curricular resources to enable more students to have learning experiences in the garden.”

When she was a teacher at the school, before she was promoted to principal, Summer helped create the school garden a decade ago. In recent years, Pacific High School hosted MOBY the Mobile Greenhouse (a portable greenhouse built on a trailer that travels to different communities around Southeast Alaska) and the Pacific Planters school garden club sold plant starts this spring.

“Pacific High has been teaching gardening classes for 10 years now and expanding our garden space behind the school for six,” Summer wrote. “This grant will involve Baranof through the development of elementary-aged curricular resources by the school gardener, in partnership with teachers from Baranof who are interested in getting their students out in the garden. We purchased a 24×48 (foot) greenhouse last year with funding from a partnership grant with Sitka Tribe of Alaska. However before we can put the greenhouse up, we need to excavate for the foundation, level the site, and put in some French drains. This is estimated to cost approximately $25,000, which we will do (through) a fundraising campaign for this fall.”

by

Sitka Kitch offers class, ‘Cooking With Culture: How To Make Zuppa Toscana With Nalani James’

The weather is turning and our gardens are cranking out their final crops. Join the Sitka Kitch as Nalani James teaches a virtual class on how to make Zuppa Toscana as part of the Cooking With Culture class series. This class takes place from 5-6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 18, via Zoom.

Zuppa Toscana is a rich Italian soup, with kale, potatoes, bacon, sausage, and other end-of-summer ingredients. Nalani has been the Sitka Farmers Market manager this summer, and you can buy kale and potatoes at the final market of the season earlier that day.

Nalani said she chose this dish because the fall season is upon us and it’s what came to mind with the season. “It’s very simple to make but looks complex,” Nalani said. “Italy has such a rich history of sharing innovation with different cultures, and pizza is not the only thing to share at the table. ‘Cooking With Culture’ will explore more areas of family- and friends-style-eating in the near future.”

The class cost is $20, and we need eight people registered to make the class happen. Ingredients are not provided; however a list of ingredients and equipment needed will be sent to all who are registered. A link to the Zoom event also will be sent at that time. Please connect at least 10 minutes before the class starts.

In addition to sausage and bacon, the recipe calls for onions, kale, garlic, potatoes and bell peppers. The Sitka Local Foods Network, which hosts the Sitka Farmers Market, will provide each registered student with one half-price bundle of kale, so long as they pick it up at the SLFN Farm Stand at the market that day, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Sept. 18, on the plaza outside Harrigan Centennial Hall. Students will need to mention the special and have their names checked against a list of students to get the discount. This is the last market of the summer.

Current (paid) members of the Sitka Food Co-op are now able to attend the online classes for $10 each (the co-op will cover the other $10 of your class fee). Please use the Sitka Food Co-op ticket when you register and send an email to sitkafoodcoop@gmail.com letting them know you’re in the class. (NOTE, Only one person per Co-op household may use the Co-op discount per class. Please name that person when you register so the name can be checked against the Co-op membership list.)

The registration deadline is 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 15 (DEADLINE EXTENDED TO THURSDAY, SEPT. 16). Space is limited, so register early to secure your place in the class. You can register and pre-pay using credit/debit cards or PayPal on the Sitka Kitch EventSmart online registration page, http://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com (click on class title). For those wanting to pre-pay with cash or check, please call Chandler O’Connell or Clarice Johnson at Sitka Conservation Society (747-7509) to arrange a payment. This class is a fundraiser for the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen.

For more information about the class, contact Jasmine Shaw at 747-9440. We occasionally offer one scholarship spot per class for people with limited incomes, provided we have enough students registered to make the class happen. Contact Chandler or Clarice at SCS for more details about the scholarship.

The Sitka Kitch also has a new class cancelation policy. If you register for a class, then find out you can’t attend, please email us at sitkakitch@sitkawild.org and we may be able to help fill your slot through our waiting list. If you cancel from the class at least five days in advance (eg, by Wednesday the week before for a Monday class), you are eligible for a partial refund of your class fee, minus $5 for processing (in this case, $15 or $5, depending on if you are paying full price or getting the Sitka Food Co-op discount). If you need to cancel with less than five days advance notice, there is no refund.

by

UAS-Sitka Campus to host annual class on how to identify Southeast Alaska mushrooms

The University of Alaska Southeast-Sitka Campus Office of Continuing Education will host its annual class “Southeast Mushrooms: With Kitty LaBounty” in September.

This course meets three times: twice on Zoom and once for an in person field trip. During the field trip (masks required), Kitty will be on hand to identify the mushrooms students find. If it’s safe, students can taste the mushrooms or take them home to cook later.

This three-day class takes place from 7-8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 2, and from 7-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 7, using Zoom. The field trip is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 4 (check in at the UAS-Sitka Campus for field trip). The course fee is $50 and students should dress for the outdoors, bring waxed paper, a face mask, and a bucket for gathering.

This course is designed to introduce students to the mushroom flora of Southeast Alaska. The focus will be on the use of taxonomic keys for identification of fungi and recognition of both edible and poisonous mushrooms. Cooking and preservation of mushrooms will be discussed. Field trips are followed by in-class identification of collected mushrooms.

Kitty goes beyond mushroom identification by teaching students to recognize the edible (and poisonous) mushrooms they can find while out on the trails. It’s prime mushroom foraging season here in Sitka, so don’t let this opportunity to enrich your diet pass you by.

For those interested in learning more, books on Alaska mushrooms can be found at Old Harbor Books in downtown Sitka.

There is a maximum of 18 students allowed in this class. Please contact the Office of Continuing Education at (907) 747-7777 for further information.

by

Check out the August 2021 edition of the Sitka Local Foods Network newsletter

The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the August 2021 edition of its monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.

This month’s newsletter includes short stories about National Farmers Market Week and the 2021 Sitka Farmers Market season, information about how you can support the Sitka Local Foods Network by buying a t-shirt or hoodie from our online store, an update on new high tunnels at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm where we grow our produce, an invitation to join our board of directors, and information about our 2021 sponsorship program. Each story has links to our website for more information.

You can sign up for future editions of our newsletter by clicking on the newsletter 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. Don’t forget to like us on Facebook, like our Sitka Farmers Market page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter (@SitkaLocalFoods).

by

Buy a t-shirt or hoodie to support the Sitka Local Foods Network

The Sitka Local Foods Network has some swag you can order through our new online store, which will be delivered directly to your house.

Help support the Sitka Local Foods Network by buying a shirt or hoodie. Proceeds from the fundraiser help support growing more local produce at the St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden, hosting the Sitka Farmers Market, sponsoring the Sitka Food Business Innovation Contest, and helping connect Sitka residents to gardening, cooking, and food preservation education opportunities.

In addition to our Sitka Local Foods Network and Sitka Farmers Market logos, we also have added the five special designs Lisa Teas Conaway created for our fifth through ninth years of the Sitka Farmers Market. These designs include Chatham Strait Carrots, Biorka Beets, Kruzof Kale, Redoubt Rhubarb, and Sitka Sound Strawberries.

The Sitka Local Foods Network is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose mission is to increase the amount of locally produced and harvested food in the diets of Southeast Alaskans. These shirts make great holiday and birthday gifts, too. We thank you for your support.

To visit our online store, go to https://www.bonfire.com/store/sitka-local-foods-network-shirt-fundraiser/

by

Please mask up for the Sitka Farmers Market this Saturday

Over the past two weeks, Sitka has seen a major spike in COVID-19 cases and now has as many cases as it did during the peak of the pandemic this fall.

With that in mind, the Sitka Local Foods Network asks customers and vendors to be COVID-aware during the Sitka Farmers Market this Saturday (10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, July 17, on the plaza outside Harrigan Centennial Hall). We still plan to hold the market, but we don’t want to contribute to the spread of the coronavirus.

One of the reasons we’re holding the market outside this summer is because we figured there might be a spike or two in COVID-19 rates. Being outdoors is a good way to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

We also ask all customers and vendors to wear masks, even if you are vaccinated. Other than getting one of the vaccines, a mask is the best protection against COVID-19 spread. In addition, we request people give each other at least six feet of space, and not attend the market if they are feeling sick.

When you visit a vendor’s table, please point out which items you’re interested in and let the vendor get them for you. This will reduce the amount of handling of food items.

At this point, we haven’t seen any changes to local and state safety guidelines, so our plan is to hold the market on Saturday. But we ask people to do all they can to prevent the spread. Thanks.

By the way, if you are interested in being a vendor at the market, you can register online at https://sitkafarmersmarket.eventsmart.com.

by

Check out the July 2021 edition of the Sitka Local Foods Network newsletter

The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the July 2021 edition of its monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.

This month’s newsletter includes short stories about the launch of the 2021 Sitka Farmers Market season, an update on new high tunnels at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm where we grow our produce, an invitation to join our board of directors, and information about our 2021 sponsorship program. Each story has links to our website for more information.

You can sign up for future editions of our newsletter by clicking on the newsletter 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. Don’t forget to like us on Facebook, like our Sitka Farmers Market page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter (@SitkaLocalFoods).

by

Sitka Kitch and UAF Cooperative Extension Service to host all-day Salmonganza classes July 17 at Halibut Point Recreation Area

The Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen, in partnership with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service, will host Salmonganza from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, July 17, at the main shelter at Halibut Point Recreation Area.

(Click image to enlarge)

This will be a day focused on salmon, with classes on preparing salmon, pressure canning salmon, smoking salmon, making salmon sausage and jerky, and even preparing condiments for the salmon using salmonberries. In addition, there will be free pressure canner gauge testing from noon until 1 p.m.

The classes will be taught by Sarah Lewis from the Juneau District Office of the UAF Cooperative Extension Service. As part of her Maritime Extension Program, Sarah is traveling via the JunieBell to communities around Southeast Alaska to teach family and community resilience workshops.

This class is for all experience levels, ages 16 and older. No pets, please. Students should bring: a cooking knife, apron, dish towel, six wide-mouth half-pint canning jars with new lids, and your pressure canner’s dial gauge (with or without lid), if you would like it tested.

The class costs $40, which is part of our all-inclusive fee system (you no longer have to pay a class fee to register, then a separate food/supply fee). The Sitka Kitch will supply all of the food supplies for this class, but students will need to bring certain cooking items from a list provided before the class. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the class will be limited to 10 students, face masks must be worn, and social distancing must be observed.

The registration deadline is 11:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 15. Space is limited, so register early at http://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com (click class title) to secure your place in the class. We need at least eight students to register and pre-pay to make this class happen.

Current (paid) members of the Sitka Food Co-Op are now able to attend the classes for $30 each (the co-op will cover the other $10 of your class fee). Please use the Sitka Food Co-Op ticket when you register and send an email to sitkafoodcoop@gmail.com letting them know you’re in the class. (NOTE, Only one person per Co-op household may use the Co-op discount per class. Please name that person when you register so the name can be checked against the Co-op membership list.)

You can register and pre-pay using credit/debit cards or PayPal on our EventSmart page, http://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com (click on class title). For those wanting to pre-pay with cash or check, please call Clarice Johnson at Sitka Conservation Society (747-7509) to arrange a payment. Please note there is a $5 charge for parking at Halibut Point Rec, which is payable to the State of Alaska.

For more information about the class, contact Jasmine Shaw at 747-9440. We do offer one potential scholarship spot per class for people with limited incomes, so long as we have enough students registered to make the class happen. This class is a fundraiser for the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen.

The Sitka Kitch also has a new class cancelation policy. If you register for a class, then find out you can’t attend, please email us at sitkakitch@sitkawild.org and we may be able to help fill your slot through our waiting list. If you cancel from the class at least five days in advance (eg, by Wednesday the week before for a Monday class), you are eligible for a partial refund of your class fee, minus $5 for processing (in this case, $35). If you need to cancel with less than five days advance notice, there is no refund.

by

UAF Cooperative Extension Service to host ‘Starting a Cottage Foods Business’ as online webinar

Photo from Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation website page on Cottage Food Regulations

Join Sarah Lewis of the Juneau District Office of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service as she hosts a free webinar from her kitchen about the basics of starting a home-based, cottage foods business in Alaska. The class is from noon to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, June 22, using Zoom online meetings.

This class includes an intro to Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation‘s cottage foods (aka, home-based foods) regulations and information about the “non-potentially hazardous” food preservation methods that are allowed: dehydration, boiling water-bath canning, and pickling. In addition, Sarah will emphasize the best food safety and sanitation methods to use in a cottage foods business, and how a cottage foods business can continue sales during this time of social distancing.

This class is being offered in preparation for the 2021 season of Sitka Farmers Markets, which take place on eight Saturdays this summer. This is a good way for new and past vendors to familiarize themselves with the current cottage food business regulations in Alaska.

To register, contact Jasmine Shaw of the Sitka District Office of the UAF Cooperative Extension Service at 747-9440 or jdshaw2@alaska.edu. Please register by Monday, so you can receive the Zoom link in time.