July 4, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• Check out the July 2015 edition of the Sitka Local Foods Network newsletter

The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the July 2015 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 the Sitka Farmers Market opening its eighth season on July 4, how you can help us win $15,000 for the St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden and other programs in the Gardens for Good contest, a series of free food preservation and entrepreneurship workshops offered by the SEARHC WISEFAMILIES Traditional Food program and UAF Cooperative Extension Service at Sitka Kitch, and the grand opening of the first home horticulture stand under a new zoning ordinance passed by the Sitka Assembly. 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.

July 3, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• Sitka Farmers Market prepares for eighth summer of fresh, local veggies

PHOTO COURTESY OF SITKA LOCAL FOODS NETWORK
Sitka Local Foods Network board members and supporters pose at the St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden on Monday. St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm supplies most of the local produce sold at the Sitka Farmers Markets during the summer. The first Sitka Farmers Market of the season is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 4, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall, 235 Katlian St. The other five Sitka Farmers Market dates are July 18, Aug. 1, Aug. 15, Aug. 29, and Sept. 12. Pictured are, front row from left, Michelle Putz, Muriel Sadleir-Hart, Lisa Sadleir-Hart, and Kathy Jones. Back row, Matthew Jackson, Jonathan Adler, Peter Gorman, Jud Kirkness, Brandie Cheatham, Mary Therese Thomson, and Laura Schmidt.

Sitka Local Foods Network uses St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm and Sitka Farmers Market to improve food security in Sitka

During the stormy months of winter, most people in Sitka aren’t thinking about their gardens. But that’s when St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm Lead Gardener Laura Schmidt is trying to figure out which vegetables to plant in which garden bed, starting seeds, and (if the soil isn’t frozen) amending the soil with seaweed and other nutrients to get an early start on the garden.

As the lead gardener since 2011, a contract position with the Sitka Local Foods Network, Schmidt is responsible for growing most of the fresh, local vegetables sold during the Sitka Farmers Markets each summer. She oversees food production at the St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden, located behind St. Peter’s By The Sea Episcopal Church, and at an extension garden located at Pat Arvin’s house.

Schmidt and her volunteer gardeners have about 3,000 square feet in production. Last year they grew about 300 pounds of rhubarb and 100 pounds of kale. “That’s a lot of kale,” Schmidt said. Besides kale and rhubarb, they also grow garlic, onions, potatoes, kohlrabi, cabbage, broccoli, fava beans, spinach, carrots, beets, nasturtiums, zucchini, cucumbers, and more.

“It’s fun to have it all come together. It’s nice to see it turn into food,” Schmidt said. “It’s a fun puzzle because every year is different, and how do we make it more productive.”

Sitka residents will have a chance to celebrate their independence from store-bought and overly processed food at the first Sitka Farmers Market of the summer, which takes place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 4, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall. The other five markets will be on July 18, Aug. 1, Aug. 15, Aug. 29, and Sept. 12.

“It’s very important. People come for the produce. It’s the prime attraction,” Sitka Farmers Market Manager Debe Brincefield said. “We have jams and jellies, bread, fish, and arts and crafts, but people bring their produce bags and are happy to fill them.”

The Sitka Farmers Market and St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm are two of the main projects of the Sitka Local Foods Network, and both projects came out of the second Sitka Health Summit, which took place in April 2008. The first garden beds were built and planted at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm by May 2008, and food grown at St. Peter’s was available for sale at the first Sitka Farmers Market in August 2008. Since then, both projects have been a growing concern.

These two projects came about because many in Sitka were concerned about food security, especially as the country entered a major recession in 2008. It’s estimated about 90-95 percent of the food eaten in Alaska is shipped here from the Lower 48 or foreign countries, and artificially cheap transportation made it easier for people to buy their food from the store than to grow or harvest it themselves, which was the norm in Sitka until the 1950s and 1960s. With so little food being grown locally, Sitka residents worried what might happen if fuel prices went up or if we had a natural disaster that destroyed our ports and/or airport.

There also were worries about how much longer residents could afford store-bought food, especially as Sitka food prices went up 43.6 percent from September 2003 to 2011, according to the Sitka Community Food Assessment Indicators Report (a 2012 Sitka Health Summit project). The report also noted that 1,410 Sitka residents participated in the food stamp program in 2013, about one-sixth of Sitka’s population of about 9,000. Sitka residents redeemed $1,645,702 in food stamp dollars in 2012, an increase of $201,000 from 2011.

The Sitka Farmers Market and St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm are two key elements for improving food security in Sitka, with education about gardening and food preservation being another key element.

“It helps people to connect the food to the market, and hopefully realize the Sitka Local Foods Network is the umbrella organization,” Sitka Local Foods Network Board President Lisa Sadleir-Hart said. “We knew if we had a market, we had to have food to sell. We have a lead gardener in Laura who has grown and expanded the St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm and our extension garden at Pat Arvin’s every year. And we have generous people who donate produce from their gardens for us to sell, such as Jud Kirkness, Linda Wilson and my family.”

To help families struggling with food security, the Sitka Farmers Market became the first farmers market in Southeast Alaska to accept SNAP (food stamps) and WIC nutrition benefits, including the Alaska Quest electronic benefits transfer cards used for SNAP. The Sitka Farmers Market also matches dollars spent on SNAP-approved foods (produce, fish, baked goods, barley products, etc.), which allows Alaska Quest card users to double their purchase by as much as $20 per person per market. That means a family of four with SNAP benefits can be matched up to $80. This year, the Sitka Farmers Market will partner with the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) on a new program where SEARHC beneficiaries with chronic disease are prescribed vouchers for fruits and vegetables.

And the growing is spreading.

“As I was taking a walk around town the other day, I identified three new gardens,” Sadleir-Hart said. “They also have a new garden at the Pioneer Home where they’re growing food.”

For more information about the Sitka Local Foods Network, Sitka Farmers Market and St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm, go to http://www.sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org/ or email sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com. To learn about being a vendor at the Sitka Farmers Market, contact Debe Brincefield at sitkafarmersmarket@gmail.com or call 738-8683.

(Editor’s note: The story above appeared in the Weekender section of the July 2, 2015, edition of the Daily Sitka Sentinel. It was written by Sitka Local Foods Network board member/communications director Charles Bingham.)

June 22, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• Vote for the Sitka Local Foods Network and help us win $15,000 for St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm

Help us grow the St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden program by voting for the Sitka Local Foods Network in the Nature’s Path Organic Foods Gardens For Good contest.

People can vote once per day from Monday, June 22, through 10:59 a.m. (Alaska time) on Monday, July 6. The top three vote-getters (two from the United States, one from Canada) will win $15,000 each to support their urban gardening efforts. We are the only project from Alaska among the 120 entrants.

“The Gardens for Good program is a way to fund the terrific things we are doing in Sitka through the Sitka Local Foods Network to get healthy, fresh and local produce into the mouths of Sitkans,” Sitka Local Foods Network Board President Lisa Sadleir-Hart said. “Take time to vote once a day so we can make it into the final nine. We could really do a lot with $15,000!”

The St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden was built in 2008, shortly after that year’s Sitka Health Summit, when a majority of Sitkans said they wanted to see more community gardens/greenhouses in Sitka and they wanted a local foods market. The Sitka Farmers Market was launched a couple of months later, with produce grown at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm for sale to Sitka residents.

A group of kids harvests garlic during an Aug. 12, 2011, work party at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm.

Since then St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm (located behind St. Peter’s By The Sea Episcopal Church, 611 Lincoln St.) has grown and it now produces several times the amount of local produce as what was for sale that first year. We also have added a few satellite gardens to help us grow even more produce in Sitka, and we still sell it at the Sitka Farmers Markets. People with Alaska Quest (SNAP) and WIC benefits can purchase the local produce using matching funds, so they can double the value of their vouchers. St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm produce is sold to school lunch programs, and we host a table during non-market weekends at the Chelan Produce stand.

In addition to growing local produce to sell to Sitka residents, St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm has been used to teach locals about gardening. It’s also a fun place for kids to become more connected to their food. We also will use the $15,000 to continue our garden mentor program for another year or two and to help support the development of the Sitka Kitch community commercial kitchen project.

Don’t forget to vote for us once per day now through the morning of July 6. Your support is greatly appreciated. Please use this link, http://wshe.es/fZ1TjYIj, to share on your social media sites, letting people know where they need to go to vote for us.

May 31, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• Check out the June 2015 edition of the Sitka Local Foods Network newsletter

The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the June 2015 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 several new street food options in Sitka that are highlighting local seafood, a Blessing of the Garden ceremony at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm, an update on a June 2 meeting for prospective and past vendors of the Sitka Farmers Market, and a reminder about the Plant a Row for the Hungry 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 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 not share our email list with others to protect your privacy.

May 15, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• Scenes from the May 13 Blessing of the Garden service at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm

Parishioners from St. Peter’s By The Sea Episcopal Church held a Blessing of the Garden service on Wednesday, May 13, at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden, where they prayed for a bountiful harvest from the garden used by the Sitka Local Foods Network to grow veggies for the Sitka Farmers Market, school lunch and food assistance programs, etc. The service was led by Kit Mellema, and as part of the rogation service tradition in the church the parishioners walked to all corners of the property as Rev. Julie Platson, the new priest in charge at St. Peter’s, sprinkled holy water on the various vegetable garden beds, trees and flowers. A photo slideshow from the service is linked below.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

May 12, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• Rev. Julie Platson to host a blessing of the garden service at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm

Rev. Julie Platson, the new priest in charge at St. Peter’s By The Sea Episcopal Church, will host a short “blessing of the garden” service at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 13, at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm.

St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm is a communal garden located behind St. Peter’s By The Sea Episcopal Church (611 Lincoln Street). This communal garden is where the Sitka Local Foods Network grows most of the fresh veggies it sells at the Sitka Farmers Market, to local school lunch programs, on Chelan Produce weekends, and for food assistance programs.

“It will be a short service of prayers and blessings of the gardens and the work you do,” Rev. Platson wrote in an email to the Sitka Local Foods Network board of directors.

The church decided to host the blessing of the garden service as part of its usual Wednesday services, since this Wednesday is known as “a ‘rogation day’ in our tradition — a day to ask God’s blessings on gardens, farms, the labor and the work,” Rev. Platson wrote.

April 13, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• Gardening work party set for Earth Week at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm

A group of kids harvests garlic during an Aug. 12, 2011, work party at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm.

Are you interested in meeting other Sitka gardeners and learning about how to grow food in Sitka’s rainy climate? Then join us for an Earth Week garden party from 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, April 25, at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm.

St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm is located behind St. Peter’s By The Sea Episcopal Church on Katlian Street (the brown church with the steeple above Crescent Harbor). It is a communal garden that grows food to be sold at the Sitka Farmers Markets, at a table when Chelan Produce is in town, and used for various school lunch and hunger programs around town. This year’s Sitka Farmers Markets are from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays, July 4, July 18, Aug. 1, Aug. 15, Aug. 29, and Sept. 12, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall (235 Katlian St.).

“We will be putting starts in the ground, weeding and prepping beds for planting,” St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm lead gardener Laura Schmidt said.

The garden work parties are kid-friendly, so feel free to bring the munchkins to help.

To learn more, call St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm lead gardener Laura Schmidt at 738-7009 or 623-7003, or contact Sitka Local Foods Network board president Lisa Sadleir-Hart at 747-5985 or sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com.

March 15, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• Just two weeks left to file, so don’t forget to choose the Sitka Local Foods Network when you Pick.Click.Give. on your PFD app

We’re halfway through March, which means there’s just over two weeks left for Alaskans to file for their 2015 Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend check (the PFD application deadline is March 31). 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. program.

This is the second year the Sitka Local Foods Network will participate 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 56 donors who pledged $2,900 to the Sitka Local Foods Network in 2014, and we appreciate your support again in 2015.

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, Blatchley Community Gardens, education programs about growing and preserving food, 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 2014 a record 26,773 Alaskans gave $2.77 million 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 2015, including 22 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 of $25 or more 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 to http://pfd.alaska.gov/ and fill out your PFD application. 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 2015 PFD. To donate, send your check to the Sitka Local Foods Network, 408D Marine St., Sitka, Alaska, 99835, or go to our page on Razoo.com, http://www.razoo.com/story/Sitka-Local-Foods-Network, and click 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.

Thank you for supporting our mission of promoting and encouraging the growing, harvesting and eating of local foods in Sitka and Southeast Alaska.

January 28, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• Scenes from the Sitka Local Foods Network’s annual meeting and potluck dinner

Thanks to those who attended the Sitka Local Foods Network’s annual meeting and potluck on Jan. 24 at the Sitka Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall. We ate some good food, elected board officers, and received an update on the past year’s activities and plans for this year. Here are a few scenes from the event.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

January 7, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• Sitka Local Foods Network to host annual meeting and potluck on Saturday, Jan. 24

The Sitka Local Foods Network will host its annual meeting and potluck dinner from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 24, at the Sitka Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall (408 Marine St., parking off of Spruce Street).

Participants are encouraged to bring a dish featuring local foods to share, and please bring your own utensils (note, this is a non-alcoholic event). This event is a good event to attend for people who want to learn more about the Sitka Local Foods Network and what we do around town.

“Attendees will hear about project updates, plus the current board will vote on by-law changes,” Sitka Local Foods Network Board President Lisa Sadleir-Hart said. “We will introduce our new board members for 2015, and we will elect officers.”

Individuals interested in learning more about the Sitka Local Foods Network can email sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com to learn about our projects and volunteer opportunities. For more information, call Lisa at 747-5985.