September 5, 2014 by Charles Bingham

• Meet your vendors: Allison Sayer of Hearts and Flowers

Allison Sayer of Hearts and Flowers (with certificate) won the Table of the Day Award at this summer’s second Sitka Farmers Market on July 12.

(This is part of a new series of “Meet your vendors” articles, where Sitka Local Foods Network Intern McLane Ritzel is writing features about our regular Sitka Farmers Market vendors.)

Have you been smelling something funny at this summer’s farmer’s markets? Maybe something a bit sour and overdue? Local resident Allison Sayer has been producing and selling her own live-fermented creations to curious consumers at the market, as well as experienced fermenters.

Born and raised in New York City, Allison Sayer graduated high school there and went straight into AmeriCorps on the West Coast. Later, she studied biology at Smith College, and then went to graduate school at the University of Alaska Anchorage pursuing the same track. She was attracted to the major, because she is passionate about landscape ecology, as well as salmon’s relationship with nature. However, she soon realized that the career (where much of her time would have been spent in a lab) was not quite as fun as the ideas behind it.

Sayer then pursued other opportunities that aligned closer with what she really connected with. She worked in Homer, at the Center for Alaskan Studies, and then at many different cooperatives in Santa Cruz, Calif., including a bike co-op, homeless gardener project, and a chicken sanctuary. Then she returned to Alaska, and worked in McCarthy at the Wrangell Mountains Center as a kitchen manager for three years. There she worked in the garden, held workshops, and served meals to participants. Sayer and the facility manager Jim experimented with varying fermented products. There in the Wrangell kitchen, Sayer discovered her passion for live-fermented foods.

At the Sitka Farmers Market on Aug. 9, you may have noticed the fermentation demonstration booth run by Sitka Local Foods Network intern McLane Ritzel. Live fermentation is an ancient practice, but more recently, it has gained a huge following around the world of interested individuals who want to produce their own food following traditional methods. The practice is communal and artisanal, and when consumed, encourages a healthy gut.

In Sitka, this will be her third year working at Mount Edgecumbe High School, running extracurricular activities after school for the students. She loves her job, and says, “High school students are just so cute!” This summer, she has been working at the Baranof Island Brewing Company brewery.

At home, Sayer spends her time fermenting with produce from her own garden, playing the guitar, reading “too many books at once,” and hiking with her 4-year-old Karellian bear dog, a husky named Tulip.

Come out to this summer’s last Sitka Farmers Market from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6, at ANB Hall to pick up some of Allison Sayer’s creatively edgy and uniquely delicious homemade Alaskan kimchi, sauerkraut made with varied ingredients, and kombucha, a fermented tea.

September 5, 2014 by Charles Bingham

• Panel looks at allowing garden sales at homes

Tom Hart at Anam Cara Garden

(The following article appeared in the Wednesday, Sept. 3, edition of the Daily Sitka Sentinel.)

By TOM HESSE
Sentinel Staff Writer

A potential zoning change that would allow gardeners to sell their extra produce from home started to take shape at Tuesday night’s Planning Commission meeting.

Lisa Sadleir-Hart works in Anam Cara Garden

Lisa Sadeir-Hart works in Anam Cara Garden

The proposal was brought forth by Lisa Sadleir-Hart and Thomas Hart [who own Anam Cara Garden] during an August meeting. The idea is to allow Sitkans with large gardens to sell their produce from their homes, which would include those in R-1, R-1 MH, R-2, R-2 MHP, GI and LI zoned districts. Since the zoning revision was first proposed, the city planning department has been trying to shape the rules, and Planning Director Wells Williams told commission members that there are a number of forms they could take.

“Like anything else, it’s a fairly simple concept but it gets complicated fairly quickly,” Williams said.

Currently, you-pick style gardens are allowed under a conditional use permit. Williams said the new proposal, which is being called commercial home horticulture, could follow a similar path. The big difference would be that gardeners could sell their produce and have a small stand in their yards where they could sell it. Those differences could be an issue in some neighborhoods, said commissioner Chris Spivey.

“There are definitely a lot of concerns about the sheer fact of having anything commercial in an R-1,” Spivey said.

Because of that, requests for commercial home horticulture permits would be done on a case-by-case basis under the proposals now being considered. Planning staff tentatively proposed a conditional use system whereby applicants would need to notify neighbors and take their applications through the planning process.

Sadleir-Hart said a four-week process to obtain a permit would be appropriate for gardeners who are looking ahead to the next growing season.

“Most people who would be moving through this process would be moving fall through winter,” she said. “To me that would be plenty of time and just being a good neighbor.”

Some of the issues commission members raised were about the days and times when sales would be allowed, how large garden stands could be, and how best to handle applications.

After a discussion, the commissioners decided the best system may be to set hours on a permit-to-permit basis.

“It’s that way with a lot of conditional use permits that we do. It varies from neighborhood to neighborhood,” commission member Richard Parmalee said.

Specifics are far from being concrete, but stands 6 feet by 8 feet in size, with an awning, are in the current proposal. They would be temporary, so they would be up only during the growing season.

“You’re going to have people in the neighborhood that want something that is aesthetically pleasing or temporary and easily broken down,” Spivey said.

Commissioners did take out a items from the original proposal, regarding greenhouses and sheds.

Williams said the planning office would take the comments from Tuesday night’s meeting and start drawing up a draft proposal with more specifics. The issue will be discussed further when the panel meets on Sept. 16.

September 4, 2014 by Charles Bingham

• Meet your vendors: Pat Hanson of Hanson Baked Goods

(This is part of a new series of “Meet your vendors” articles, where Sitka Local Foods Network Intern McLane Ritzel is writing features about our regular Sitka Farmers Market vendors.)

When you walk into the Sitka Farmer’s Market, comforting aromas of freshly baked breads, scones, and cinnamon rolls overcome the senses. Near the entrance of ANB Hall, you can find the talented baker Pat Hanson of Hanson Baked Goods selling a beautiful selection of her baked wonders that are nearly impossible to resist. Trust me, I’ve tried.

Hanson bakes for the market as a public service, not for a profit. She uses organic ingredients whenever she can, and the only thing that is not organic is butter, which she is working on sourcing organically. Her baked goods are more expensive, because of her insistence on using organic eggs and other crucial organic products. Hanson fell into a passion for baking, because she loves to eat and loves organic food.

Born in Colorado, Hanson lived in the Centennial State until she was 25, when she moved to Canada with her husband at the time. For the past seven years, she has lived in Sitka with her second husband, Jim, whom she met here. Hanson used to work as a school psychologist in Washington and California, but is retired now. She now volunteers at the Sitka Food Co-op, a buyer’s club organization that thrives with increasing membership. Her husband works at Sitka Tribe of Alaska and Arrowhead Transfer.

“You don’t go into the food industry to make money.” Hanson says that she likes food and likes to know what’s in it. “I won’t sell anything that I don’t think tastes good.”

Hanson sells organic breads, scones, and cinnamon rolls. She makes white sourdough, whole wheat, and whole grain, dark rye, and honey oat breads. If you’re looking for something on the sweeter side make sure to pick up one of her lemon blueberry, cranberry orange, or maple oat scones. And if you’re really lucky, you might be able to get a taste of her pumpkin spice scone with ginger chunks, the baker’s favorite.

When she’s not busy baking, Hanson enjoys reading, and was actually a literature major before becoming a teacher. She especially loves Arizonian author Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, now a popular STARZ original series.

Come out to this summer’s last Sitka Farmers Market from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6, at ANB Hall (235 Katlian St.) to experience Pat Hanson’s delectable baked beauties.

September 2, 2014 by Charles Bingham

• Scenes from the fifth Sitka Farmers Market of the 2014 summer

Sitka Farmers Market Co-Managers Debe Brincefield, left, and Ellexis Howey, right, present the Table Of The Day Award to Erin Keenan of Bear Buns at the fifth Sitka Farmers Market of the 2014 summer on Saturday, Aug. 23, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall in Sitka. Erin has been selling her homemade diapers at the Sitka Farmers Market for a couple of years, plus she was selling handmade baby booties from Charlee Oh Creations for Springer Black and Raven’s Ink hats for Raven Shaw. Erin received a gift bag with fresh greens, fresh carrots, fresh rhubarb, and a copy of the Alaska Farmers Market Cookbook. This is the seventh year of Sitka Farmers Markets, hosted by the Sitka Local Foods Network. The final market of the summer is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall, 235 Katlian St. Check our website to learn about our new bus service to the market. For more information about the Sitka Farmers Markets and Sitka Local Foods Network, go to http://www.sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org/, or check out our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SitkaLocalFoodsNetwork. (PHOTO COURTESY OF SITKA LOCAL FOODS NETWORK)

Erin Keenan of Bear Buns homemade diapers won Table of the Day during the fifth Sitka Farmers Market of the 2014 summer, which took place on Saturday, Aug. 23, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall, 235 Katlian St.

We wound up with a bit of sunny weather for this market, which was a nice change from our recent rain. We also enjoyed another market with our new bus service from Sitka Tours. This free service will be available at all of the rest of our markets this summer.

The sixth and final Sitka Farmers Market of the season takes place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6, at ANB Founders Hall. We also plan to host a produce table at the 20th annual Running of the Boots on Saturday, Sept. 27, near St. Michael of the Archangel Russian Orthodox Church on Lincoln Street. A slideshow with scenes from the fifth Sitka Farmers Market is below.

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September 2, 2014 by Charles Bingham

• Meet your vendors: Carole Knuth and Peter Apathy of Reindeer Redhots

TableOfTheDayPeterApathyCaroleKnuthReindeerRedhots

Peter Apathy, second from left, and Carole Knuth, third from left, of Reindeer Redhots won the Table of the Day Award for the Aug. 26, 2013, Sitka Farmers Market.

(This is part of a new series of “Meet your vendors” articles, where Sitka Local Foods Network Intern McLane Ritzel is writing features about our regular Sitka Farmers Market vendors.)

Nine years ago, Carole Knuth, co-owner and operator of Reindeer Redhots, was having a mid-life crisis. So, she and her husband, Peter Apathy, decided to do something totally different than anything they had done in the past. They bought the Reindeer Redhots stand, a business that had been in operation for one year. At the time, they had two young children, who Carole says thrived in the Reindeer Redhots working environment. “It was important for the children to experience.” Other kids in the community also participated in operating the business, and according to Carole, the experience taught the kids work ethic and good conversation skills. Carol says, “The business served other needs too.”

Reindeer Redhots serves hotdogs with reindeer meat and a wide variety of condiments including; sauerkraut, onion, shredded cheddar cheese, ketchup, mustard, no-bean chili, sweet relish, and sriracha sauce. The meat comes from Nunivak Island, where Dr. Sheldon Jackson started a reindeer herd in the 1800s. After the slaughtering on Nunivak, the reindeer meat is sold for processing in Anchorage, where it is produced into a wide variety of products. Reindeer Redhots sells the regular reindeer hotdogs and the mild Polish sausage at their stand. Carole and Peter have dealt with many obstacles in operating their own business, and Carole says that they have “learned a lot about people through the process.”

Today, the dynamic Knuth and Apathy duo run the Reindeer Redhots stand with their son Ryan, who just finished high school. You may have noticed Ryan’s involvement and talent shine in performances around Sitka. Ryan just graduated from the Interlochen Center of the Arts, a competitive arts boarding school in Interlochen, Mich. He also plays the trombone, and is attending the University of Puget Sound this fall. His older sister, Erika, also comes from an artistic background, as a ballet dancer. She currently is studying elementary education at UAS, and just gave birth to a beautiful baby boy named Noah.

Both Carole and Peter are heavily involved in their children’s lives and activities. They are a family that values and supports the arts in many capacities. Carole made costumes for the Nutcracker this past year and has made costumes for other performances around Sitka. She also loves gardening and the family has their own garden at home. As if all of this hasn’t kept her busy enough, she just finished her master’s thesis in public health, which covered a needs assessment for an adult day center in Sitka. She is interested in implementing a kind of senior center in town that offers social and physical activities. When they aren’t serving up delicious hotdogs, supporting their children, or helping out the community, Carole and Peter can be found working at SEARHC. Carole as a physician assistant, and Peter as a electronic health records project manager. Peter also plays bass in the bands Slack Tide and Fishing For Cats.

Reindeer Redhots has created quite a following. The alternative hotdog stand has been featured in high-quality public relations outlets including: Food and Wine, Costco, and Sunset magazines. In addition to the stand’s occasional appearances at the Sitka Farmers Market, on large ship days, you can find Carole, Peter, or Ryan serving Reindeer Redhots at the corner of Lake and Lincoln Streets. The stand operates from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., from May to September, though the operation is very weather-dependent.

Stop by the Reindeer Redhots stand this month on large ship days to try a steaming reindeer hotdog. They also offer gluten-free and whole wheat buns.

September 1, 2014 by Charles Bingham

• Scenes from Alaska’s first Lexicon of Sustainability gallery show in Sitka

Conversations were started, ukuleles were played, and kale-feta salad was eaten as the Sitka Local Foods Network hosted Alaska’s first pop-up art gallery show of the Lexicon of Sustainability on Thursday night, Aug. 28, at the Back Door Café.

So what is the Lexicon of Sustainability? According to the website, “The Lexicon of Sustainability is based on the simple premise: People will live more sustainably if they understand the basic terms and principles that will define the next economy.” The Lexicon of Sustainability features dozens of large photos of our food and farming systems, water and energy, with a variety of topics defined on each photo, such as food security, sustainable fisheries, farm to table, permaculture, etc.

“The Lexicon of Sustainability illuminates the vocabulary of sustainable agriculture, and with it, the conversation about America’s rapidly evolving food culture. The Lexicon of Sustainability educates, engages and activates people to pay closer attention to how they eat, what they buy, and where their responsibility begins for creating a healthier, safer food system in America.”

The photos from this first show will be on display through Saturday, Sept. 13, at the Back Door Café. Future Sitka shows include a Sitka Local Foods Network fundraiser tentatively set for Oct. 23 at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp/Sheldon Jackson Campus, and possibly a show at the University of Alaska Southeast Sitka Campus at a date TBA. Then the photos will go to Anchorage for the Alaska Food Festival and Conference on Nov. 7-9, hosted by the Alaska Food Policy Council. This batch of Lexicon of Sustainability photos will stay in Alaska so different groups can use them in their communities.

To learn more about this project, contact Sitka Local Foods Network Board of Directors President Lisa Sadleir-Hart at sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com. A slideshow of images from Thursday night’s event is posted below.

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August 31, 2014 by Charles Bingham

• Learn about where your Sitka Farmers Market produce is grown

When people stop at the Sitka Local Foods Network booth at the Sitka Farmers Market to buy produce a common question people ask is where is the food grown.

Most of the produce sold at the Sitka Local Foods Network booth is grown here in Sitka and comes from three main sources — the St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden (Laura Schmidt is lead gardener), some land in Pat Arvin’s Garden she donates to the Sitka Local Foods Network to grow potatoes and carrots, and Anam Cara Garden owned by Tom Hart and SLFN president Lisa Sadleir-Hart. We also receive donations from other family gardens in town with extra produce.

All of the funds raised selling produce at the Sitka Local Foods Network booth are used to support SLFN projects during the year. These include hosting the six Sitka Farmers Markets each summer, operating St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm, providing a variety of education opportunities about local foods and gardening in Sitka, and supporting other projects in town that promote local foods (such as the Sitka Community Food Assessment, Fish to Schools, Sitka Kitch, etc.).

Don’t forget the last Sitka Farmers Market of the summer is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6, at Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall (235 Katlian St.). If you live near Sawmill Creek Apartments (9:45 a.m. pick-up), Indian River housing (9:50 a.m.), or the Swan Lake Senior Center (10 a.m.), we have free transportation to the market through a contract with Sitka Tours. The shuttle bus picks up at the times listed, and makes its return trip at noon from ANB Hall. We do plan a small produce table at the Running of the Boots on Saturday, Sept. 27, near St. Michael’s Russian Orthodox Cathedral.

August 29, 2014 by Charles Bingham

• UAF Cooperative Extension Service offers Certified Food Protection Manager class by videoconference in Sitka

Wednesday, Sept. 17, is the registration deadline for a certified food protection manager workshop being taught on Wednesday, Oct. 1, by University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service. This is an all-day statewide class that will be offered by videoconferencing to Fairbanks, Nome, Palmer, Sitka and Petersburg.

A certified food protection manager (CFPM) is responsible for monitoring and managing all food establishment operations to ensure that the facility is operating in compliance with food establishment regulations.

A CFPM is knowledgeable about food safety practices and uses this knowledge to provide consumers with safe food, protect public health and prevent food-borne illnesses. Alaska regulations require food establishments to have at least one CFPM on staff.

This course takes place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (with a half-hour lunch), and participants will take a computer-based exam at the end of the class. The reason the deadline is two weeks before the class is to guarantee course materials reach all the students in time for the class. The cost is $200, and the course will be taught by Marsha Munsell of Fairbanks and Julie Cascio of Palmer. Students can register here (scroll down and select the Oct. 1 item).

The Sitka videoconference for the class will take place in Room 110 at the University of Alaska Southeast Sitka Campus. To learn more, contact Jasmine Shaw at the Sitka District Office of the UAF Cooperative Extension Service at 747-9440, or contact Kathy McDougall at (907) 474-2420 (Fairbanks number) or kmmcdougall@alaska.edu.

August 28, 2014 by Charles Bingham

• 20th annual Running of the Boots costumed fun run raises funds for Sitka Local Foods Network

It’s time to dig your XtraTufs out of the closet and gussy them up. The 20th annual Running of the Boots begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27, at the big tent near St. Michael of the Archangel Russian Orthodox Cathedral on Lincoln Street.

This will be the second year featuring a new meeting point and course, allowing the race to be a bigger part of the End-of-Season Celebration festivities hosted downtown by the Greater Sitka Chamber of Commerce and the Alaska Cruise Line Association.

“I’m excited about the Running of the Boots joining the End-of-Season folks under one big tent … literally,” race organizer Kerry MacLane said. “We’ll have music, hot chocolate, and folks can enjoy a complimentary lunch after oodles of prizes have been awarded.”

So what is the Running of the Boots? It’s Southeast Alaska’s answer to Spain’s “Running of the Bulls.” Sitkans wear zany costumes and XtraTufs — Southeast Alaska’s distinctive rubber boots (aka, Sitka Sneakers). The Running of the Boots raises funds for the Sitka Local Foods Network, a nonprofit organization that hosts the Sitka Farmers Market and advocates for community gardens, a community greenhouse, sustainable uses of traditional subsistence foods and education for Sitka gardeners.

The Running of the Boots is a short race for fun and not for speed, even though one of the many prize categories is for the fastest boots. Other prize categories include best-dressed boots, zaniest costume, best couple, best kids group and more. The new course starts by St. Michael’s Cathedral, and heads down Lincoln Street toward City Hall, takes a left on Harbor Drive and loops up Maksoutov Street and back to the starting line.

The entry fee for the Running of the Boots is $5 per person and $20 per family, and people can register for the race starting at 10 a.m. Costume judging starts about 10:30 a.m., and runners hit the streets at 11 a.m. As usual, local merchants have donated bushels of prizes for the costume contest. The Sitka Local Foods Network will host a Sitka Farmers Market booth with fresh veggies for sale. The booth takes debit cards, WIC vouchers and Quest cards.

“This is a really fun way to advance the Sitka Farmers Market and our other Sitka Local Foods Network projects,” MacLane said. “This is a must-see annual change-of-the season tradition in Sitka.”

To learn more about the Running of the Boots, contact Kerry MacLane at 752-0654 or 747-7888, or by email at maclanekerry@yahoo.com.

Historical information about the race (through 2005) can be found online at http://www.runningoftheboots.org/. Info about the Sitka Local Foods Network and more recent Running of the Boots events (2008-13) is online at http://www.sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org/ (type Running of the Boots into the search bar at the top of the page). Click here to see a slideshow of scenes from last year’s event.

Also, don’t forget to like our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SitkaLocalFoodsNetwork to stay updated on Sitka Local Foods Network activities.

August 27, 2014 by Charles Bingham

• Don’t forget Sunday’s the deadline to add Pick.Click.Give. donations to your PFD application

If you’re like most Alaskans you probably filed your 2014 Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) application before the March deadline. But did you know you still can add Pick.Click.Give. donations to your 2014 application through Sunday, Aug. 31? If you haven’t already, please consider making a Pick.Click.Give. donation to the Sitka Local Foods Network.

Here’s how to add or change your Pick.Click.Give. donations. First, go to the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend application website, http://pfd.alaska.gov/, and find the green bar in the right column. Click the green bar, and follow the directions. You’ll need to enter your driver’s license number, Social Security number, and birthday to access your application, but once on the page you’ll be able to see your current Pick.Click.Give. donations (if any) and you can add or change them.

This is the first 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. 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.

You still can donate to the Sitka Local Foods Network if you aren’t from Alaska or aren’t eligible for a 2014 PFD. To donate, send your check to the Sitka Local Foods Network, 408 Marine St., Suite D, Sitka, Alaska, 99835. Our EIN is 26-4629930. 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 to everybody making a Pick.Click.Give. donation to your Sitka Local Foods Network. We appreciate your support.