Brinnen Carter

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Scenes from the Sitka Kitch’s class, ‘Bees, Pollinators, and Honey, Oh, My!’

Students at the free Sitka Kitch class, “Bees, Pollinators, and Honey, Oh, My!” on Friday, Sept. 20, learned about the importance of bees in pollinating local plants.

The class was taught by former Sitka resident Christi (Wuerker) Henthorn, who now lives in North Carolina and runs 20 or so bee hives as a side business. Christi also taught the students some basics about beekeeping and some of the challenges faced by bees from chemicals and urban growth. After the class the students had a chance to taste a wide variety of honey types from when the bees are near certain types of plants.

Adrienne Wilber, a Sitka resident who started beekeeping this year, attended the class, and Christi showed some of her bees in a jar and a honeycomb from one of Adrienne’s bee boxes.

Some scenes from the class are in a slideshow below. Also, click here for a link to her PowerPoint presentation (as a PDF document) is below.

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Scenes from the Sitka Kitch’s ‘Cooking With Wild Mushrooms’ class on Sept. 13

Students learned how to identify, clean, and cook a variety of wild and cultivated mushrooms during the Sitka Kitch’s “Cooking With Wild Mushrooms” class on Friday, Sept. 13, at the new Sitka Kitch location in the Sitka Lutheran Church. This class was a fundraiser for the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen.

This class was taught by Beak Restaurant owner/chef Renée Jakaitis Trafton and University of Alaska Southeast Sitka Campus assistant professor Kitty LaBounty, who teaches an annual mushroom identification class at the university in September. After a quick primer on how to identify and clean mushrooms from Kitty, Renée taught students a variety of recipes so they can use their foraged finds.

The next class at the Sitka Kitch is a special free class, “Bees, Pollinators, and Honey, Oh, My!,” from 7-9 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 20, at the Sitka Kitch, which is located inside the Sitka Lutheran Church. This class will be taught by former Sitka resident Christi (Wuerker) Henthorn, who now lives in North Carolina where she keeps bees. Brinnen Carter of the Sitka National Historical Park will assist Christi.

The registration deadline for the bees and pollinators class is 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 18, so register now since space is limited. Even though this class is free, we are asking for people to pre-register so we know how many people are coming.

Most Sitka Kitch classes now cost $40 per person, which is part of our new all-inclusive fee system (you no longer have to pay a class fee to register, then a separate food/supply fee). 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 Chandler O’Connell or Clarice Johnson at Sitka Conservation Society (747-7509) to arrange a payment.

For more information about this class and future classes, 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. Contact Chandler at SCS for more details about the scholarship. These classes are fundraisers for the Sitka Kitch.

Students should enter the Sitka Lutheran Church through the back entrance (through the alley off Harbor Drive by the old Bev’s Flowers and Gifts location). The door on the right should be open for students to enter. Please do not park in the church’s back parking lot. Please use the public parking lots off Harbor Drive.

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 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.

A photo slideshow of scenes from the Cooking With Wild Mushrooms class is posted below.

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Sitka Kitch to host free class, ‘Bees, Pollinators, and Honey, Oh, My!’, on Sept. 20

Learn the basics of bees, pollinators and honey in this special, free Sitka Kitch class, which takes place from 7-9 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 20, at the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen.

Christi Henthorn

This class will be led by former Sitka resident Christi (Wuerker) Henthorn, with assistance from Brinnen Carter of Sitka National Historical Park. The class features a short PowerPoint, a Q&A, and some honey tasting. “I will NOT be focusing on discussing becoming a beekeeper, but will answer questions,” Christi said.

Christi lived in Sitka from 2008-2014, when she worked at SEARHC, and now resides in North Carolina, surrounded by BEES!  Although just a side gig, she currently manages 20-plus hives and is very active with the Granville County Beekeepers Association.  Christi is currently working on her Master Beekeeper Certificate through the North Carolina State Beekeepers Association and enjoys talking about bees and pollinators to pretty much anyone who will listen.

Even though this is a free class, we ask people to pre-register so we have an idea how many people plan to attend.

For those who haven’t been to the Sitka Kitch since we moved last year, we now are located in the Sitka Lutheran Church kitchen. Please enter through the back entrance, through the alley off Harbor Drive that runs next to the former location of Bev’s Flowers & Gifts. Please use public street parking and don’t use the small parking lot immediately behind the church.

For more details, contact Chandler O’Connell at 747-7509 or Jasmine Shaw at 747-9440.

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Date changed to May 26 for spring garden class about raising trees

There is one spring garden class left on this year’s schedule, but the date has been changed. The “Everything You Need To Know About Trees” class taught by Jud Kirkness now will take place from 6:30-8 p.m. on Friday, May 26, at the Sitka Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall (408 Marine Street, parking off Spruce Street).

The class is free, but donations to the Sitka Local Foods Network will be accepted.

For more information about the class, contact Jennifer Carter at 747-0520. Other classes may be added at a later date if we find volunteers to teach them.

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Sitka Local Foods Network education committee announces its 2017 spring garden classes

Want to learn how to grow your own food? Are you new to Sitka and want to learn what veggies grow in our town? The Sitka Local Foods Network education committee has a list of free 2017 spring garden classes that can help you learn what to do and when to do it so you have a healthy garden.

This spring, all of our classes except one will take place from 6:30-8 p.m. on Thursdays at the Sitka Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall (408 Marine Street, parking off Spruce Street). Each week will feature a different topic, and all classes are free (donations to the Sitka Local Foods Network will be accepted).

The class schedule is as follows:

  • Gardening in Sitka 101 — March 30, taught by Michelle Putz
  • Cottage Foods Business Basics — April 6, 6-8 p.m., Room 106, University of Alaska Southeast Sitka Campus, taught by Sarah Lewis and Nina Vizcarrondo, in partnership with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service
  • Growing Potatoes in Sitka — April 13, taught by Kathy Kyle
  • Extending Your Garden Season — April 20, taught by Kerry MacLane
  • Container Gardening — April 27, taught by Joshua Andresky
  • Raising Chickens — May 4, taught by Joshua Andresky, Nina Vizcarrondo and Brinnen Carter
  • Everything You Need To Know About Trees — Friday, May 19, taught by Jud Kirkness
  • Growing Garlic in Sitka — Date TBA (toward the end of the summer), taught by Jennifer Carter

For more information about the classes, contact Jennifer Carter at 747-0520. Other classes may be added at a later date if we find volunteers to teach them.

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Sitka Local Foods Network to host informal garden club for Sitka gardeners on Sept. 2

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Do you grow vegetables or fruit or want to? Would you like to meet and learn from other gardeners in Sitka and visit their gardens?

Then come to Sitka Local Foods Network’s informal, unofficial Garden Club meeting from 7-9 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 2, at the home of Jennifer and Brinnen Carter, 113 Jamestown Drive. This is a chance for Sitka gardeners to share successes and discuss problems they may be having with their gardens. Appetizers will be provided.

Participants will decide the next location and club meeting date (so bring your calendars). If parking looks tight, please walk up the hill. For more information, contact Jennifer at 747-0520.

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• Sitka gardening group to host presentation on beekeeping in Sitka

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Join members of the Sitka Gardening and Horticulture group from Facebook as they host a presentation on beekeeping basics by Anchorage hive-meister, Joseph Linden, from 7-9 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at the Sealing Cove Business Center on Alice Loop.

The presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session featuring Bill Lehmann and Brinnen Carter, both of whom have beekeeping experience in the Lower 48. Brinnen, who works at the Sitka National Historical Park, is interested in bringing true Russian bees to Sitka (the Russians had beehives when they were in Sitka), and has a comprehensive library of beekeeping resources.

For more information, call Kari Lundgren at 738-2089.