carrots

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• Work parties scheduled for St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm

St. Peter's Fellowship Farm sign

St. Peter's Fellowship Farm sign

The Sitka Local Foods Network will host a work party from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 23, to help prepare the St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden for planting in May.

St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm provides vegetables, herbs and fruit for the Sitka Farmers Markets, which start on July 16. It is located behind St. Peter’s By The Sea Episcopal Church on Lincoln Street.

During the April 23 work party, volunteers will relocate the compost bins, build new raised garden beds and add amendments to the soil. Tools will be provided. The “farm” welcomes any donations of dirt, sand and seaweed. Volunteers also can meet Laura Schmidt, who is the lead gardener for St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm this year and will coordinate most of the work parties and May planting parties. Laura said the work and planting parties will be kid-friendly and there will be several activities to keep the kids busy.

The tentative schedule for planting parties in May is to meet from 1-4 p.m. on Saturdays, May 7, 14, 21 and 28, to plant a variety of crops. People who picked up seed starter kits at Let’s Grow Sitka in March should check the date they are scheduled to bring their started seeds in for planting. If you can’t bring them in on that date, please contact Laura (623-7003) or Lisa Sadleir-Hart (747-5985) to make arrangements for someone else to bring them in on the scheduled date.

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• Sitka National Historical Park hosts ‘Gardening in Sitka’ presentation

The Sitka National Historical Park‘s “An Evening in the Park” series will feature a presentation at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 21, called “Gardening in Sitka: A Unique Challenge.”

This presentation will be led by Park Ranger Thomas Cook, who also is certified as a Master Gardener. The presentation takes place at the Sitka National Historical Park Visitors Center Theatre.

Gardening in Sitka can be a challenge, with lots of rain and tricky soil conditions. This can discourage many aspiring green thumbs. But with a little knowledge, you can plant and grow a beautiful garden in Sitka.

This interactive presentation invites people to share their own perspectives and experiences, and to discuss their successes and challenges with the group as a whole. Ranger Thomas Cook will discuss planting schedules for Sitka, how to overcome acidic soil conditions, seeds vs. seedlings, slugs and pests, and how to construct an inexpensive greenhouse.

To learn more, contact Becky Latanich at 747-0132 or becky_latanich@nps.gov.

 

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• Sitka groups band together to host the movie ‘Vanishing of the Bees’

The Sitka Film Society, Sitka Global Warming Group/Sustainable Sitka and the Sitka Local Foods Network are teaming up to present the movie “Vanishing of the Bees” at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 21, at the Coliseum Theatre.

This is a special Earth Week presentation (Earth Week is April 17-23, and Earth Day is Friday, April 22). Tickets are $8 and available from Old Harbor Books.

The movie, narrated by Ellen Page, describes a recent phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder, where entire hives of bees die off, leaving hives full of honey other bees won’t touch (normally when a hive dies off, other bees will raid the hive and take the honey). The loss of the bees is of critical concern for farmers and gardeners because honey bees are one of the major ways crops are pollinated. Without these bees pollinating the crops, we lose our ability to grow much of our food.

Here is the synopsis posted on the movie’s website:

Honeybees have been mysteriously disappearing across the planet, literally vanishing from their hives.

Known as Colony Collapse Disorder, this phenomenon has brought beekeepers to crisis in an industry responsible for producing apples, broccoli, watermelon, onions, cherries and a hundred other fruits and vegetables. Commercial honeybee operations pollinate crops that make up one out of every three bites of food on our tables.

Vanishing of the Bees follows commercial beekeepers David Hackenberg and Dave Mendes as they strive to keep their bees healthy and fulfill pollination contracts across the U.S. The film explores the struggles they face as the two friends plead their case on Capital Hill and travel across the Pacific Ocean in the quest to protect their honeybees.

Filming across the US, in Europe, Australia and Asia, this documentary examines the alarming disappearance of honeybees and the greater meaning it holds about the relationship between mankind and mother earth. As scientists puzzle over the cause, organic beekeepers indicate alternative reasons for this tragic loss.

Conflicting options abound and after years of research, a definitive answer has not been found to this harrowing mystery.

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• Sitka Local Foods Network extends deadline for mini-grants for growing produce for the Sitka Farmers Market

The Sitka Local Foods Network is offering three $100 mini-grants to Sitka gardeners willing to grow extra produce (vegetables, berries, fruit, herbs) the network can sell at its Sitka Farmers Markets this summer.

The deadline for applications has been extended to Monday, April 4. Applications will be reviewed and mini-grants will be awarded during the Sitka Local Foods Network board meeting at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 7, at the Sitka Unitarian Universalist Fellowship building (408 Marine St.).

In order to apply for a mini-grant, please write a letter describing your gardening experience, produce varieties you grow, and information and ideas about your growing space and about how you would use the funds to expand. These mini-grants are for vegetables, berries, fruit, herbs and other produce that can be sold by the Sitka Local Foods Network to help raise funds for its programs. We will need a commitment that all mini-grant winners provide fresh produce for the Sitka Local Foods Network to sell at at least three of the five scheduled Sitka Farmers Markets this summer (July 16, 30, Aug. 13, 27, Sept. 10).

To learn more about the mini-grants, contact Kerry MacLane at 752-0654. You can mail your letter of application to Sitka Local Foods Network, 408-D Marine St., Sitka, AK, 99835, or you can email it to Lisa Sadleir-Hart at 3akharts@acsalaska.net. Please make sure all application letters are received by Monday, April 4.

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• Sitka Local Foods Network to host annual meeting and local foods potluck on Saturday, Jan. 29

The Sitka Local Foods Network will host its annual meeting and local foods potluck from 5-7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 29, at the Sitka Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Building, 408 Marine St.

This event is free and open to all Sitka residents. The annual meeting portion of the program will feature an update on all of our current projects, including the two new local-foods-related projects that came out of the 2010 Sitka Health Summit (planting 200 fruit trees around town and getting more local fish in school lunches). We are gearing up for the annual Let’s Grow Sitka gardening education event on Sunday, March 20; the community garden season with work parties starting in April or May; and for the upcoming Sitka Farmers Market season starting in July. New volunteers always are appreciated.

We encourage everyone to bring a favorite dish that features local foods, such as venison steaks, grilled salmon, seafood chowder, freshly baked bread and salmonberry preserves, seaweed, herring eggs and vegetables from the garden. For more information, contact Linda Wilson at 747-3096 (evenings and weekends) or lawilson87@hotmail.com.

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• Sitka Local Foods Network seeks lead gardener for St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm

St. Peter's Fellowship Farm sign

St. Peter's Fellowship Farm sign

The Sitka Local Foods Network is looking to contract with a lead gardener for the St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden this spring and summer.

The person who’s selected will help manage the network’s activities at the community garden, lead the planting parties this spring and coordinate routine maintenance (watering, harvesting, weeding, etc.) at the garden this summer. Vegetables grown at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm are sold at the Sitka Farmers Markets, with some crops also being donated to charitable groups in need of fresh fruits and vegetables. St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm is a communal garden located behind the See House behind St. Peter’s By The Sea Episcopal Church, 611 Lincoln Street.

Details about the job duties and pay can be found on the Sitka Local Foods Network website (see PDF file below), http://www.sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org/. If you are interested in the lead gardener contract, please submit a resume with two local gardening references and a letter of interest by Saturday, Feb. 5th, to 3akharts@acsalaska.net. For more information about the position, contact Lisa Sadleir-Hart at 747-5985 or Doug Osborne at 747-3752.

• St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm lead gardener job details (opens as PDF document)

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• Alaska Journal of Commerce article spotlights local food offerings of Sitka chef Josh Peavey

Josh Peavey, right, talks over Baranof beer at a recent all-Alaskan dinner at Bayview Restaurant and Wine Bar in Sitka. The entire menu down to the butter and the bread was made by Peavey with only Alaskan ingredients. (Courtesy Photo Josh Peavey)

Josh Peavey, right, talks over Baranof beer at a recent all-Alaskan dinner at Bayview Restaurant and Wine Bar in Sitka. The entire menu down to the butter and the bread was made by Peavey with only Alaskan ingredients. (Courtesy Photo Josh Peavey)

The Dec. 23-29, 2010, edition of the Alaska Journal of Commerce statewide business weekly newspaper has a feature story about the local food offerings of Sitka chef Josh Peavey. The article also was featured in the Dec. 29-Jan. 4 issue of Capital City Weekly.

Peavey is the executive chef at the New Bayview Restaurant and Wine Bar. He also owns The Alaskan Kitchen catering company. Peavey’s wife, Alicia, headed up the inaugural Sitka Seafood Festival in August.

In the article, Peavey discusses his efforts to serve more local foods in his restaurant and catering meals, even if that means looking elsewhere in Alaska to find ingredients. In November, Peavey hosted an all-Alaska-ingredients fundraising dinner that included some produce from the Sitka Local Foods Network and several types of finfish and shellfish from a variety of Sitka fish companies. The meal also included pork from North Pole, reindeer sausage from Anchorage, dairy products from the Matanuska-Susitna valleys and even beer from Sitka’s own Baranof Island Brewing Co.

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• Iris Klingler wins Table of the Day Award for her bread, honey and jelly during fifth Sitka Farmers Market of the summer

Sitka Local Foods Network board members Maybelle Filler, left, and Suzan Brawnlyn, right, present home baker and honey/jelly maker Iris Klingler with the Table of the Day Award for the fifth Sitka Farmers Market of the summer on Sept. 11, 2010.

Sitka Local Foods Network board members Maybelle Filler, left, and Suzan Brawnlyn, right, present home baker and honey/jelly maker Iris Klingler with the Table of the Day Award for the fifth Sitka Farmers Market of the summer on Sept. 11, 2010.

Iris Klingler won the Table of the Day award at the fifth and final Sitka Farmers Market of the summer on Saturday, Sept. 11, at Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall.

The local home baker and honey/jelly maker was presented with a certificate, $25 cash and a farmers market cookbook by Sitka Local Foods Network board members Maybelle Filler and Suzan Brawnlyn. Iris is one of the market’s newest vendors, but her table was a big hit. She sold out of her bread before the market was much more than an hour old, and her honey and jelly also sold well.

One vendor at each of the five Sitka Farmers Markets this season received similar prizes as the Table of the Day. This was the last big market of the summer, so Sitka residents will have to wait for next summer for the next opportunity to buy locally grown produce, locally caught fish, locally baked bread and locally made crafts at the Sitka Farmers Market.

Also, don’t forget the 16th annual Running of the Boots fundraiser for the Sitka

Runners hit the trail during the 14th Annual Running of the Boots race on Sept. 27, 2008, in Sitka.

Local Foods Network takes place at 11 a.m. (registration opens at 10 a.m.) on Saturday, Sept. 25, as part of the third annual Summer’s End Celebration hosted by the Greater Sitka Chamber of Commerce and the Alaska Cruise Association. This fun run for people sporting XtraTufs rubber boots features a run from the Crescent Harbor shelter through downtown Sitka and around St. Michael’s Russian Orthodox Cathedral.

Since St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm and several other local gardeners have late produce, the Sitka Local Foods Network will have a table or two of produce for sale at the Running of the Boots, with all proceeds going to the non-profit Sitka Local Foods Network to help us with our various projects. The produce tables won’t be as big as a typical Sitka Farmers Market, but WIC clients will be able to use their farmers market produce coupons. More details on the Running of the Boots are posted elsewhere on this site.

A slideshow of photos from the fifth Sitka Farmers Market is posted below, and a similar slideshow can be found on our Shutterfly site.

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• Bridget Kauffman wins Table of the Day Award for her baked goods during fourth Sitka Farmers Market of the summer

Sitka Local Foods Network board members Linda Wilson, left, and Lynnda Strong, right, present home baker Bridget Kauffman with the Table of the Day Award for the fourth Sitka Farmers Market of the summer on Aug. 28, 2010.

Sitka Local Foods Network board members Linda Wilson, left, and Lynnda Strong, right, present home baker Bridget Kauffman with the Table of the Day Award for the fourth Sitka Farmers Market of the summer on Aug. 28, 2010.

Bridget Kauffman won the Table of the Day award at the fourth Sitka Farmers Market of the summer on Saturday, Aug. 28, at Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall.

The local home baker was presented with a certificate, $25 cash and a farmers market cookbook by Sitka Local Foods Network board secretary/treasurer Linda Wilson and board member Lynnda Strong. Bridget has been at every market this year, one of many new bakers who have signed up to be vendors at the markets. Bridget bakes a variety of breads, from whole wheat and rye to specialty breads with nuts, seeds and other flavors. She made 40 loaves to sell at the first market, and sold out of them before the first hour was over. She has doubled her production, and still sells out before the market ends.

One vendor at each of the five scheduled Sitka Farmers Markets this season will receive a similar prize. The last big market of the summer is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 11, at historic ANB Hall. We look forward to seeing you there.

Also, don’t forget the 16th annual Running of the Boots fundraiser for the Sitka Local Foods Network takes place at 11 a.m. (registration opens at 10 a.m.) on Saturday, Sept. 25, as part of the third annual Summer’s End Celebration hosted by the Greater Sitka Chamber of Commerce and the Alaska Cruise Association. This fun run for people sporting XtraTufs rubber boots features a run from the Crescent Harbor shelter through downtown Sitka and around St. Michael’s Russian Orthodox Cathedral. There usually are one or two small tables with late produce, but not as many vendors as a regular market. More details on the Running of the Boots will be available later this month.

A slideshow of photos from the fourth Sitka Farmers Market is posted below, and a similar slideshow can be found on our Shutterfly site.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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• Sitka-based film, ‘Eating Alaska,’ goes international for screenings, national for PBS premieres

“Eating Alaska,” a film by Sitka filmmaker Ellen Frankenstein about local food and how Alaskans make their food choices, is going international with screenings in Poland, Croatia, Scotland and Canada in the next two months. The film also will be making its PBS premiere with broadcasts on various public television stations around the country during September, including two in Alaska (one with a live Skype interview).

The international screenings will be highlighted when Frankenstein and associate producer Valerie Lipinski attend the Kuchnia TV Food Film Festival and National Broadcast Sept. 30-Oct. 9 in Warsaw, Poland.

The film also will be shown (without the filmmaker in attendance) Sept. 16-19 at KinoOkus (Cinetaste), which is Croatia’s first gastronomic film festival that will focus on food education, environmental protection and sustainable development. Eating Alaska will be shown on Sept. 30 as part of the Reel Food Film Festival sponsored by the Ottawa Main Public Library in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. During September and October, “Eating Alaska” will be shown as part of the Cineco Environmental Film Festival sponsored by the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

In addition to the international showings, “Eating Alaska” will be shown for two live audiences in New York — on Oct. 5 as part of the Meet the Filmmaker Series at the Hewlett/Woodmere Public Library (Nassau) and on Oct. 6 at the Port Washington Public Library. “Eating Alaska” also will be shown a little bit closer to home, on Nov. 5-7 in Fairbanks, at the Far North Conservation Film Festival for those people looking for a live screening in Alaska.

While it won’t be broadcast nationally, “Eating Alaska” will make several premieres on local public broadcasting TV stations around the country during the month of September (click here for full schedule). The film will be aired in Houston, Texas; Evansville, Ind.; Austin, Minn.; Broomfield, Colo.; Charleston, Columbia, Spartanburg, Allendale, Beaufort, Florence, Sumter, Greenwood, Conway, Greenville and Rock Hill, S.C.; Greenville, N.C.; Anchorage, Alaska (at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 14, on KAKM Channel 7, featuring a live Skype online video interview with Ellen Frankenstein); Durham, N.H.; Keene, N.H.; Littleton, N.H.; Eureka, Calif.; Elmira, Syracuse and Utica, N.Y.; East Lansing, Mich.; Milwaukee, Wis.; and Fairbanks (KUAC), Bethel (KYUK), Juneau (KTOO) and other Southeast Alaska communities including Sitka (at 9 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 30, and again at 3 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 1, on AlaskaOne).