community garden

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• Alaska Food Policy Council seeks people to join its five priority strategies action plan work groups

The Alaska Food Policy Council  is seeking Alaska residents to participate in five workgroups to help develop action plans for certain key food issues in the state.

A group of 30 council members met on April 4-5 to develop basic action plans geared toward five priority strategies to improve food security in the state. Now they need people to begin implementing the individual action plans. The five priority strategies are part of the Alaska Food Policy Council’s three-year strategic plan developed at its Jan. 12 meeting.

The five priority strategies include:

  • Improving school-based programs such as Farm to Schools and Fish to Schools;
  • Strengthening enforcement of the state’s 7-percent bidding preference for Alaska Grown food;
  • Improving emergency food preparedness plans throughout the state;
  • Serving as a research aggregator/resource to help people get a better handle on Alaska’s food situation and supply chain; and
  • Supporting local food efforts throughout the state.

The Alaska Food Policy Council got its start during a May 18-19, 2010, meeting in Anchorage. Sitka Local Foods Network treasurer Lisa Sadleir-Hart, a registered dietitian and SEARHC Health Educator, is one of the 30 members of the council.

These five work groups are open to anybody who has a special interest in the various topics. To learn more about the work groups, contact Lisa Sadleir-Hart at 966-8735 or lisa.sadleir-hart@searhc.org, or contact Alaska Food Policy Council Coordinator Diane Peck with the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services Obesity Prevention and Control Program at 269-8447 or diane.peck@alaska.gov.

• Alaska Food Policy Council School Programs Action Plan (Strategy 1)

• Alaska Food Policy Council Local Grown Action Plan (Strategy 2)

• Alaska Food Policy Council Disaster Preparedness Action Plan (Strategy 3)

• Alaska Food Policy Council Research and Information Action Plan (Strategy 4)

• Alaska Food Policy Council Public Engagement Action Plan (Strategy 5)

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• Please follow parking guidelines at community garden during Blatchley Middle School construction

Passing along a note from Blatchley Community Garden manager Dave Nuetzel about parking during this summer’s construction project at Blatchley Middle School.

This is an important issue:

If you or any other gardener parks near the fence we all may lose the garden!!

The contractors for the school need to have full access to their area.  There are signs and BIG arrows pointing at the signs.  We MUST park on Oja Way, the side road next to the garden toward Petro Marine.

Please notify anyone parking there of the rules. If they ignore you call me, or contact Sitka Community Schools.

If there are any conflicts on this matter we will all lose our garden for the summer.

Dave Nuetzel
Blatchley Community Garden
Community.Garden@hotmail.com
738-8732

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• Sitka Local Foods Network seeks assistant manager for Sitka Farmers Market

The Sitka Local Foods Network is seeking an assistant manager for the fifth year of Sitka Farmers Markets this summer. This person not only will assist Sitka Farmers Market coordinator Johanna Willingham, he or she also will assist lead gardener Laura Schmidt at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm in the growing of local produce to sell at the market.

This is a contract position for about 10-15 hours per week. The Sitka Farmers Market assistant manager commits to being available for six markets this summer, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on alternate Saturdays starting July 7 and running through Sept. 15 (July 7, 21, Aug. 4, 18, Sept. 1 and 15) at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall on Katlian Street.

Duties include submitting PSAs to local media about the markets and work parties at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm. The assistant manager will recruit local musicians to play at the markets, and will help set up and clean up before and after the markets. He or she also will help harvest at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm before and during the markets, as needed.

For more information about the position, contract Johanna Willingham at sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com or at 1-706-207-3184. More information can be found in the attached document. The deadline to apply is Friday, June 1, and the position starts on June 15.

• Job description for 2012 Sitka Farmers Market assistant manager position

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• St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm hosts another work party for spring planting and preparing for a summer of fresh veggies

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The Sitka Local Foods Network will host its first planting party of the season from 2-4 p.m on Saturday, May 5, at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm (located behind St. Peter’s By The Sea Episcopal Church on Lincoln Street, above Crescent Harbor).

Produce grown at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm is sold during the Sitka Farmers Markets to help fund Sitka Local Foods Network projects throughout the year. The 2012 Sitka Farmers Markets take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on alternate Saturdays starting July 7 through Sept. 15 (July 7, 21, Aug. 4, 18, Sept. 1, 15) at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall on Katlian Street.

Our last work party on April 21 was an absolute success (see photo slideshow above), and we’d like to continue to build on this momentum. In addition to planting crops, we’ll continue with bed building, adding amendments to the soil, laying down wood chips to prevent future weeds and lots more.  Tools and teaching will be provided.  Dress for the weather.

For more information, contact St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm lead gardener Laura Schmidt at 623-7003 or 738-7009. We will need a lot of bodies for this work party. We will continue planting the gardens on Saturday afternoons throughout May, now that we’re past the final freeze.

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• St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm hosts second work party to prepare for spring planting and a summer of fresh veggies

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The Sitka Local Foods Network will host its second work party of the season from 2-4 p.m on Saturday, April 21, at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm (located behind St. Peter’s By The Sea Episcopal Church on Lincoln Street, above Crescent Harbor).

Produce grown at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm is sold during the Sitka Farmers Markets to help fund Sitka Local Foods Network projects throughout the year.

Our first work party on April 14 was an absolute success (see photo slideshow above), and we’d like to continue to build on this momentum. We’ll continue with bed building, adding amendments to the soil, laying down wood chips to prevent future weeds and lots more.  Tools and teaching will be provided.  Dress for the weather.

For more information, contact St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm lead gardener Laura Schmidt at 623-7003 or 738-7009. We will need a lot of bodies for this work party. We will start planting the gardens in May, once we’re past the final freeze.

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• Help prepare St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm for spring planting and a summer of fresh veggies

St. Peter's Fellowship Farm sign

St. Peter's Fellowship Farm sign

It’s still a little cold to be planting outdoors, but it’s warm enough to start getting the garden ready.

There will be a special work party from 1-3 p.m. on Saturday, April 14, to expand our gardens at the St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden (located behind St. Peter’s By The Sea Episcopal Church on Lincoln Street). Produce grown at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm is sold during the Sitka Farmers Markets to help fund Sitka Local Foods Network projects throughout the year.

During this special work party, workers are needed to help add space to the garden. We will need people to use pick-axes to clear out salmonberry roots so we can prepare new garden beds. We also need people to shovel dirt and sift soil, among other jobs.

For those wanting to do lighter work, we need people to weed, mulch and spread fertilizer (seaweed) on the existing garden beds. Most garden tools will be provided, but we will need people to bring shovels and pick-axes if they have them.

For more information, contact St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm lead gardener Laura Schmidt at 623-7003 or 738-7009. We will need a lot of bodies for this work party. We will start planting the gardens in May, once we’re past the final freeze.

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• Let’s Grow Sitka garden education event is Sunday, March 11, at ANB Hall

Mark your calendars, because the 2012 “Let’s Grow Sitka” gardening education event opens at noon and runs until 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 11, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall on Katlian Street. Don’t forget to set your clocks to spring forward so you can get ready to grow.

This annual event brings together local garden supply stores, local gardeners, landscapers and anybody who is interested in learning how to grow food and/or flowers. Sitka Local Foods Network Vice President Linda Wilson, who is coordinating the event with SLFN Board Member Cathy Lieser, was interviewed during the Morning Edition show Thursday on KCAW-Raven Radio and she provided more details about this event (click the link to listen to the interview), which helps Sitka residents get excited about the upcoming garden season.

There will be a wide variety of individuals and businesses with booths for the event, with some booths providing gardening information geared toward and others selling gardening supplies. Lunch will be available for purchase. Here is a tentative list of some of those planning to host booths:

  • Linda Wilson, Sitka Farmers Market, Grow a Row for the Market
  • Cathy Lieser, Let’s Grow Sitka, Sitka Local Foods Network
  • Doug Osborne. Sitka Local Foods Network?
  • Johanna Willingham, Pacific H.S./Sitka Farmers Market backup.
  • Jud Kirkness, Sicka Waste compost project, Fruit tree map
  • Tom Hart, compost, NZ composter ?
  • Kerry MacLane. Pest management
  • Lisa Sadleir-Hart. St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm
  • Laura Schmidt, St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm/Seed swap & share
  • Maybelle Filler, ???
  • Stanley Schoening, Chickens, fig trees, UAF Cooperative Extension Service
  • Judy Johnstone, High Tunnel program
  • David Lendrum, Guest speaker 3:15, info on new/unusual varieties for Southeast Alaska
  • Jeren Schmidt, Sitka Spruce Catering, lunch for purchase
  • Robert Gorman, UAF Cooperative Extension Service, history of Experimental Station
  • Andrianna Natsoulas, Food Sovereignty
  • Tracy Gagnon, Sitka 4H Club
  • Eve Grutter, Chickens, produce
  • Adam Chinalski, Model greenhouse
  • Penny Brown, Garden Ventures – products for sale
  • Amanda Grearson, True Value – products for sale
  • Lowell Frank, Spenard Building Supply Garden Center ??
  • Michelle Putz, Locally grown environmental benefits?
  • Rick Peterson, Gardening 101 – easiest to grow, need to amend soil, etc…
  • Lori Adams, Down-to-Earth U-Pick Garden – garden promotion and information
  • Mike Tackaberry/Robin Grewe, White’s Inc. – products for sale
  • Mandy Summers, Pacific High School
  • Kelly Smitherman, National Park Service – garden at Bishops House, etc…
  • Lisa Teas, Sitka Farmers Market art debut
  • Florence Welsh, Forget-Me-Not Gardens, local garden booklet, possible plant starts
  • Hope Merritt, Gimbal Botanicals herbal teas – info on wild herbs and herbs to grow

Right after the three-hour Let’s Grow Sitka event ends, guest speaker Dave Lendrum of Juneau will speak at 3:15 p.m. on “New Vegetable Varieties, Small Fruits, and Ornamentals for Southeast Alaska.” Lendrum is a landscape designer who just finished a two-year term as president of the Southeast Alaska Master Gardener Association and with his landscape architect wife, Margaret Tharp, owns Landscape Alaska.

Dave’s life has evolved in partnership with the natural world. He grew up in California on an organic u-pick vegetable farm, learning horticulture from his parents and the 4H club. He did nursery work and continued his post-college adventure in Ecuador by starting a fresh market produce business. After being a city horticulturist at the Eugene (Ore.) Parks Department, Dave started his first nursery, Western Oregon Perennials. A few years later, he found himself in a high-temperature photosynthesis lab at Stanford. In the Pacific Northwest, Dave restored old estate gardens. When he heard Alaska’s call, he moved north to Elfin Cove. Dave and his wife started Landscape Alaska in Juneau 28 years ago. They design and build landscapes on every scale and have won numerous awards both locally and nationally. In addition, Dave is the landscape superintendent for the University of Alaska Southeast and the Southeast representative on the statewide invasive species organization (SNIPM).

For more information about Let’s Grow Sitka, contact Linda Wilson at 747-3096 (evenings, weekends) or lawilson87@hotmail.com, or Cathy Lieser at 978-2572. The two event fliers for this event are posted below as Adobe Acrobat files (PDF files).

• Main flier for 2012 Let’s Grow Sitka event

• Flier for Dave Lendrum presentation after Let’s Grow Sitka event ends

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• Booths and vendors needed for the Let’s Grow Sitka! garden education event in March

Sitka residents wander the booths during the 2009 Let's Grow Sitka garden show

Sitka residents wander the booths during the 2009 Let's Grow Sitka garden show

It is time to start planning for the 2012 Let’s Grow Sitka Garden Expo. This year’s event will be from noon to 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 11, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall.

Linda Wilson is coordinating the event, and she is looking for anyone interested in participating. Table spaces are FREE. The only restriction is that your products, services, information, displays, demonstrations, etc., must be related to gardening or food production in Sitka.

Linda is looking for:

  • Vendors selling garden-related products, including seeds, supplies, tools, books, accessories, …
  • Vendors promoting/selling their garden-related services, such as greenhouse and cold frame construction, yard maintenance, …
  • Vendors promoting/selling products and services related to small animal husbandry, such as chickens, ducks, rabbits, pigs, etc., …
  • Someone to host a table, do a display or presentation/demonstration on the following topics:
    • Growing root crops in Sitka (potatoes, carrots, etc…)
    • Root cellars and other methods for storage of vegetables
    • Fruit trees and berry bushes
    • Raising chickens and ducks
    • Composting and using compost
    • Soils and soil amendments
    • Edible flowers and ornamentals
    • Cold frames and other small garden structures that extend the growing season
    • Greenhouses
    • Seed swap and share table
    • Hosting a children’s activity such as decorating a pot and planting pansy, violet, viola seeds to take home.  Or ???
    • Garden pests — slugs, root maggots, etc., …
    • Proper garden drainage – how to construct garden beds to drain properly
    • Anything else you can think of that relates to growing food in Sitka, …

Please consider volunteering to host a table or to be a vendor. We want to make this a bigger and better event for this year,  and to get more people inspired to start or expand a garden. Last year we were unfortunate to be scheduled during the same week as Spring break, but NOT this year!

Please let Linda know, at your earliest convenience, if you would like to reserve a table or booth space. Linda can be reached at lawilson87@hotmail.com or 747-3096 (evenings and weekends).

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• Sitka Local Foods Network board of directors to meet on Monday, Feb. 6

The 2011-12 Sitka Local Foods Network Board of Directors at its winter board retreat on Dec. 3, 2011. From left are Lisa Sadleir-Hart, Doug Osborne, Maybelle Filler, Cathy Lieser, Robin Grewe, Linda Wilson and Kerry MacLane. Not pictured are Johanna Willingham-Guevin and Tom Crane.

The 2011-12 Sitka Local Foods Network Board of Directors at its winter board retreat on Dec. 3, 2011. From left are Lisa Sadleir-Hart, Doug Osborne, Maybelle Filler, Cathy Lieser, Robin Grewe, Linda Wilson and Kerry MacLane. Not pictured are Johanna Willingham-Guevin and Tom Crane.

The Sitka Local Foods Network board of directors will hold its monthly meeting from 6:30-8 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 6, at the Sitka Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Building, 408 Marine St. (parking lot is off Spruce Street).

Key topics for the meeting include planning for the Let’s Grow Sitka on March 11, a recap of the Jan. 21 Sitka Local Foods Network annual meeting and potluck, an update on the Sitka Community Greenhouse and Education Center, an update on the Sitka Food Co-op, an update on recent work by the Alaska Food Policy Council, an update on the Sitka Composting Project (Sick-a-Waste), our new logo and t-shirts, planning for spring planting at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm and other community gardens, planning for upcoming events such as the Sitka Farmers Markets on alternating Saturdays from July 7-Sept. 15, and more.

Board meetings are free and open to the general public, usually once a month (except summer). We always welcome new volunteers interested in helping out with our various projects. For more information, contact Kerry MacLane at 752-0654 or 747-7888.

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• Sitka Local Foods Network hosts annual meeting and potluck dinner on Saturday, Jan. 21

Please join the Sitka Local Foods Network for its annual meeting and potluck dinner at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 21, at the Sitka Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall (408 Marine St., parking lot is off Spruce Street).

Join us as we honor our four years of existence and prepare for our fifth year. During this time, the Sitka Local Foods Network has worked on several initiatives — creating the Sitka Farmers Market, building St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm, hosting the Let’s Grow Sitka! garden education event, and more. We supported projects to plant more fruit trees around Sitka, get more local fish served in school lunches and increase Sitka’s ability to compost, and we are working toward starting the Sitka Community Greenhouse and Education Center. We also received a 501(c)(3) non-profit status from the IRS, so people can make tax-deductible gifts to help fund our work.

Our annual meeting and potluck is open to the public, and all Sitka residents are welcome to attend. We will feature local and slow foods, but we really value your attendance. This is our opportunity to say thank you to those who have helped us grow, and it is your chance to learn more about what we’re doing and how you can help.

As we enter 2012, Sitka and the rest of Alaska face some serious food security issues. According to a recent survey by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service, the weekly cost for food for a family of four in Sitka has gone up 44 percent over the past five years. With rising fuel prices, this trend does not figure to change in the near future. Sitka still imports about 90-95 percent of its food from the Lower 48 or other countries, which means transportation is a big part of our food cost. The Sitka Local Foods Network is looking for input from Sitka residents about how we can work to improve Sitka’s food security. We also are working with the Alaska Food Policy Council, which is a statewide organization working on food security issues.

So mark your calendar to attend our annual meeting and potluck dinner at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 21, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall, 408 Marine St. For more information, contact Kerry MacLane at 752-0654.