composting

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UAF Cooperative Extension Service to host Scrappy Cooking 101 class with Jennifer Nu

Learn how to make your own vegetable stock, bone/fish broth, and pectin with Jennifer Nu from Ecotrust and the Sustainable Southeast Partnership in a “Scrappy Cooking 101” workshop.

This event takes place from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 7, at the Sitka Lutheran Church kitchen (downstairs behind the church, please use street parking and not the lot behind the church). The workshop is free, but registration is required.

Jennifer will also lead a focused discussion on what happens to food waste in Sitka, how to start composting, and tips and tricks for reducing food waste in your household.

To register or ask questions, contact Jasmine Shaw with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service at jdshaw2@alaska.edu or 907-747-9440. 

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UAF Cooperative Extension Service offers free online gardening classes

The Kenai District Office of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service is offering a series of free online gardening classes.

These classes start on Thursday, March 19, and continue through May 21. You can find out more and register at this link. All of the classes start at 5:30 p.m., with most of the classes being on Thursdays and the other classes on Tuesdays.

Due to the COVID-19 coronavirus, UAF Cooperative Extension Service offices are closed to the public, so hopefully this online class series will help gardeners get their fix as they build their gardens this spring and summer. The link above also include access to some national online gardening classes.

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Scenes from the Southeast Alaska Farmers Summit held Feb. 15-17

Southeast Alaska Farmers Summit event organizer Jennifer Nu (Juneau), far right, introduces the members of the planning committee after the final session on Sunday. From left are Colin Peacock (Juneau), Lori Adams (Sitka), Joe Orsi (Juneau), Bo Varsano (Petersburg), Marja Smets (Petersburg), Andrea Fraga (Sitka) and Laura Schmidt (Sitka).

The 2019 Southeast Alaska Farmers Summit came to Sitka last week, with events Feb. 15-17 at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp’s Sweetland Hall and downtown at Harrigan Centennial Hall.

Started in 2015 in Petersburg as a way to bring the farmers and commercial food and flower growers in Southeast Alaska together, the Summit provides them with a forum to discuss what works and doesn’t work in their communities. The Summit takes place every other year, and in 2017 it was in Haines.

A variety of small farms around the region made presentations about how they grow food. There also was a vendor showcase and educational talks by farmers from outside the region.

The event was organized by Jennifer Nu and Colin Peacock of the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition out of Juneau, with support from the Sitka Local Foods Network, Sitka Kitch, Sitka Food Co-Op, and other groups.

A slideshow of scenes from the Summit is posted below.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training to take place Feb. 18 in conjunction with Southeast Alaska Farmers Summit

The State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Office of the State Veterinarian is hosting a Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 18, in the Raven Conference Room at the Aspen Suites Hotel in Sitka (210 Lake Street). This course is being held in conjunction with the Southeast Alaska Farmers Summit, which takes place on Feb. 15-17 at various locations around Sitka.

This FDA-approved course satisfies the Grower Training curriculum requirements under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule.

There is no charge for class participants. Funding is provided by an FDA-State of Alaska Cooperative Agreement. Growers will receive a free certificate of attendance for completing the course.

Who should register for this course? Commercial fruit & vegetable growers, farmers market vendors, and all others interested in learning about produce safety, the FDA Produce Safety Rule, and good agricultural practices should attend. Participants will gain a basic understanding of:

  • Microorganisms relevant to produce safety and where they may be found on the farm;
  • How to identify microbial risks, practices that reduce risks, and how to begin implementing food safety practices on your farm; and
  • Requirements of the FDA Produce Safety Rule and how to meet them.

This class covers these seven modules:

  • Introduction to Produce Safety;
  • Worker Health, Hygiene, and Training;
  • Soil Amendments;
  • Wildlife, Domesticated Animals, and Land Use;
  • AgriculturalWater (Part I: Production Water; Part II: Postharvest Water);
  • Postharvest Handling and Sanitation; and
  • How to Develop a Farm Food Safety Plan

This course is being held in conjunction with the Southeast Alaska Farmers Summit, which has early bird registration deals that end on Dec. 31 (after Jan. 1, the price goes up). This event is hosted by the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition and the Sustainable Southeast Partnership.

To register for the course or for more information, contact Barbara Hanson at the DEC Office of the State Veterinarian at (907) 375-8278 or barbara.hanson@alaska.gov.

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Early registration deadline is Dec. 31 for Southeast Alaska Farmers Summit in Sitka

The Southeast Alaska Farmers Summit will be in Sitka on Feb. 15-17, and the early registration deadline is Dec. 31. After that, the price goes up.

This event takes place every other year in various locations around Southeast Alaska (2015 in Petersburg, 2017 in Haines), and it provides a chance for farmers and backyard gardeners to meet and learn ways to make their businesses more profitable and efficient. More program details can be found at the event’s main link.

Early bird registration currently is available through Dec. 31 on the summit website at $40 per person, with the price rising to $60 after Jan. 1. This fee does not include meals, which are $100 for all three days if purchased before Dec. 31 and $120 after that. Accommodations are $85 a night in the Sweetland Hall dorms, and details can be found on the summit website.

This year’s summit is being coordinated by the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition out of Juneau (with SAWC local foods coordinator Jennifer Nu being the main contact), and the Sitka Local Foods Network and other Sitka groups are supporting the event. For more information about the summit, contact Jennifer at jennifer@sawcak.org.

The Sitka Local Foods Network has been asked to help coordinate a community potluck or catered local foods dinner on Friday night, and to help provide transportation between the airport or ferry terminal and the summit housing site at Sweetland Hall on the Sitka Fine Arts Camp/old Sheldon Jackson College campus. We will need volunteers to help with these requests. The Sitka Local Foods Network will host a short meeting for Sitka volunteers at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 13, at 1612 Sawmill Creek Road (Laura Schmidt’s house). Please click this link to RSVP for the meeting

For more information about volunteering, contact Sitka Local Foods Network board chairman Charles Bingham at charleswbingham3@gmail.com.

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Southeast Alaska Farmers Summit coming to Sitka in February 2019

 

The Southeast Alaska Farmers Summit is scheduled for Friday through Sunday, Feb. 15-17, 2019, in Sitka, with an extra all-day on Feb. 18 for an optional produce grower safety training.

Most of the events at this year’s summit will take place at Sweetland Hall on the Sitka Fine Arts Camp (old Sheldon Jackson College) campus or at Harrigan Centennial Hall. The summit opens at 1 p.m. on Friday, and closes at 5 p.m. on Sunday. Full details can be found on the summit website, https://www.saltandsoilmarketplace.com/farmers-summit/

This event takes place every other year at various locations throughout the region, with the previous events taking place in Petersburg (2015) and Haines (2017).

“This gathering began in 2015 when commercial farmers and producers in Southeast Alaska decided to come together to learn from one another about producing local food in a challenging growing environment and how to bring these products to market,” event organizers posted on their website. “Since then, this summit has met every other year in a different community to reconnect, expand their knowledge, and share their experiences with a growing network of local food producers. The 2019 Southeast Alaska Farmers Summit will be the third annual gathering for current commercial produce growers and for those who would like to explore this potential in our region.”

Friday’s schedule highlights include reports from various growers around Southeast Alaska about what is working and what isn’t working where they are. On Saturday, there will be in-depth presentations on pest disease management, composting in Juneau and Petersburg, farming in Fairbanks, employees and interns, cover crops, and growing gourmet mushrooms. Sunday’s schedule includes more in-depth presentations, as well as side sessions on hydroponics, composting, entrepreneurship/business consulting, and more.

Early bird registration currently is available through Dec. 31 on the summit website at $40 per person, with the price rising to $60 after Jan. 1. This fee does not include meals, which are $100 for all three days if purchased before Dec. 31 and $120 after that. Accommodations are $85 a night in the Sweetland Hall dorms, and details can be found on the summit website.

This year’s summit is being coordinated by the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition out of Juneau (with SAWC local foods coordinator Jennifer Nu being the main contact), and the Sitka Local Foods Network and other Sitka groups are supporting the event. For more information about the summit, contact Jennifer at jennifer@sawcak.org.

The Sitka Local Foods Network has been asked to help coordinate a community potluck or catered local foods dinner on Friday night, and to help provide transportation between the airport or ferry terminal and summit site. We will need volunteers to help with these requests. To help with the Friday night meal or ground transportation, contact Sitka Local Foods Network board chairman Charles Bingham at charleswbingham3@gmail.com.

 

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Southeast Alaska Garden Conference set for Feb. 16-18 in Haines

The 2018 Southeast Alaska Garden Conference is coming soon. Space is limited, so sign up now to pay a lower early registration fee until Jan 15.

Join  gardeners of Southeast Alaska for a three-day conference, Feb. 16-18, in Haines, on growing local produce in our short challenging growing season. The conference will focus on home use and small-scale farms, topics will include soil health, gardening practices, storage and preservation, composting, and food security.

Acclaimed long-time Alaska garden author and writer Jeff Lowenfels will be the keynote speaker (his Anchorage Daily News garden column is the longest-running garden column in the country at more than 40 years). The conference format will include breakout sessions with local experienced growers, community extension personnel and sharing forums. There will be many opportunities to network and share knowledge.

To register online or to check out the event schedule, click on the conference’s EventBrite link. The conference costs $100, with those paying before Jan. 15 paying $75 and those paying between Jan. 16 to Feb. 1 paying $90. For info about scholarships, registration, accommodations, transportation, payment by check, or other requests, contact Leslie Evenden at (907) 314-0608 or email leslieevenden@gmail.com.

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UAF Cooperative Extension Service updates Alaska’s Sustainable Gardening Handbook

Sustainable Gardening 2015 cover

“Alaska’s Sustainable Gardening Handbook” has been updated.

This publication was first produced in 2010 as an adaptation of “Sustainable Gardening: The Oregon-Washington Master Gardener Handbook” and this is the first revision. It is used as one component in Master Gardener training programs for University of Alaska Cooperative Extension Service volunteers in Alaska, but is also a must-have for all Alaska gardeners.

UAF Cooperative Extension Service agriculture and horticulture agents have contributed their expertise to provide information on topics such as basic botany, lawns, vegetable gardening, orchards, entomology, pest management and more.

Call 877-520-5211 (toll-free in Alaska) to order the handbook, or check with Jasmine Shaw of the Sitka District Office at 747-9440 to see if she has any copies available locally. The 490-page book costs $50.

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• It’s time to … learn how to rebuild soil nutrients with the Everyone Can Compost class March 4

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One of the problems with gardening in Sitka is the frequent rain washes a variety of nutrients out of the soil. Composting your kitchen scraps is a great way to rebuild the nutrients in your soil, but many people aren’t sure where to start.

The Sitka Local Foods Network will host the free class Everyone Can Compost from 6:30-8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 4, at the Sitka Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall (408 Marine Street, parking off Spruce Street).

This class will teach Sitka gardeners why people compost, the mechanics of composting, and what to compost. It also will show you what you need for your kitchen to collect scraps, and how to set up a compost box outside if you have a large space (or how to compost when you live in an apartment). In addition to providing fresh nutrients for your garden soil, composting is a good way to track your food waste.

“We will present the class in a way so you can personally adapt composting to your situation,” teacher Jennifer Carter said.

This class is free and open to all Sitka residents wanting to learn how simple it is to compost. For more information, contact Jennifer at 747-0520. It also is one of many free classes being offered this year by the Sitka Local Foods Network education committee. Click here to get a full list of our upcoming spring classes.

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• Lori Adams discusses composting in her latest Daily Sitka Sentinel garden column

(Lori Adams, who owns Down-To-Earth U-Pick Garden and is a frequent vendor at the Sitka Farmers Market, will be writing a regular garden column in the Daily Sitka Sentinel this summer. The Sentinel is allowing us to reprint the columns on this site after they first appear in the newspaper. This column appeared on Page 4 of the Wednesday, June 27, 2012, edition of the Daily Sitka Sentinel.)

GARDENING IN SITKA

By Lori Adams

COMPOSTING

Sitka has poor soil. Any plant waste thrown into our garbage cans travels by barge and truck to Eastern Washington. Bagged soil is expensive and travels by truck and barge to get here. Garden waste can be turned into soil. COMPOSTING IS IMPORTANT!

Concentrated fertilizers provide plants with basic nutrients and are potent enough that they only need to be applied once or twice a year. Compost feeds plants with a gentler mixture of basic nutrients and a multitude of micronutrients, but must be applied about once a month to adequately feed your plants. Many people use a combination of the two.

“Compost” is defined as “a mixture of decaying organic material used to improve soil structure and provide nutrients.” Basically it’s the process of throwing excess plants and plant parts into a pile to rot down and turn into soil. This process can take about a year, but if you educate yourself and compost with a plan there are ways to speed up the process.

Plant parts fall into two main categories — Carbon/Brown and Nitrogen/Green. Composting experts suggest using 30 parts carbon to 1 part nitrogen.

  • EXAMPLES OF CARBON MATERIALS: untreated sawdust, straw, leaves, shredded newspaper, corn stalks and cobs, needles and cones, wood ashes (be sure the ashes are cold!)
  • EXAMPLES OF NITROGEN MATERIALS: manure, seaweed, chemical-free grass clippings, coffee grounds, food waste, spent brewer’s grain, fish waste
  • EXAMPLES OF MATERIALS NOT TO USE: cooking oil, soap, cat or dog poop, walnuts, maple leaves, colored paper, weed seed heads or roots, diseased plants
  • LOCATION: anywhere in the sun where it’s safe from rats, dogs and bears

There are many styles of composting bins you can purchased, but I think the ideal setup would be three bins side by side, no larger than 4 feet by 4 feet, made from pallets with see-through roofing to keep out the rain. The bottom would be just dirt to allow free movement of worms and bacteria and the fronts would be open.

In Bin No. 1 accumulate plant material. At some point, spend a day gathering bulk materials and layer them with your plant material in Bin No. 2. (Any new material that accumulates from now on is held in Bin No. 1.)  After a week use a pitch fork to “flip” the pile into Bin No. 3. Flipping gets oxygen throughout the whole pile better than stirring does which will really speed up the decomposition process. You should now notice quite a bit of heat coming from the pile and it should not stink.

Flip the pile once a week back and forth between Bins No. 2 and No. 3 for about two months.  By then it should resemble dirt. Sift it for use and throw all the chunks into Bin No. 1.

Remember that compost is not magical … whatever you put into your pile is what you will get out of it as far as nutrition is concerned. Be sure to adjust your pH level by adding some lime or seashell sand to it before you use it.

If you want to learn more about composting, I highly suggest you read these two books — “Let It Rot,” by Stu Campbell, and “The Complete Compost Gardening Guide,” by Barbara Pleasant and Deborah L. Martin.

Once your compost is ready you can spread it about 1 inch thick around your plants and watch them grow!!

Brought to you by Down-To-Earth U-Pick Garden

2103 Sawmill Creek Road

Open June-August / Monday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

747-6108 or 738-2241

http://downtoearthupick.blogspot.com/