March 24, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• Check out the special PFD edition of the Sitka Local Foods Network newsletter

The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out a special PFD application edition of its newly launched newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.

This special edition of the newsletter has just one story in it, a reminder that the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend application deadline is one week away (March 31). We encourage Alaskans to participate in the 2015 Pick.Click.Give. charitable giving program that’s part of the PFD application, and we appreciate your support of the Sitka Local Foods Network through the program. A regular monthly newsletter will come out on or near April 1.

You can sign up for future editions of our newsletter by clicking on the registration form image in the right column of our website and filling in the information. If you received a copy but didn’t want one, there is a link at the bottom of the newsletter so you can unsubscribe. Our intention is to get the word out about upcoming events and not to spam people. We will not share our email list with others to protect your privacy.

March 23, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• Sitka Seafood Festival offers culinary scholarship and paid internship opportunity

Are you a budding chef from Sitka who’d like an opportunity to work with some top-notch chefs from around the country? The Sitka Seafood Festival is offering its culinary scholarship and paid internship again for 2015. The application deadline is Monday, June 22.

This $500 scholarship will be awarded to an individual interested in pursuing the culinary arts. The program includes the opportunity to work with renowned chefs for 3-5 days, a $500 stipend for three days of work, letters of recommendation from Sitka Seafood Festival staff for future career moves, and recognition to the community during the Sitka Seafood Festival community banquet on Friday, Aug. 7. This is a great opportunity to give back to the community of Sitka.

This year’s guest chefs haven’t been announced yet. But last year the executive guest chef was Caleb France, with returning guest chefs Seth Caswell from Seattle, Mickey Neely from Chicago, Robert Kinneen from Anchorage, and Jeren Schmidt from Sitka.

This year’s Sitka Seafood Festival takes place on Thursday-Sunday, Aug. 6-9, with a variety of activities around Sitka. This year’s event schedule hasn’t been announced yet, but typically there is a community banquet featuring a variety of local seafood on Friday night, while Saturday’s activities include fish-tote races at Crescent Harbor, a parade down Lincoln Street, Scottish Highland Games at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp, live music, cooking demonstrations, and a variety of food, informational and artist booths in the marketplace at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp.

For more information, go to the Sitka Seafood Festival website, or contact the festival at sitkaseafoodfestival@gmail.com. You also can contact Alicia Haseltine at (928) 607-4845.

• Click here for a detailed description of the SSF Scholarship program.

• Click here for an application to the SSF Scholarship program.

March 19, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• It’s time to … learn how to start your seeds for your spring vegetable garden

Spring 2014 plant starts in Sitka gardener Keith Nyitray’s Finn Island Farm greenhouse.

It’s the end of March, which means many people in Sitka are already planning their spring vegetable gardens. While it’s still too early to plant most crops outdoors, this is the perfect time to start some seeds indoors to you can transplant them into your garden in May.

The Sitka Local Foods Network is offering two free classes this spring about starting seeds. Both classes will be limited in size, so preregistration is required. Click here to check out the radio PSA.

The first one will be taught by Jennifer Carter, and it takes place from 6:30-8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 31, at Harrigan Centennial Hall. In this class, which is limited to 15 people, participants will learn how to mix seed-starting soil (potting soil usually is too rich for seedlings), and they will plant a few seeds to take home and grow.

The second class will be taught by longtime Sitka gardener Linda Wilson at 2 p.m. at her home. This class will be limited to 8-10 people, and you will receive the address when you call Michelle Putz or Jennifer Carter (see numbers below) to preregister.

Also, the next meeting of the Sitka Local Foods Network education committee is from 6:30-8 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1, at the Sitka Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall, 408 Marine Street (parking off Spruce Street). We will be brainstorming ideas for upcoming classes, and we welcome local gardeners who want to teach classes to join our list of educators. Just give us a topic, best date and time, and we can help you find a venue.

For more information about Sitka Local Foods Network education classes, contact Jennifer Carter at 747-0520 or 1-850-491-2666 (cell), or Michelle Putz at 747-2708. These are two of the 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.

March 15, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• Scenes from the March 9 ribbon-cutting celebration for the Sitka Kitch community commercial kitchen

On Monday, March 9, a couple of dozen people attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Sitka Kitch community commercial kitchen, located at Sitka First Presbyterian Church (505 Sawmill Creek Road).

The new community commercial kitchen came out of a food security project from the 2013 Sitka Health Summit. Sitka residents decided a community kitchen would serve several functions as a place to teach cooking and nutrition classes, a place to teach food preservation classes, a place for small cottage food businesses to have access to a rental commercial kitchen, etc. It is a place for education, business incubation, and community cultivation about food in Sitka.

The Sitka Kitch project (note, new website for scheduling) is a partnership between the Sitka Conservation Society, Sitka First Presbyterian Church, Sitka Local Foods Network, Sitka Food Co-op, Sitka Health Summit, Sustainable Southeast Partnership, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service (Sitka District Office). The kitchen recently was renovated after the church received a $13,000 community blessings grant from the Northwest Coast Presbytery.

During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Marjorie Hennessy of the Sitka Conservation Society and Sustainable Southeast Partnership discussed the history of the project and some of its goals. Then she and Cyndy Gibson, representing Sitka First Presbyterian Church, cut the ribbon.

Please check out the linked brochure for the current rental rates, which are tiered depending upon the planned use of the facility. This kitchen does meet Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation commercial kitchen food safety standards, but renters are required to get all of their other required permits (business license, food-handling permits, etc.) before renting the kitchen. Groups that already regularly use the facility for deliveries, such as the Sitka Food Co-op and Everything Organic Sitka, will continue to use the facility.

For more information about Sitka Kitch rentals, check the website, contact sitkakitch@sitkawild.org or call the Sitka Conservation Society at 747-7509. Eventually the management will switch over to the church.

A slideshow is posted below the brochure with photos from the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

• Sitka Kitch informational brochure

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

March 14, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• It’s time to … learn how to build a simple raised garden bed

While we’re waiting for spring to finally show up in Sitka, one thing gardeners can do to prepare for planting is build a simple raised garden bed. The pictures with this post feature members of the WISEGUYS men’s health group (Rick DeGroot, Kerry MacLane, Doug Osborne and his daughter, Darby, then 4) building a garden bed in May 2008 at Blatchley Community Garden in Sitka.

First, you will need some untreated lumber (treated lumber has chemicals that can get into your food), with 2x12s being good for the frame. Your garden bed will probably be between 3-4 feet wide and 6-8 feet long, depending on your garden space and your lumber. Don’t go much wider than four feet, because you will want to be able to easily reach across the garden so you can plant and weed without falling into the bed. You can go longer than eight feet, but you might need to use more than one board to get that length. So cut your boards to your desired length and width.

Next, lay out your lumber and nail or screw your boards together to form a box. Some people prefer screws over nails, because they don’t pull loose as easily as nails. But use what you have. Some people will add corner posts that can be punched into the ground.

After you’ve built the frame, cover the ground with a bunch of old cardboard or newspapers. This will act as a barrier to help keep weeds from getting into your veggies.

Now you can start filling your frame with soil. About halfway through filling the frame, you can add a layer of seaweed, compost or other soil amendments to add nutrients to your soil. Finish by adding top soil that you mix with some of your soil amendments.

Once you have your raised garden bed built and full of soil, you can start planting (if you’re past your last-frost date, which tends to be mid-May in Sitka). Once you have your seeds planted or starts transplanted, you can water your garden bed.

In Sitka it’s always a good idea to use row-cover over your garden, especially early in the season. This not only helps keep birds and other pests out of your garden, but the white fabric creates a mini-greenhouse effect that helps warm your soil so your seeds sprout sooner.

• UAF Cooperative Extension Service publication on raised bed gardening

• UAF Cooperative Extension Service publication Gardening In Southeast Alaska

• UAF Cooperative Extension Service publication Southeast Alaska Garden Varieties

March 10, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• It’s time to … learn about how to raise chickens (March 25) and rabbits (April 8)

Bobbi Daniels of The Sawmill Farm grooms one of the rabbits she raises for yarn.

For more than a year, the Sitka Local Foods Network has offered a variety of free garden education classes. Now we’re adding livestock classes as Bobbi Daniels of The Sawmill Farm has offered to teach Raising Chickens 101 and Raising Rabbits 101.

The Raising Chickens 101 class is from 6:30-8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 25, at the Sitka Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall (408 Marine Street, parking on Spruce Street). The Raising Rabbits 101 class is 6:30-8 p.m. on Wednesday, April 8, at the Sitka Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall. Click here to check out the radio PSA.

“I am planning on tailoring the classes to who shows up (new chicken owners vs. those considering chickens) so it will go according to who is there and what they need to know, taking questions and sharing resources,” Bobbi said. “If people have something specific they want me to cover, they can message me on Facebook or call me 738-4481.”

The chicken class will cover a range of topics, including what breeds are best for eggs or meat, basic chicken coop info, how to prevent predators from getting into your flock, what types of feed you need, the advantages of chicken coop co-ops, the best time to get your chicks, etc. The rabbit class will cover topics such as what breeds are best for meat or yarn, rabbit feed types, how long it takes rabbits to reach maturity, how much cage space you need, etc.

These classes are free and open to all Sitka residents wanting to learn about chickens and rabbits. For more information about Sitka Local Foods Network education classes, contact Jennifer Carter at 747-0520 or 1-850-491-2666 (cell), or Michelle Putz at 747-2708. These are two of the 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.

March 10, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• Sitka Local Foods Network seeks manager and assistant manager for 2015 Sitka Farmers Markets (deadline extended)

The Sitka Local Foods Network has extended the application deadline as it looks for a manager and assistant manager to coordinate the 2015 Sitka Farmers Markets this summer. These are contract positions, and the manager and assistant manager (who reports to the manager) receive small compensation depending on experience for their work organizing the six scheduled farmers markets this summer.

This is the eighth year of operation for the Sitka Farmers Market, which features six markets from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. every other Saturday from July through September at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall (this year’s market dates are July 4, 18, Aug. 1, 15, 29, and Sept. 12). The farmers markets feature booths from local farmers/gardeners, local fishermen, and artisans and craftspeople. These events are great Sitka gathering places, and we promote local foods and other local goods at the markets.

A detailed description of the market manager duties can be found at the link below. For more information or to submit applications, contact Maybelle Filler at 738-1982 or mocampo25@hotmail.com, or you can email the Sitka Local Foods Network Board of Directors at sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com (please put “Sitka Farmers Market Manager” in the subject line). Applications should include a cover letter, resume, three recommendations, and they are due by 5 p.m. on Friday, April 3. The market manager of the Sitka Farmers Market reports to the Sitka Local Foods Network Board of Directors, and the assistant manager reports to the manager.

• Description of duties for market manager of the Sitka Farmers Market Manager (2015)

March 9, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• State grants available for summer ‘Chef at the Market’ program at 2015 local farmers markets

Suzan Brawnlyn, the Chef at the Market, holds a sample cup of honey miso-glazed black cod with broccoli and bok choy stir fry during a cooking demonstration on July 21, 2012, at the second Sitka Farmers Market of the season.

The state’s Chef at the Market program is accepting grant applications from Alaska chefs interested in providing demonstrations at local farmers markets between May and September this year.

The Chef at the Market program began in 2011 to promote fresh Alaska Grown specialty crops and teach Alaskans new ways to prepare them. The program has also provided a new opportunity for chefs to develop relationships with the local food vendors who supply restaurants and with Alaskans interested in cooking Alaska Grown at home.

In the summer of 2013, six Alaska chefs performed a total of 27 demonstrations at nine local farmers markets and special events. In 2014 there were 39 demonstrations at nine local farmers markets around the state. In addition to hosting demonstrations at the local farmers markets, chefs prepare recipes and other information about how to use the local produce they highlighted each week.

The Sitka Farmers Market hasn’t had a Chef at the Market since 2012, when Suzan Brawnlyn hosted four Chef at the Market presentations. We weren’t able to host a chef in 2013 because the kitchen was closed due to construction at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall, and no Sitka chefs applied in 2014. The ANB Hall construction is finished and the kitchen is open again, so Sitka chefs are encouraged to apply for 2015.

The Chef at the Market program is part of the federal Specialty Crop Block Grant administered by the Alaska Division of Agriculture, so it will have 2015 funding (despite budget cuts to other state-run programs). To apply for a 2015 summer program grant, go to http://dnr.alaska.gov/ag/ag_grants.htm or download the application at http://dnr.alaska.gov/ag/Grants/2015CATMRFP.pdf. Grant applications are due on Tuesday, March 31.

To find out more information about the Chef at the Market grants and demonstrations, contact Jacquelyn Schade at jacquelyn.schade@alaska.gov or 907-761-3858.

March 7, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• HB92 will require labeling of GMOs for food sold in Alaska

As a food consumer you want to know what’s in your food. Has it been soaked with chemical pesticides? Was it created using genetically modified organisms (GMOs)? How nutritious is it? Unfortunately, current laws don’t require labeling of GMOs, so you don’t know if you’re buying Frankenfoods.

Rep. Geran Tarr, along with co-sponsors Rep. Scott Kawasaki and Rep. Chris Tuck, introduced a bill, HB92, to require labeling of genetically modified food. HB 92 is being heard by the House Resources Committee on Monday, March 9, and Rep. Tarr needs you to provide a letter of support. Can you send Rep. Tarr a letter of support for GMO labels?

Please email a short, from-the-heart letter about why you want the right to know about GMOs to Rep. Tarr at Rep.Geran.Tarr@akleg.gov. She’ll forward it along to the committee members.

Also, the timing is great because this week Rep. Tarr is sponsoring “Alaska Food Security Awareness Week,” with special showings of the movie, GMO OMG, in Anchorage, Juneau, Sitka and Fairbanks. GMO OMG is a film that addresses how GMOs affect our children, the health of our planet, and our freedom of choice when it comes to the foods we eat.

Join us to watch GMO OMG in:

FAIRBANKS – Tuesday, March 10, 5:30 p.m. at the Blue Loon
ANCHORAGE – Wednesday, March 11, 7 p.m. at the Anchorage Museum
SITKA – Thursday, March 12, 5:30 p.m. at the Coliseum Theater, Downtown
JUNEAU – Friday, March 13, noon-1 p.m., Lunch and Learn at the State Capitol, Butrovich Room, GMO OMG film screening, Butrovich Room, 6-8 p.m.

Here is the link to the Facebook invite. If you could share this with your friends, that would be great.

Rep. Tarr was the sponsor of HJR 5, passed in 2013, to oppose GMO salmon. With your help, she can win the right to know about GMOs for Alaska. Please email her your letter of support today at Rep.Geran.Tarr@akleg.gov.

March 6, 2015 by Charles Bingham

• Two new books from UAF Cooperative Extension Service encourage kids to eat more veggies

So you’ve got a nice garden but your kids don’t want to eat their veggies? What is a parent to do? Two new books by Sarah Lewis of the Juneau District Office of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service can help get your kids eating their veggies. And they’re available for free downloads.

Sarah is the Family and Community Development Agent for Southeast Alaska, she travels throughout the region giving cooking and canning classes. She will be back in Sitka in mid-July to test pressure canner gauges and teach several classes yet to be determined.

“Sitka’s 4-H Cloverbuds Club helped me refine a few of the recipes after we had a wonderful time in the kitchen together last year,” Sarah said. “Talk about some fun publications to do research for.” (Note: contact the Sitka Conservation Society for more information about Sitka 4-H clubs.)

The first book is Time for a Kale-abration! Introducing the wonders of kale to Alaskan kids. The free 12-page booklet is all about a garden plant that grows well in Sitka, but one some people have trouble eating. The book features information about the varieties of kale, nutritional info, and several kid-friendly recipes from main courses to desserts.

The second book is The Alaska Kids’ Healthy Harvest Cookbook: Alaska kids grow, cook, eat and love vegetables. This free 12-page booklet lists several common vegetables found in Alaska gardens (kale, carrots, peas, zucchini and potatoes) and provides a variety of recipes using these veggies. It also includes recipes for venison stew and salmon chowder (both heavy with Alaska veggies).

According to the UAF Cooperative Extension Service, “Research shows that helping kids have fun with vegies, even ones they say ‘eeewww’ to, increases the chance they’ll try and like then as they get older. For this reason, our very own Sarah Lewis, Family and Community Development Agent for Southeast Alaska, has written two publications to introduce veggies (especially Alaska Grown ones!) to kids. Time for a Kale-abration and Alaska Kids’ Healthy Harvest Cookbook offer simple and tasty recipes that can be cooked with or by kids, with a menu for a kale-themed party or a harvest festival. Sarah has held local food parties and festivals with 4-H kids and Girl Scouts throughout Southeast Alaska, and now you can hold some with your kids, class, or youth group.”