garden

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#SeedMoneyChallenge fundraiser launches today for Jarvis Street community garden project

Sitka’s Jarvis Street community garden project is participating in the annual #SeedMoneyChallenge, a 30-day fundraising challenge running from Nov. 15 to Dec. 15, and we could really use your support.

In addition to keeping 100 percent of the funds we raise from individuals like you, we have a chance to win a challenge grant of up to $1,000 from SeedMoney based on how much we raise over the course of the 30-day challenge period. The fundraiser goes live at 8 a.m. Alaska Time on Wednesday, Nov. 15, and we are competing against more than 400 other garden projects around the world.

The Jarvis Street community garden project is one of two community garden projects originally proposed by Transition Sitka and the Sitka Local Foods Network, which would fill a glaring need in this town since the Blatchley Community Garden was closed in 2016. This project will build a new half-acre community garden at the top of Jarvis Street, near where the Sitka Homeless Coalition is building a tiny home neighborhood for unhoused Sitkans.

The funds raised in this campaign will go toward the $2,000 cost of a survey on the proposed site, which is needed for permitting the garden. Even though the garden site has Sitka Assembly approval, there are preliminary hurdles, such as paying for a licensed surveyor to establish the garden boundaries. Transition Sitka will receive the funds from this campaign.

As extra incentives, SeedMoney is offering a $400 bonus grant to the campaign that raises the most in the first 24 hours and 50 $100 bonus grants to the 50 campaigns that raise the most during the first week. Your support on launch day can help us secure one of these bonus grants.

Please support our campaign here, https://donate.seedmoney.org/9535/jarvis-street-community-garden.

For more information, go to https://transitionsitka.org/projects/sitka-food/sitka-community-gardens/ or call project coordinator Joel Hanson at 907-747-9834.

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Sitka Community Food Assessment Team thanks those who helped with food security survey

Thank you, Sitka, for taking, sharing, and supporting the Sitka Food Security Survey! Our survey ran from September to the end of October, and we gathered more than 400 responses. This survey is part of a larger effort to better understand food security in Sitka and capture the ways in which we can make it easier for all Sitkans to have access to affordable, nutritious, and culturally relevant food. We are so grateful for the outpouring of support and for each person who took time out of their day to complete the survey.

This work is a result of a partnership between the Sitka Local Foods Network and Transition Sitka, both local nonprofits with a vested interest in food security in Sitka. We are grateful to the dedicated members of those organizations who donated their time to help spread the word about the survey, especially Charles Bingham, Leah Mason, Barbara Bingham, and Toby Campbell. This work would not be possible without the dedicated support and guidance of our steering committee which include community partners at the Sitka Tribe of Alaska Social Services Department, The Sitka Public Library, Sitkans Against Family Violence, Blessings in a Backpack, Sitka Conservation Society, and UAF Cooperative Extension Services.

A special thanks to the organizations and events in town that shared and hosted the survey including the Sitka Sound Science Center, the Sitka Public Library, Indigenous People’s Day, Coffee with Elders, Southeast Alaska Independent Living, UAS Sitka Campus, AC Lakeside, Sitka Homeless Coalition, Sitka Sentinel, and Raven Radio.

Gunalchéesh, thank you for your support in this work! We plan to share results from the survey in early spring. If you would like to be added to our listserv to receive updates, including summary survey results, please email sitkafoodassessment@gmail.com.

In gratitude and service,
The Sitka Community Food Assessment Team

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Like what we do? Now you or your business can sponsor the Sitka Local Foods Network in 2024

The Sitka Local Foods Network in recent years created a sponsorship program to help promote our mission, and Sitka businesses and individuals are welcome to join for 2024. The goal of the sponsorship program is to make the projects we undertake (Sitka Farmers Market, St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm, gardening education, food business development, etc.) more sustainable.

“Sitka has a precarious position when it comes to food security, and the Sitka Local Foods Network is trying to improve our community food security through our mission to increase the amount of locally harvested and produced foods in the diets of Southeast Alaskans,” Sitka Local Foods Network president Charles Bingham said. “Sponsors of the Sitka Local Foods Network are working with an organization and a farmers market that places a high value on local food and businesses, fun, premium quality goods and experiences.”

In recent years, the Sitka Local Foods Network has hosted 7-8 Sitka Farmers Markets during the summer (from July to September). Due to COVID-19, we had to greatly scale back our 2020 Sitka Farmers Markets, focusing just on produce sales and using an online sales portal, but we did double our number of market weeks. In 2021, we hosted an outdoor-only market that brought back some of our vendors. In 2022, we returned to our usual venue of the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall after a two-year absence, and we almost had a normal market (with masking to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and no half-tables to spread out vendors). We had a similar experience in our 2023 markets. We haven’t set our 2024 market dates yet, but we anticipate we will announce them in the spring.

In addition, we grow most of the local produce sold at the markets at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden and a couple of other locations in town. In March 2020 we built a new high tunnel at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm, and we were able to add another new high tunnel before the 2021 growing season. These high tunnels allowed us to extend our growing season and helped reduce the impact of our last couple of cold, wet summers. We usually offer a variety of garden education classes in the spring. And one way we ensured fresh, local produce is available to lower-income Sitkans is through our matching program for WIC and SNAP beneficiaries (the first $20 spent on produce at the market), courtesy of recent grants from the Sitka White Elephant Shop and the Sitka Legacy Foundation.

In 2018 we launched the Sitka Food Business Innovation Contest to inspire food entrepreneurs in Sitka, and have continued the program with the expectation of hosting it again in 2024 (our 2023 winners were Andrea Fraga of Middle Island Gardens and Michael and Julie Miller of Field to Fire). In 2023-24, the Sitka Local Foods Network is partnering with Transition Sitka on two projects — one to update the 2014 Sitka Community Food Assessment Indicators Report and the other to build a new community garden at the top of Jarvis Street. In addition, we support other local food projects in Sitka, such as the Fish to Schools lunch program and the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen.

There are four levels of sponsorship available, and each has its own set of perks.

  • Grower ($2,500-plus) — We’ll hang your banner at ANB Hall during the Sitka Farmers Markets, include your logo and company name prominently in our merchandise and advertisements, and thank you on our social media and web pages. If appropriate for the Sitka Farmers Market, you may set up a free promotional booth.
  • Harvester ($1,000-$2,499) — We’ll hang your banner at ANB Hall during the Sitka Farmers Markets and include your logo and company name in our merchandise and advertisements.
  • Planter ($250-$999) — Your banner will hang at ANB Hall during the Sitka Farmers Markets.
  • Friend ($50-$249) — You are listed on our online sponsor page.

We have limited space for banners at the Sitka Farmers Markets, so please contact us before June 1 to guarantee your spot. To learn more about the sponsorship program, click the link below for details and a registration form. For more information, contact Charles Bingham at (907) 623-7660 or by email at sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com.

• 2024 Sitka Local Foods Network sponsorship program details and registration form

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Thanks for a successful 16th season of the Sitka Farmers Market

2023 Sitka Farmers Market Manager Anastasia Stefanowicz with fresh produce at the Sitka Local Foods Network farm stand

The Sitka Local Foods Network just completed its 16th season of hosting the Sitka Farmers Market. We hope Sitka residents enjoyed the market, and we plan to be back next summer for a 17th season.

Over the last couple of years, we had to make some adjustments as we dealt with this Covid-19 pandemic thing, which meant relocating our market for two years and in one of those years reformatting it to an online-purchase system. The last two years we’ve been able to return to our usual venue, the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall, even though we still had to require masks when we had markets during high-Covid risk weeks. 

But we got through it and hope to have a better season next year.

The Sitka Local Foods Network couldn’t host the market without the support of a wide range of sponsors. We have a tiered sponsorship program with four levels — Grower ($2,500-plus), Harvester ($1,000-$2,499), Planter ($250-$999) and Friend ($50-$249). These are local businesses and individuals, and even a few not from Sitka, who are supporting our programs.

Our Grower Level sponsors in 2022 and/or 2023 included the Alaska Cancer Partnership (a program of the Alaska Division of Public Health), The Alaska Community Foundation, and Alaska Food Policy Council.

Our Harvester Level sponsors were the Sitka Salmon Shares/Sitka Seafood Market 1% For The Wild Fund, The Sitka Legacy Foundation, SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC), Sitka White Elephant Shop (White E), the GCI Gives Fund, ALPS/Tongass Federal Credit Union, the Alaska Farmers Markets Association, Northrim Bank, David and Margaret Steward, and Joel and Alice Hanson.

Our Planter Level sponsors were Harry Race Pharmacy/White’s Inc., Sea Mart, Market Center, Fish and Family Seafoods, the Sitka Employees of First National Bank Alaska, Sitka True Value/Ace Hardware, Linda Schmidt, Amanda Anjum, Colin McIntosh of Outpost Agriculture, and Charles Bingham.

Our Friend Level sponsors included Beth Short-Rhoads, Patricia Atkinson, Guillermo Espinoza, Ehsan Espinoza, Robb Garni, Jud Kirkness, Catherine Allgood-Mellema, Joe Leghorn, Pat Hanson, Beth Kindig, Lisa Sadleir-Hart, Jaime Zelhuber, Christina Kowalczewski, Traci Gale, Math Trafton, Zoe Trafton, Leah Mason, Moira McBride, Steve Paustian and Mary Beth Nelson, Aubrey Nelson, Kent Barkhau, Deborah Brincefield, and Robin Sherman. 

We thank you for your support. We also appreciate everybody who came to one of our markets this summer to support the local businesses selling local food or arts and crafts. 

This brings us to our offseason, where we plan and raise funds for 2024. The Sitka Local Foods Network is a 501c3 nonprofit whose mission is to increase the amount of locally produced and harvested food in the diets of Southeast Alaskans. In addition to the Sitka Farmers Market, we grow food at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm, sponsor the Sitka Food Business Innovation Contest, and connect residents to education opportunities for growing, cooking, and preserving local food. 

We also are partnering this year with Transition Sitka on two food security projects — to update the data from the 2014 Sitka Community Food Assessment Indicators Report and to start a new community garden at the top of Jarvis Street.

We always need new board members and volunteers. For more information, go to our website at www.sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org or contact SLFN Board President Charles Bingham at sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com.

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Sitka Community Food Assessment update kicks off with new food security survey

Struggling to buy the foods you prefer to eat? Have food stored in case of an emergency?  Able to access the local, wild foods you love? Take the Sitka Food Security Survey and help local organizations better understand the food challenges facing Sitkans and the community. 

This project will update the Sitka Community Food Assessment Indicators Report, which was released in April 2014 as part of a 2012 Sitka Health Summit community wellness project. That data now is at least a decade old, so an update is needed for better community planning and food security.

The survey takes less than 10 minutes and the link can be found below and hard copies will be available at the Sitka Farmers Market and the Sitka Public Library. A link to the survey can be found at https://forms.gle/LGWTYRT6XsdgLCgaA, or you can scan the QR code on the flier above. Please submit your surveys before Saturday, Oct. 21 (NOTE: The deadline for submitting surveys has been extended to Tuesday, Oct. 31.).

Questions or concerns? Please contact Callie Simmons at sitkafoodassessment@gmail.com. This update is being coordinated by Transition Sitka, the Sitka Local Foods Network, and the Sitka Community Food Assessment.

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Christi Henthorn to lead a week of free classes about beekeeping in Sitka

Calling all current beekeepers and those interested in learning more about how to get started.

There will be a week of presentations and Q&As with Christi Henthorn, a visiting experienced beekeeper and former Sitkan, from Sept. 12-19. See flier above for class descriptions. Classes are free, but advance registration is requested at https://bit.ly/sitkabees

For questions, contact Jasmine Shaw of the Sitka District Office of the UAF Cooperative Extension Service at jdshaw2@alaska.edu or 907-747-9440.

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Sitka Planning Commission to discuss community gardens proposal at Wednesday meeting

The Sitka Planning Commission will hear testimony on a lease request to build two community gardens on city land during its meeting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 19, at Harrigan Centennial Hall.

Transition Sitka and the Sitka Local Foods Network are jointly making the proposal, which would build Sitka’s first true community gardens since Blatchley Community Garden closed in 2016. The proposal will build two community gardens, one off Osprey Street behind the Vilandre Park ballfield next to Blatchley Middle School and a garden off the top of the Jarvis Street hill near where the new village of tiny homes for the homeless will be built.

“These gardens will fill a big food security need in our community, since we have a lot of people who live on boats or in apartments where they don’t have gardening space,” Sitka Local Foods Network board president Charles Bingham said. “When we worked on the Sitka Comprehensive Plan 2030, building new community gardens was listed as a major goal for the near future.”

There was a town hall on July 10 to discuss the proposal, which was moderated by the Sitka Planning and Community Development Department. KCAW did a morning interview before the town hall, and the Daily Sitka Sentinel wrote a story about the meeting (paywall).

For more information, go to https://transitionsitka.org/projects/sitka-food/sitka-community-gardens/ or call project coordinator Joel Hanson at 907-747-9834.

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Town hall meeting on July 10 will discuss new community garden proposal for Sitka

A town hall meeting to discuss Sitka community gardens will take place from 6-8 p.m. on Monday, July 10, at Harrigan Centennial Hall.

Nonprofits Sitka Local Foods Network and Transition Sitka are proposing to build two community gardens — on Jarvis Street and off Osprey Street.

The city’s Department of Planning and Community Development will moderate the discussion of the two proposals.

For more information, go to https://transitionsitka.org/projects/sitka-food/sitka-community-gardens/ or call Joel Hanson at 907-747-9834.

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Learn the basics of starting a home-based food business on June 21

Learn what the basics of starting and running a cottage foods business as Sarah Lewis teaches students How to Start a Cottage Foods Business (also known as a home-based food business) from 4-5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 21, at the Sitka Public Library.

This class is designed to help vendors prepare for the upcoming Sitka Farmers Markets hosted by the Sitka Local Foods Network.

Sarah Lewis — the home, health and family development agent for the Juneau office of the UAF Cooperative Extension Service — will teach this class live in Sitka. Students will learn about state laws regarding home-based food businesses, and get ideas for businesses you might take to the Sitka Farmers Market or local trade shows. The first hour will be spent discussing rules and regulations, and the second part of the class will be for questions and answers.

The Sitka Local Foods Network is offering students of this class half off their Sitka Farmers Market vendor fee for the first market of the season where they host a table (as a rebate). Representatives from the Sitka Local Foods Network/Sitka Farmers Market and (hopefully) the Sitka food safety office of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation are planning to attend so they can answer any questions potential cottage foods business owners may have.

For more information about the class, contact Charles Bingham of the Sitka Local Foods Network at 907-623-7660 or Jasmine Shaw at the UAF Cooperative Extension Service Sitka District Office at 907-747-9440.

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Pacific High School to host spring garden plant sale on Friday and Saturday

The garden program at Pacific High School will host a garden plant sale from 2-4 p.m. on Friday, May 5, and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 6, at the SouthEast Alaska Career Center (SEACC) building, 205 Baranof St. (the building behind the school).

The high school has offered students a garden club and class for several years, even hosting MOBY the Mobile Greenhouse during the 2019-20 school year. In September 2021, Pacific High School received a USDA Farm To School grant for its edible garden project. The students are growing the starts and selling them to raise money for the school activities fund. The students have flower, herb, kale and other veggie starts available.

Customers are asked to park at the Crescent Harbor parking lot and walk over to the school at 509 Lincoln Street. The starts will be available on a table in front of the school. All starts are $6-8, and people can pay with cash or checks. Masks and social distancing are respected. For more details, call 907-747-0525.