garden

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• More Lower 48 coverage of Sitka Farmers Market

A screenshot of the Red Bluff Daily News (Calif.) with the article about the first Sitka Farmers Market

A screenshot of the Red Bluff Daily News (Calif.) with the article about the first Sitka Farmers Market

Last week we made note that a Daily Sitka Sentinel story from July 17 that previewed the first Sitka Farmers Market had been picked up by the Associated Press newswire and found its way into the Augusta Chronicle in Georgia.

Well, this week that same story made another Lower 48 newspaper appearance when it hit the Red Bluff Daily News out of California (unfortunately this time there’s no photo of Florence Welsh with her giant broccoli). It’s always fun to see Lower 48 papers talking about local foods and Sitka.

Click here to see the story in the Red Bluff Daily News (Calif.)

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• A broccoli pesto/dip recipe from Sitka’s Keith Nyitray

Broccoli pesto/dip made by Sitka resident Keith Nyitray

Broccoli pesto/dip made by Sitka resident Keith Nyitray

A broccoli pesto/dip recipe from Sitka resident Keith Nyitray

What a wonderful year for gardening! If your garden is anything like mine this year, you probably ended up with an overabundance of broccoli. You’ve sold or given your broccoli away, gorged on steamed broccoli, made broccoli quiche, broccoli rarebit, cream of broccoli soup, and maybe even blanched and frozen some for the winter. And STILL the plants keep producing, especially those side florets!

Well, here’s a variation of pesto that stores well and can easily be transformed into a great dip for other fresh vegetables from your garden. The best thing about this “recipe” is that amounts aren’t written in stone. Feel free to play around with it. Personally I like to toast my pine nuts and double the amount of garlic!

Broccoli Pesto/Dip

3 cups broccoli florets
1/3 cup olive oil (or more as needed)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup pine nuts (walnuts also work)
1/4 cup fresh parsley (optional)
2 or 3 large cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon salt (sea salt if you have it)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
splash of lemon juice

Steam the broccoli in a medium saucepan until bright green and just slightly tender, drain and immediately rinse in cold water. (You can also cook the florets in a skillet with a pinch of salt, olive oil, and a little bit of water to retain the maximum amount of nutrients. Do not rinse.)

Place the broccoli, half the olive oil, and the rest of the ingredients in a blender or food processor and purée. While blending, drizzle in as much olive oil as is needed to reach a smooth, almost creamy, consistency. (Note: if you’ve got a small blender like mine, this can be done in two batches and mixed together by hand in a separate bowl.)

Once blended, toss it with cooked fettuccine noodles as you would a regular basil pesto. It will store in a refrigerator for weeks and almost indefinitely in a freezer.

To convert this into a hearty vegetable dip, just blend in a little sour cream, cream cheese, mayonnaise or yogurt to taste.

Broccoli growing in the garden

Broccoli growing in the garden

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• Georgia newspaper runs article on Sitka Farmers Market

A screenshot from the Augusta Chronicle Web site showing a story and photo about the Sitka Farmers Market

A screenshot from the Augusta Chronicle Web site showing a story and photo about the Sitka Farmers Market

They’re talking about the Sitka Local Foods Network in Augusta, Ga.

The Augusta Chronicle’s Web site ran a version of a story that originally appeared July 17 in the Daily Sitka Sentinel and then was picked up by the Associated Press news wire. The article includes a photo of Sitka gardener Florence Welsh showing off some broccoli and cauliflower she was getting ready to sell at the first Sitka Farmers Market on July 18.

The Juneau Empire also picked up the same article to post on its Web site (the Augusta Chronicle and Juneau Empire both are owned by Morris Publications out of Augusta).

Anyway, click on the links below to check out the article on both newspaper sites.

Click here to read the article from the Augusta Chronicle’s Web site.

Click here to see the article from the Juneau Empire’s Web site.

A screenshot of the Juneau Empire's Web site with the article about the Sitka Farmers Market

A screenshot of the Juneau Empire's Web site with the article about the Sitka Farmers Market

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• New photo galleries posted on Shutterfly

Shoppers look for deals at the first Sitka Farmers Market of the summer on July 18, 2009.

Shoppers look for deals at the first Sitka Farmers Market of the summer on July 18, 2009.

There have been a couple of new photo albums posted on the Sitka Local Foods Network page on Shutterfly (a photo-sharing site). There is an album of photos from Saturday’s first Sitka Farmers Market of the 2009 summer. There also is a photo album of photos from 2008 events, and an album of historical photos from 1898 to the late 1920s (used with permission from the Sitka Historical Society and Museum).

Click this link to go to the Shutterfly site where there are some new photo albums posted.

Sarah Williams shows off a hat she made to sell at the Sitka Farmers Market.

Sarah Williams shows off a hat she made to sell at the Sitka Farmers Market.

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• Sitka Farmers Market preview in July 17 paper

In case you didn’t see it, the Daily Sitka Sentinel previewed the first Sitka Farmers Market of the season with a front-page article and photo in the Friday, July 17, 2009, issue of the paper. Click the link below to read a PDF version of the Sentinel story (PDF requires Adobe Acrobat to read, which is a free download from Adobe).

SENTINEL-SitkaFarmersMarket17July2009

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• SEARHC, Cooperative Extension host free garden workshops

BobGormanSeedStarts

(Photo — Master gardener Bob Gorman shows off germinating seed starts during a free garden workshop in March. He will lead another workshop on July 8.)

SEARHC, Cooperative Extension host free garden workshops

Do you want to grow some of your own food this summer, so you can have more fresh food choices and eat healthier dinners? Then the third in a continuing series of garden workshops is for you.

The SEARHC Diabetes and Health Promotion programs have teamed up with master gardener Bob Gorman of the Sitka office of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service to offer a series of four free garden workshops during the summer of 2009. The remaining workshops take place from 1:30 to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, July 8, and Wednesday, Sept. 9.

These classes will be hosted at the SEARHC Community Health Services Building third-floor conference room in Sitka, but other communities will join by video or audioconference from the SEARHC Juneau Administration Building Conference Room, the SEARHC Jessie Norma Jim Health Center in Angoon, the Haines Borough Library, the SEARHC Kake Health Center and the SEARHC Alicia Roberts Medical Center in Klawock.

“Even though summer hasn’t fully arrived, people still have a lot they can do in this year’s growing season,” said Maybelle Filler, SEARHC Diabetes Grant Coordinator. “Southeast Alaska is unique in its growing conditions, and it’s great that the SEARHC Diabetes and Health Promotion programs can partner with the Sitka office of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service to provide information on growing things in our area.”

The first two workshops in the four-workshop series were March 11 and May 6. The topics for the two remaining workshops are:
* July 8 — Gathering and pest management.
* Sept. 9 — Late-winter plantings, trees and shrubs; house plants and indoor gardening; and winterizing your garden.

For more information about this series of free workshops, contact SEARHC Diabetes Grant Coordinator Maybelle Filler at 966-8739 or maybelle.filler@searhc.org. People who aren’t able to attend at one of the listed video or audeoconferencing sites, should contact Maybelle for other options. Maybelle also has extra copies of the handouts for those who miss any of the garden workshops.