KCAW-Raven Radio

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The Garden Show returns to KCAW-Raven Radio spring programming lineup for 31st year

For 31 years, Mollie Kabler and Kitty LaBounty have taken to the KCAW-Raven Radio airwaves during the spring months to broadcast The Garden Show.

They’ve already recorded two shows this year, and the Garden Show will have a regular 9:30-10 a.m. slot on Fridays. Since this week is KCAW’s spring pledge drive, the show will take pace from 9-10 a.m. on Friday, April 8. Kitty also has a regular music show (Hometown Brew) from 2-4 p.m. on Thursdays, and in the past the half-hour Garden Shows sometimes took place during her program.

Garden Show topics include timely tasks for gardening in Southeast Alaska, taking on-air questions, and themes around basic and more advanced gardening of vegetables, flowers, fruit, trees, etc. The station’s website has links to previous shows.

Mollie and Kitty have been gardening in Sitka for more than 30 years each, and they also have significant gardening experience from their childhoods in Wisconsin (Mollie) and Oregon (Kitty). They both are certified as Master Gardeners, after completing the class series offered by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service.

To call the show with gardening questions, call 747-5877 and ask to be connected to the show.

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Sitka Public Library launches new Sitka Seed Library

Photo from Sitka Public Library page on Facebook

The Sitka Seed Library, located at Sitka Public Library, is now open to the public.

Photo by Robert Woolsey of KCAW-Raven Radio

You can check out all kinds of seeds to bring home and grow in your own garden. The Sitka Seed Library also accepts donations of saved or purchased seed to share with the community. No library card is required. Just come to the library, fill out a registration form, and start growing.

“The original idea came after speaking to a friend who thought we needed a seed library in Sitka,” Sitka Public Library Adult Services Librarian Margot O’Connell wrote in an email. “After doing some research, I found it would be an easy project to start and would accomplish a lot of our programming goals.”

The Sitka Seed Library is a community seed project dedicated to feeding our community, sharing knowledge, and building resiliency. We offer free seeds to all participants and encourage donations of both purchased and saved seeds. All are welcome to participate. Members are encouraged to learn basic gardening and seed saving techniques, and to help us grow the project into the future.

“Folks are encouraged to return seeds, but it isn’t required because I want it to be as accessible as possible,” O’Connell wrote. “I have a feeling that the folks who donate will make up for those who don’t.”

Several public libraries have started seed libraries in recent months, following the model of the Growing Ester’s Biodiversity program at the John Trigg Ester Library in Ester, located just outside Fairbanks and one of the oldest public-library-based seed libraries in Alaska. Other seed libraries are in Dillingham, Homer, Soldotna, and other communities. In 2018, the Alaska Legislature passed a bill that removed several barriers to sharing seeds in the state.

On Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022, O’Connell was a guest on the Morning Interview show on KCAW-Raven Radio, where she gave more details about Sitka’s new seed library.

For more information, please call Margot O’Connell at 747-4020 or email margot.oconnell@cityofsitka.org.

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The Garden Show returns to KCAW-Raven Radio spring programming lineup for 30th year

For 30 years, Mollie Kabler and Kitty LaBounty have taken to the KCAW-Raven Radio airwaves during the spring months to broadcast The Garden Show.

This year, with the coronavirus affecting shows, the Garden Show will have a regular 9:30-10 a.m. slot on Fridays, starting on Friday, April 9. Kitty has a regular music show (Hometown Brew) from 2-4 p.m. on Thursdays, and sometimes in the past the half-hour Garden Shows took place during her program.

Garden Show topics include timely tasks for gardening in Southeast Alaska, taking on-air questions, and themes around basic and more advanced gardening of vegetables, flowers, fruit, trees, etc. The station’s website has links to previous shows.

Mollie and Kitty each have been gardening in Sitka for more than 30 years, and they also have significant gardening experience from their childhoods in Wisconsin (Mollie) and Oregon (Kitty). They both are certified as Master Gardeners, after completing the class series offered by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service.

To call the show with gardening questions, call 747-5877 and ask to be connected to the show.

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The Garden Show returns to KCAW-Raven Radio spring programming lineup for 29th year

For 29 years, Mollie Kabler and Kitty LaBounty have taken to the KCAW-Raven Radio airwaves during the spring months to broadcast The Garden Show.

This year, with the coronavirus affecting shows, the Garden Show will have a regular 9:30-10 a.m. slot on Fridays, starting on Friday, April 10. Kitty has a regular music show (Hometown Brew) from 2-4 p.m. on Thursdays, and sometimes in the past the half-hour Garden Shows took place during her program.

Garden Show topics include timely tasks for gardening in Southeast Alaska, taking on-air questions, and themes around basic and more advanced gardening of vegetables, flowers, fruit, trees, etc. The station’s website has links to previous shows.

Mollie and Kitty each have been gardening in Sitka for more than 29 years, and they also have significant gardening experience from their childhoods in Wisconsin (Mollie) and Oregon (Kitty). They both are certified as Master Gardeners, after completing the class series offered by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service. Kitty currently is helping teach an online Alaska Master Gardeners class in Sitka.

To call the show with gardening questions, call 747-5877 and ask to be connected to the show.

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The Garden Show returns to KCAW-Raven Radio spring programming lineup for 28th year

For 28 years, Mollie Kabler and Kitty LaBounty have taken to the KCAW-Raven Radio airwaves during the spring months to broadcast The Garden Show.

This year there’s a change to the show, as the show will hold three scheduled sessions from 10:30-11 a.m. on Saturdays, May 11, May 25, and June 15, when people can call in with gardening questions. In past years the show aired from April through June, or longer into the summer if work schedules permit. Kitty has a regular music show (Hometown Brew) from 2-4 p.m. on Thursdays, and sometimes the half-hour Garden Shows may take place during her program.

Garden Show topics include timely tasks for gardening in Southeast Alaska, taking on-air questions, and themes around basic and more advanced gardening of vegetables, flowers, fruit, trees, etc. The station’s website recently posted a news item about the upcoming schedule that also had links to previous shows.

Mollie and Kitty each have been gardening in Sitka for more than 28 years, and they also have significant gardening experience from their childhoods in Wisconsin (Mollie) and Oregon (Kitty). They both are certified as Master Gardeners, after completing the class series offered by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service.

To call the show with gardening questions, call 747-5877 and ask to be connected to the show.

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Sitka Local Foods Network teams up with ANS to host Fourth of July booths on Tuesday

The Sitka Local Foods Network is teaming up with the Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp No. 4 to host Fourth of July booths from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, July 4, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall (235 Katlian Street).

This event came together after the usual Fourth of July booths at the Baranof Elementary School playground were canceled. The goal is to provide a similar family friendly and fun event, while helping the ANS raise money to attend Grand Camp Convention in Portland, Ore., this fall and helping the Sitka Local Foods Network raise money to help improve food security in Sitka.

ANS will have hot food to sell, and the Sitka Local Foods Network will have a table featuring Alaska Grown food products and SLFN swag. There also will be a variety of artisans, food vendors, music and fun and games.

Booths will be available to rent for $60 for six hours (NOTE: Since this was posted, table prices have been reduced to $40 for six hours), and participants in the July 1 Sitka Farmers Market will receive a $10 deduction on their booth fee. To learn more about the event, click this link to listen to a June 28 interview on KCAW-Raven Radio. For booth reservations, contact Debe Brincefield of ANS at 738-4323.

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The Garden Show returns to KCAW-Raven Radio spring programming lineup for 26th year

For 26 years, Mollie Kabler and Kitty LaBounty have taken to the KCAW-Raven Radio airwaves during the spring months to broadcast The Garden Show.

This year there’s a major change to the show, as the show doesn’t have a designated time slot and so will be a pop-up show as they fit episodes around their travel plans and the radio station schedule. In past years the show aired from April through June, or longer into the summer if work schedules permit. Kitty has a regular music show (Hometown Brew) from 2-4 p.m. on Thursdays, and many of the half-hour Garden Shows may take place during her program.

Garden Show topics include timely tasks for gardening in Southeast Alaska, taking on-air questions, and themes around basic and more advanced gardening of vegetables, flowers, fruit, trees, etc. For example, on the pop-up show on Thursday, May 6, Kitty interviewed Keith Nyitray of Finn Island Farm about the vegetables and plant starts he grows in the Kasiana Islands near Sitka.

Mollie and Kitty each have been gardening in Sitka for more than 26 years, and they also have significant gardening experience from their childhoods in Wisconsin (Mollie) and Oregon (Kitty). They both are certified as Master Gardeners, after completing the class series offered by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service.

To call the show with gardening questions, call 747-5877 and ask to be connected to the show.

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The Garden Show returns to KCAW-Raven Radio spring programming lineup March 16

KittyLaBountyAndMollieKablerKCAWGardenShow

Kitty LaBounty and Mollie Kabler (Photo courtesy of KCAW-Raven Radio)

For 25 years, Mollie Kabler and Kitty LaBounty have taken to the KCAW-Raven Radio airwaves during the spring months to broadcast The Garden Show.

This year there’s a major change to the show, as it moves to Wednesday mornings, about 8:30-9 a.m., starting on March 16. In past years the show aired on Saturday afternoons from April through June, or longer into the summer if work schedules permit. Topics include timely tasks for gardening in Southeast Alaska, taking on-air questions, and themes around basic and more advanced gardening of vegetables, flowers, fruit, trees, etc.

Mollie and Kitty each have been gardening in Sitka for more than 25 years, and they also have significant gardening experience from their childhoods in Wisconsin (Mollie) and Oregon (Kitty). They both are certified as Master Gardeners, after completing the class series offered by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service.

To call the show with gardening questions, call 747-5877 between 8:30-9 a.m. on Wednesdays starting March 16.

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• New biotoxin lab in Sitka allows for quicker, better monitoring of harmful algal blooms in Southeast Alaska

MichaelJamrosChrisWhiteheadEstherKennedyJohnDorothyOrbisonDeanOrbison

From left, Sitka Tribe of Alaska Environmental Lab Manager Michael Jamros, STA Environmental Program Manager Chris Whitehead, and STA Environmental Specialist Esther Kennedy discuss the new Sitka Biotoxin Lab with visitors to an open house on Monday, Nov. 30, 2015. The new lab will help Southeast subsistence and sport shellfish harvesters learn about harmful algal blooms in the region so they can avoid paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) or amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP).

Most shellfish eaters are aware of the massive algal bloom that shut down many shellfish operations on the Pacific Coast this summer. The algal bloom even reached Sitka’s Starrigavan Beach with the June discovery of Pseudo-nitzchia, a species of plankton that sometimes produces domoic acid which can cause amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP). ASP causes gastrointestinal issues in mild cases, such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps. In more severe cases there will be neurological problems, such as headaches, confusion, hallucinations, short-term memory loss, respiratory difficulty, seizures, coma, and in extreme cases, death.

SEAKTribalToxinsSEATTPartnerLocationsUntil two years ago, Southeast Alaska beaches and subsistence- and sport-harvested shellfish weren’t tested for harmful biotoxins. That changed with the Southeast Alaska Tribal Testing (SEATT) program, a partnership of regional tribes coordinated by Sitka Tribe of Alaska, that began training technicians from six villages (now 12 villages) in the region on how to gather water samples so they could be tested. SEATT is part of a program called Southeast Alaska Tribal Ocean Research (SEATOR).

Now the project has moved to the next phase, the creation of a Sitka Biotoxin Lab, located at 429 Katlian Street, that can provide quicker and better testing results to people in the region who want to eat shellfish. Instead of sending samples to the Lower 48 for testing, which can take more than a week or two, samples from Southeast Alaska can be tested in Sitka and data can be available in less than 24 hours, Sitka Tribe of Alaska Environmental Program Manager Chris Whitehead said during an open house at the lab on Monday, Nov. 30. Before the lab opened, the program just took water samples. But now it will be able to actually test the shellfish for biotoxins.

Whitehead said one of the purposes of the lab is to give shellfish harvesters as much information as possible about possible harmful algal blooms so they can make informed decisions about if they still want to harvest and eat local shellfish. Harmful algal blooms spread a variety of biotoxins, such as domoic acid and saxitoxin, which can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) and amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP). PSP and ASP can be deadly, and in 2010 there were two people in Southeast Alaska who died from PSP.

Cockles-Alaska-Department-of-Health-and-Social-Services“The toxins can stay in butter clams for 2 1/2 to three years,” Whitehead said, disproving the common local myth that shellfish is safe to eat in months with R in the name. “We’re still seeing blooms in December.”

Whitehead said he’s hoping to eventually be able to do baseline sampling of a variety of beaches in Southeast Alaska. He said they are sampling bays for cyst beds by digging cores in the beach soil, and they’ve found cysts 3-4 meters (9-13 feet) below the surface. While the beach might be safe for now, if people start building piers or docks it can stir up the cyst beds and launch a harmful algal bloom.

The lab and testing program is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Indian Environmental General Assistance Program, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and Tribal Cooperative Landscape Conservation Program, and the Administration for Native Americans’Environmental Regulatory Enhancement program. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Biotoxin Programs from Seattle, Wash., and Charleston, S.C., provided training through workshops to help develop the SEATT program.

raw-clams-350Michael Jamros, PhD, was hired in October as the STA Environmental Lab Manager, and he will be handling most of the actual testing and diagnosis of the seawater and shellfish. He said right now the lab is focused on subsistence and sports harvests, but down the road it’s hoping to become FDA-certified so it can test commercial harvests.

Esther Kennedy is the STA Environmental Specialist, and she said “every week I go plankton hunting.” This summer all of her tests were at Starrigavan State Recreation Area, but now that the lab is open she will be able to test in more areas, “wherever you think people might harvest shellfish.”

pe-fig1“I think this will help our food security,” Kennedy said. “People will be able to see this abundant resource of shellfish, and now they’ll have better information about whether it’s safe to harvest.”

In addition to the Sitka staff, the program also trains monitors from 12 partner villages to test in their areas, which range from Ketchikan on the south to Yakutat on the north. These monitors come to Sitka twice a year for training, with their most recent training in early November. A slideshow of photos from the training is posted below.

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• KCAW-Raven Radio features Sitka Local Foods Network’s garden mentoring program in story

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Vegetable gardening used to be a necessity for Sitka residents back in the day, but regular barges and daily flights made it easy for people to stop growing their own food and buy it at the store. If you didn’t have your own garden, you didn’t have fresh veggies. In recent years grocery prices and shipping costs have gone up significantly, so more Sitka residents are going back to gardening. But there are some Sitkans who haven’t gardened before.

That’s where the Sitka Local Foods Network garden mentoring program comes in. This program started in 2014 when the network mentored two first-time gardeners and their families through a year of growing four basic crops that do well in Sitka — lettuce, kale, potatoes and rhubarb. This year, our two original families are back for a second year with slightly trickier crops (carrots, chard, peas and green onions), and we have four new first-year families in the program.

Recently, KCAW-Raven Radio reporter Vanessa Walker attended a class at the home of Rebecca Kubacki to learn more about the program and how it’s helping Rebecca reconnect with her food (click here to listen to the story). All of our free garden mentoring program classes are open to the public and we try to announce the classes enough in advance so people can attend.

Michelle Putz has been contracted to coordinate the program and design lesson plans, after the Sitka Local Foods Network received a community development grant from First Bank. We also have about a half-dozen experienced Sitka gardeners who serve as mentors for the program.

For more information about the garden mentor program, please contact Michelle Putz at 747-2708.