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• It’s time to … learn about gardening in a high tunnel

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Have you ever wanted to learn more about growing vegetables in a high tunnel or hoop house? Your Sitka Local Foods Network is teaming up with local landscape architect and 20-year Sitka gardener Barth Hamberg, who will host a free discussion about high-tunnel gardening at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 25, at Hamberg’s garden.

High tunnels, also known as hoop houses or temporary greenhouses, extend the growing season so more food is produced before and after the traditional dates for growing stuff outdoors. High tunnels are different than greenhouses in that they are passively heated by the sun, so they have lower energy costs than greenhouses. This link has frequently asked questions and answers about seasonal high tunnel systems for crops.

“Last summer I constructed a high tunnel with a grant from the NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service),” Hamberg said. “This is my first season in production and I’m experimenting with may different plants and learning a lot about the advantages of the high tunnel. It’s working great.”

Some of the topics Hamberg will discuss include:

  • siting and constructing a high tunnel
  • selecting a high tunnel manufacturer and style of tunnel
  • planting for winter harvest
  • planting for early spring harvest
  • high tunnel maintenance requirements
  • irrigation systems
  • making the high tunnel an enjoyable place to work and to be
  • compost-based soil fertility in the high tunnel

“My interest is growing food in the most efficient and beautiful way possible,” Hamberg said.

People interested in attending this discussion should call Hamberg at 738-9145 to reserve a space and to receive the address and directions to his garden.

The Sitka Local Foods Network education committee has been hosting a series of “It’s time to …” workshops this spring and summer designed to help local residents learn about various aspects of vegetable gardening and fruit growing. Many of these classes will be informal get-togethers at various gardens around town. Please watch our website, Facebook page, Facebook group, and local news media for information about upcoming classes. If you have an “It’s time to …” workshop you’d like to teach, contact Michelle Putz at 747-2708.

The SLFN education committee is still looking to expand our network of local volunteers who can teach classes (formal and informal) this year about growing food, please email Charles Bingham at charleswbingham3@gmail.com with info about what topics you can teach, your gardening experience, and contact information so we can add you to our database of instructors.

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• It’s time to … get out and plant your vegetable garden; it’s not too late for this summer

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Your Sitka Local Foods Network reminds Sitkans that it’s not too late to get out and plant a vegetable garden this summer. Local gardener and Sitka Local Foods Network board member Michelle Putz will host a free discussion and hands-on planting opportunity at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 19, at 131 Shelikof Way.

Tour the garden and learn about planting some of Sitka’s easiest-to-grow vegetables, including carrots, lettuce, and bok choy. All are invited to attend, especially those new to gardening and growing vegetables. Freshly harvested lettuce will be given away to interested participants. Anyone may attend, but parking space is limited, so those interested in participating are asked to please consider walking, bike riding or carpooling.

“If you start soon, there is still plenty of time to get a vegetable garden growing in Sitka for this year,” Michelle Putz said. “Many easy-to-grow plants can be started now whether in pots, planters, or garden beds. And if your garden is a little challenging like mine, now is a good time to replant or add more seeds in the thin areas.”

The Sitka Local Foods Network is hosting a series of “It’s time to …” workshops this spring and summer designed to help local residents learn about various aspects of vegetable gardening and fruit growing. Many of these classes will be informal get-togethers at various gardens around town. Please watch our website, Facebook page, Facebook group, and local news media for information about upcoming classes. If you have an “It’s time to …” workshop you’d like to teach, contact Michelle Putz at 747-2708.

We are still looking to expand our network of local volunteers who can teach classes (formal and informal) this year about growing food, please email Charles Bingham at charleswbingham3@gmail.com with info about what topics you can teach, your gardening experience, and contact information so we can add you to our database of instructors.

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• Sitka Local Foods Network education committee to host fourth classes in new garden mentor program

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Harvesting vegetables will be the theme of the fourth round of classes in the Sitka Local Foods Network’s new garden mentoring program.

This year, the SLFN education committee chose two families from a list of first-time gardeners to mentor for the summer. The two families agreed to allow other first-time gardeners to attend the six proposed classes at their homes, in exchange for help building their gardens from more experienced Sitka gardeners.

IMG_0005These free classes are open to all first-time gardeners in Sitka. The classes will be similar at each location, so people wanting to participate only need to sign up for one class. New classes will be added as the spring/summer progress, so keep watching for more. New participants are welcome, and a review of previous classes will be available.

The first class was on garden preparation, the second class was on planting, and the third class was on garden maintenance. The fourth round of classes will focus on early season harvest. Gardeners will learn about harvesting plants in a way that ensures the continued health of the plants and a long-term harvest throughout the summer. Uses and recipes for harvested plants will also be discussed.

The two vegetable harvest classes will be:

  • Friday, June 20, 4:30 p.m. at Anna Bradley’s house, 4764 Halibut Point Road.
  • Monday, July 7, 7 p.m. at Tami O’Neill’s house, 2309 Merganser Drive.

For more information, contact Michelle Putz at 747-2708 or michelleputzfood@yahoo.com.

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• It’s time to … get out into the garden and pick your rhubarb

Rhubarb

Your Sitka Local Foods Network reminds you it’s time to get out in the garden and, finally, plant your garden. Perry Edwards will host a short on-the-ground rhubarb workshop at 9 a.m. on Saturday, June 7, at 131 Shelikof Way.

Rhubarb is an easy-to-grow, productive, and healthy “fruit” that grows great in Sitka. At this workshop, you will learn the right way to pick your rhubarb so it stays productive all spring and summer long.  We’ll also discuss how to plant, fertilize, and eat your rhubarb. And through a drawing, two lucky participants will go home with enough rhubarb to make a simple, delicious rhubarb sauce. Anyone may attend, but parking space is limited, so those interested in participating are asked to please consider walking, bike riding or carpooling.

The Sitka Local Foods Network is hosting a series of “It’s time to …” workshops this spring and summer designed to help local residents learn about various aspects of vegetable gardening and fruit growing. Many of these classes will be informal get-togethers at various gardens around town. Please watch our website, Facebook page, Facebook group, and local news media for information about upcoming classes. If you have an “It’s time to …” workshop you’d like to teach, contact Michelle Putz at 747-2708.

We are still looking to expand our network of local volunteers who can teach classes (formal and informal) this year about growing food, so please attend if you’re interested. If you can’t attend, please email Charles Bingham at charleswbingham3@gmail.com with info about what topics you can teach, your gardening experience, and contact information so we can add you to our database of instructors.

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• It’s time to … get down and dirty and plant the veggies at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm

StPetersSignWithToDoListSignThe Sitka Local Foods Network will host a planting party from 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, May 31, to continue planting this summer’s crops at the St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden (located behind St. Peter’s By The Sea Episcopal Church on Lincoln Street).

Produce grown at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm is sold during the Sitka Farmers Markets to help fund Sitka Local Foods Network projects throughout the year. Some of it also is sold to people using SNAP benefits (food stamps) and to local schools for their lunch programs.

In addition to planting, there may be other garden chores to do. During these work parties we usually need people to shovel dirt and sift soil, weed, mulch and spread fertilizer (seaweed) on the existing garden beds. Most garden tools will be provided, but we will need people to bring shovels and pick-axes if they have them. These garden parties are a great place for Sitka residents new to gardening to get some hands-on instruction on how to plant their own veggie garden.

For more information, contact St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm lead gardener Laura Schmidt at 623-7003 or 738-7009, or contact Lisa Sadleir-Hart at 747-5985.

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• Sitka Local Foods Network education committee to host third classes in new garden mentor program

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Garden maintenance will be the theme of the third round of classes in the Sitka Local Foods Network’s new garden mentoring program.

This year, the SLFN education committee chose two families from a list of first-time gardeners to mentor for the summer. The two families agreed to allow other first-time gardeners to attend the six proposed classes at their homes, in exchange for help building their gardens from more experienced Sitka gardeners.

These free classes are open to all first-time gardeners in Sitka. The classes will be similar at each location, so people wanting to participate only need to sign up for one class. New classes will be added as the spring/summer progress, so keep watching for more.

The first class was on garden preparation, and the second class was on planting. During the third round of classes on garden maintenance we will review choosing easy vegetables to plant and how to plant them, and then discuss and do garden maintenance (weeding, thinning, spacing plants/transplanting, inspecting for good and bad bugs, disease, slugs, deeper watering, hilling/propping up potatoes, etc.). If new people attend, we will review garden preparation, too.

The two garden maintenance classes will be:

  • Sunday, May 25, 4 p.m. at Tami O’Neill’s house, 2309 Merganser Drive.
  • Friday, June 6, 4:30 p.m. at Anna Bradley’s house, 4764 Halibut Point Road.

For more information, contact Michelle Putz at 747-2708 or michelleputzfood@yahoo.com.

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• It’s time to … get down and dirty and plant the veggies at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm

StPetersSignWithToDoListSignThe Sitka Local Foods Network will host planting parties from 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, May 10, and from 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, May 31, to start planting this summer’s crops at the St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden (located behind St. Peter’s By The Sea Episcopal Church on Lincoln Street).

Produce grown at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm is sold during the Sitka Farmers Markets to help fund Sitka Local Foods Network projects throughout the year. Some of it also is sold to people using SNAP benefits (food stamps) and to local schools for their lunch programs.

In addition to planting, there may be other garden chores to do. During these work parties we usually need people to shovel dirt and sift soil, weed, mulch and spread fertilizer (seaweed) on the existing garden beds. Most garden tools will be provided, but we will need people to bring shovels and pick-axes if they have them. These garden parties are a great place for Sitka residents new to gardening to get some hands-on instruction on how to plant their own veggie garden.

For more information, contact St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm lead gardener Laura Schmidt at 623-7003 or 738-7009, or contact Lisa Sadleir-Hart at 747-5985.

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It’s time to … get outside and finally plant your garden

Plots at various stages of planting at Blatchley Community Garden

Plots at various stages of planting at Blatchley Community Garden

Your Sitka Local Foods Network reminds you it’s time to get out in the garden and, finally, plant your garden. Michelle Putz, Perry Edwards, and master gardener Jackie Barmoy will host a free discussion and hands-on planting lesson at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 10, at 131 Shelikof Way.

Learn about planting some of Sitka’s easiest-to-grow vegetables, including carrots and cabbage, and lettuce and parsnips. Anyone may attend, but parking space is limited, so those interested in participating are asked to please consider walking, bike riding or carpooling.

The Sitka Local Foods Network is hosting a series of “It’s time to …” workshops this spring and summer designed to help local residents learn about various aspects of vegetable gardening and fruit growing. Many of these classes will be informal get-togethers at various gardens around town. Please watch our website, Facebook page, Facebook group, and local news media for information about upcoming classes. If you have an “It’s time to …” workshop you’d like to teach, contact Michelle Putz at 747-2708.

We are still looking to expand our network of local volunteers who can teach classes (formal and informal) this year about growing food, so please attend if you’re interested. If you can’t attend, please email Charles Bingham at charleswbingham3@gmail.com with info about what topics you can teach, your gardening experience, and contact information so we can add you to our database of instructors.

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• Sitka Local Foods Network education committee to host first classes with new garden mentoring program

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The Sitka Local Foods Network education committee has chosen its two families for its new garden mentoring program, and will begin hosting classes for first-time gardeners at the homes of our selected families.

To protect the privacy of the selected families, they will be referred to as Family A and Family B and the locations of their gardens will be given when first-time gardeners call to RSVP for the classes. These free classes are open to all first-time gardeners in Sitka. Family A lives near the end of Halibut Point Road, and Family B lives midway down HPR. The classes will be similar at each location, so people wanting to participate only need to sign up for one class. New classes will be added as the spring/summer progress, so keep watching for more.

Our confirmed classes so far:

  • Garden preparation class (choosing a location, building planters, soil and soil requirements, etc.), note a free planter box will be given to one participant in each garden-prep class.
  1. Family A, 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 23
  2. Family B, 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 27
  • Planting class (easy-to-grow plants, how, where and when to plant, planting)
  1. Family A, 5 p.m. on Friday, May 2
  2. Family B, 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 4

For more information, contact Michelle Putz at 747-2708 or michelleputzfood@yahoo.com.

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• Sitka Local Foods Network education committee recruiting families for garden mentor program

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The Sitka Local Foods Network education committee wants to help families in Sitka learn how easy it can be to grow some of their own food. We are looking for two families of novice gardeners who want to learn about and try vegetable gardening in their own backyard through our new Family Garden Mentor project.

Through a series of six or seven workshops that will be held at the families’ homes, Sitka Local Foods Network volunteers will help the families:

  • Choose a location for a vegetable bed (learning about sun, drainage, etc.),
  • Build a raised bed, and acquire soil and soil amendments,
  • Learn about soil and prepare the soil for planting
  • Plant 2-4 easy-to-grow plants – specifically potatoes, lettuce, kale, and maybe a perennial edible like rhubarb or fruit bushes
  • Learn to take care of their plants over the summer — teaching how to care for and pick the vegetables (without killing the plant),
  • Harvest potatoes, and
  • Cook a meal using the vegetables they have grown

GreensInHoopHouseStPetersThe Sitka Local Foods Network will provide all materials — soil, lumber, seeds, etc. — free to the participating families. Families will be expected to provide the labor and enthusiasm for gardening.

Interested families must meet four requirements: 1) they must be first-time vegetable gardeners (this project is meant to help people who are just starting to garden), 2) they must want to try vegetable gardening and be committed to participating throughout the summer, 3) they must own their own property, and 4) they must agree to let others come and attend classes at their property. Other criteria will also be used to help select the final two families. Families that are not selected will be placed on a waiting list in the hope of future continuation and expansion of this project.

Workshops will start in April with selecting the site and run through September’s late harvest. Classes will focus on some of the easiest-to-grow vegetables (and fruit) in Sitka — potatoes, lettuce, kale, and rhubarb.

Families interested in participating should contact Michelle Putz at 747-2708 and provide a name, address, and contact phone number.