potatoes

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• It’s time to … plant your potatoes with two free workshops on May 3 and May 6

PotatoesAndPotatoFork

The Sitka Local Foods Network reminds you that it’s time to get out in the garden and plant your potatoes.

Potatoes are some of the most productive and easy-to-grow vegetables in Sitka. Michelle Putz will present two free, hands-on potato-planting workshops at 10 a.m. on Sunday, May 3, and at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 6, at 131 Shelikof Way. Parking space is limited, so please consider walking, riding your bike or carpooling. More information is available by calling Michelle at 747-2708.

Also, the Sitka Local Foods Network education committee welcomes 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. These classes can be somewhat informal, where you plan to plant a certain type of veggie and you welcome new gardeners to come to your garden to help and learn more (please give us enough time, at least a couple of days, to post the info on our website).

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. This is one of the many free classes being offered this year by the Sitka Local Foods Network education committee.

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

SitkaFarmersMarketSign

The Sitka Local Foods Network has extended the application deadline as it looks for an assistant manager to help coordinate the 2015 Sitka Farmers Markets this summer. This is a contract position, and the assistant manager (who reports to the manager) receives a small compensation depending on experience for his or her work helping to organize and operate the six scheduled farmers markets this summer. The assistant manager must be available for all six markets and have a valid driver’s license and access to a vehicle. This position is open until filled.

SLFNGroupwLindaThis 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 assistant 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 Assistant Manager” in the subject line). Applications should include a cover letter, resume, three recommendations, and the position is open until filled. The assistant manager of the Sitka Farmers Market reports to the market manager, who reports to the Sitka Local Foods Network Board of Directors.

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

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• Gardening work party set for Earth Week at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm

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A group of kids harvests garlic during an Aug. 12, 2011, work party at St. Peter's Fellowship Farm.

A group of kids harvests garlic during an Aug. 12, 2011, work party at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm.

Are you interested in meeting other Sitka gardeners and learning about how to grow food in Sitka’s rainy climate? Then join us for an Earth Week garden party from 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, April 25, at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm.

St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm is located behind St. Peter’s By The Sea Episcopal Church on Katlian Street (the brown church with the steeple above Crescent Harbor). It is a communal garden that grows food to be sold at the Sitka Farmers Markets, at a table when Chelan Produce is in town, and used for various school lunch and hunger programs around town. This year’s Sitka Farmers Markets are from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays, July 4, July 18, Aug. 1, Aug. 15, Aug. 29, and Sept. 12, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall (235 Katlian St.).

“We will be putting starts in the ground, weeding and prepping beds for planting,” St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm lead gardener Laura Schmidt said.

The garden work parties are kid-friendly, so feel free to bring the munchkins to help.

To learn more, call St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm lead gardener Laura Schmidt at 738-7009 or 623-7003, or contact Sitka Local Foods Network board president Lisa Sadleir-Hart at 747-5985 or sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com.

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• First classes set for second-year students in 2015 Sitka Local Foods Network garden mentor program

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It’s time to plant your vegetable garden along with the Sitka Local Foods Network’s two second-year garden mentor families.

These two families (Anna Bradley and Tami O’Neill) participated in the first year of the program last summer, and now they’re back for more. Our two returning families will be planting carrots, chard, green onions and peas this year.
These four crops are slightly more difficult crops to grow that our first-year plantings of kale, lettuce, potatoes and rhubarb. Even though this year’s crops are more difficult to grow, many gardeners in Sitka still have good results with these vegetables.
The classes at each location will be similar, and they are free and open to the public. The schedule is:
  • Anna Bradley, 4764 Halibut Point Road, 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 3 (EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to illness, this class will be postponed to a date and time TBA).
  • Tami O’Neill, 2309 Merganser Drive, 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 23.
Don’t forget the schedule of first classes for our four first-year gardening families also has been posted and those classes are open to the public.
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, please contact Michelle at 747-2708.
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• Sitka Farmers Market to host meeting April 7 for prospective and past vendors

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The Sitka Local Foods Network will host a meeting for prospective and past vendors of the Sitka Farmers Market from 5:45-7:45 p.m. on Tuesday, April 7, at Harrigan Centennial Hall.

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 dates are July 4, 18, August 1, 15, 29, and September 12). The Sitka Farmers Market was a community health initiative from the 2008 Sitka Health Summit.

The farmers markets feature booths from local farmers/gardeners, local fishermen, local bakers, and local artisans and craftspeople. Our emphasis is on local products from Sitka and Southeast Alaska. The farmers markets also are great Sitka gathering places.

A detailed description of the farmers markets and vendor forms can be found our website, http://www.sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org/ (scroll down or look in the right-hand column). If you have any questions, please email the Sitka Local Foods Network Board of Directors at sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com.

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• It’s time to … plant your potatoes with a free workshop on April 12

PotatoesAndPotatoFork

The Sitka Local Foods Network reminds you that it’s time to get out in the garden and plant your potatoes.

Potatoes are some of the most productive and easy-to-grow vegetables in Sitka. Michelle Putz will present a free, hands-on potato-planting workshop at 10 a.m. on Sunday, April 12, at 131 Shelikof Way. Parking space is limited, so please consider walking, riding your bike or carpooling. More information is available by calling Michelle at 747-2708.

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. This is one 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.

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• First two classes set for 2015 Sitka Local Foods Network garden mentor program

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The first two classes for the 2015 Sitka Local Foods Network garden mentor program have been set for each of our four participating first-year families, and the classes will be open to the public. The classes will be similar at each location, except one where we will be planting a container garden instead of our usual raised garden beds.

For three of the four families, the first class will focus on site selection, garden preparation, building planter beds, simple vegetables and soil preparation. The second class will be about simple vegetables and planting. For our first-year gardener families, we teach them how to grow four hardy crops for Sitka — kale, lettuce, potatoes and rhubarb. These classes are essentially the same, so feel free to attend the Class 1 and Class 2 that best fits your schedule.

The class schedule and location for these three families is:

  • A.J. Bastian, 207 Brady St. — CLASS 1: 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 7; CLASS 2: 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 30.
  • Rebecca Kubacki, 1202 Halibut Point Rd. — CLASS 1: 9 a.m. on Saturday, April 11; CLASS 2: 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 6.
  • Breezy, 616 Sawmill Creek Rd. — CLASS 1: 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 11; CLASS 2: 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 5.

Our fourth family — Josephine Dasalla, 1709 Halibut Point Rd., No. 31 (green trailer) — will feature a combined Class 1 and Class 2 at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 15. In this combined class, we will teach the family about containers, soil for containers, plant needs, and we will plant lettuce, kale, potatoes and raspberries (rhubarb is our usual fourth crop, but it is not an option at this location).

This is the second year of the garden mentor program, and our two families from last year — Anna Bradley and Tami O’Neill — are back for a second year where they will learn how to grow a few more difficult crops for Sitka, such as carrots and onions. We will announce those classes when they become available.

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, please contact Michelle at 747-2708.

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• Sitka Farmers Market vendor forms, information sheets and regulations for 2015 now available

SitkaFarmersMarketSign

Vendors looking to sell local food, arts and crafts, and other items at the 2015 Sitka Farmers Markets can find all the vendor forms, information sheets and regulations for this year by going to the Documents page on this site, or look at the bottom of this post for the documents. The forms are in downloadable Adobe Acrobat PDF or Microsoft Word DOC files. In addition, potential vendors should note two upcoming meetings to go over rules and regulations, fees, and other information they’ll need for this summer’s markets.

The 2015 Sitka Farmers Market manager and assistant manager will be hired soon, and they can be reached at sitkafarmersmarket@gmail.com or 738-8683 during the market season. Our 2015 Sitka Farmers Markets will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on six alternating Saturdays starting in late June (July 4, July 18, Aug. 1, 15, 29, and Sept. 12) at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall at 235 Katlian Street.

The Sitka Local Foods Network will host two pre-market meetings for potential market vendors, and all potential vendors are encouraged to attend at least one of the two meetings. The first meeting will be from 5:45-7:45 p.m. on Monday, March 30, at Harrigan Centennial Hall, and the second meeting is 5:45-7:45 p.m. on Tuesday, April 7, at Harrigan Centennial Hall. (NOTE: The Monday, March 30, meeting has been postponed to a date TBA.)

Sitka Local Foods Network board members will be available to answer questions and to make suggestions that will help new and returning vendors adjust to any food regulation changes from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, updates to the Alaska Quest electronic benefits program, and any other changes. For more information, contact Maybelle Filler at 738-1982 or mocampo25@hotmail.com, Brandie Cheatham at vista_brandie@yahoo.com, or you can email the Sitka Local Foods Network Board of Directors at sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com.

Sitka Farmers Market vendor forms

• Link to 2015 Farmers Market Resource Fact Sheets from Alaska Division of Agriculture

• 2015 City and Borough of Sitka Sales Tax Form for Sitka Farmers Market Vendors

• 2015 Sitka Farmers Market Vendor Rules And Responsibilities Packet

• 2015 Sitka Farmers Market Vendor Registration Packet

• 2015 Sitka Farmers Market Vendor Guidelines Signature Page (this must be on file for all vendors)

• Cottage Food Fact Sheet — “Understanding Alaska’s Cottage Food Exemptions”

• Cottage Food Exemptions

• Washington Farmers Market Vendor Marketing Guide (March 2014)

• Guide to Operating a Successful Home-Based Food Business (March 2014 document from UAF Cooperative Extension Service and Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation includes Alaska food safety information and regulations for farmers markets and other food sales)

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• 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.

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.

april-5-seeds-2011-012The 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.

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

SitkaFarmersMarketSign

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.

SLFNGroupwLindaThis 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)