Sitka Local Foods Network

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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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• Alaska Dream Salmon wins first Table of the Day Award

Julie Jordan of Alaska Dream Salmon receives the Table of the Day award from Kerry MacLane for the first Sitka Farmers Market of the season

Julie Jordan of Alaska Dream Salmon receives the Table of the Day award from Kerry MacLane for the first Sitka Farmers Market of the season

Julie Jordan of Alaska Dream Salmon receives the “Table of the Day Award” from Sitka Farmers Markets co-coordinator Kerry MacLane after the season’s first market on July 18. The Sitka Local Foods Network selected her table — which featured three varieties of fresh salmon and rock fish caught on the F/V Saturday — to receive the $25 cash prize, an Alaska Farmers Market Association tote bag, a selection of locally grown herbs and a certificate of appreciation. An identical prize package will be awarded to a deserving vendor at each of the four remaining Sitka Farmers Markets. The second market of the season takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 1, at Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall.

Keep your eye on this site, because a photo gallery from the first Sitka Farmers Market of the season will be posted later this week.

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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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• Eight fun facts about Saturday’s first Sitka Farmers Market

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1. The first of five scheduled Sitka Farmers Markets this summer takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 18, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall on Katlian Street.

2. More than 20 local vendors will be selling fresh veggies, fish, art and more.

3. The Gajaa Heen Dancers will be selling fry bread as a fundraising project for the group. Other ready-to-eat food includes black cod, crepes and fresh oysters.

4. Live music will be provided by the Sitka Blues Band inside the hall. Also, an open jam session will take place under a tent outside — all musicians are welcome.

5. Registered participants in the state’s Women, Infants and Children (WIC) supplemental nutrition program can exchange $5 vouchers for fresh produce from one of several approved stands. The Sitka Farmers Market is the first market in Southeast Alaska authorized to process WIC vouchers.

6. The children’s craft activity this market focuses on healthy eating and is called “eating by the colors.” Please bring the kids!

7. Creating the Sitka Farmers Market was selected by Sitka residents as a top community health priority at the 2008 Sitka Health Summit.

8. This event is sponsored by the Sitka Local Foods Network, Alaska Native Brotherhood/Alaska Native Sisterhood, Baranof Island Housing Authority, Sitka Conservation Society, the Alaska Farmers Market Association and the SEARHC Health Promotion and Diabetes Prevention programs.

Musicians play in the jam session tent

Musicians play in the jam session tent

Grilling black cod collars from the Alaska Longline Fisherman's Association

Grilling black cod collars from the Alaska Longline Fisherman's Association

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• ANSWER Camp prepares for 2009 students

ANSWER Camp teachers Adriana Rodriguez, left, Alberta Demantle, Jordan Baumgartner, Collauna Marley and Chohla Moll prepare sockeye salmon for the smoker Wednesday night so it will be ready when the students arrive in Sitka on Friday.

ANSWER Camp teachers Adriana Rodriguez, left, Alberta Demantle, Jordan Baumgartner, Collauna Marley and Chohla Moll prepare sockeye salmon for the smoker Wednesday night so it will be ready when the students arrive in Sitka on Friday.

Seventh and eighth grade students from all over Alaska will be arriving in Sitka this week for the 12th annual Alaska Native Student Wisdom Enrichment Retreat, commonly known as ANSWER Camp, a 12-day residential program for Alaska Native students sponsored by the Southeast Regional Resource Center (SERRC) out of Juneau.

Students at the ANSWER Camp stay at Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka for two weeks of intensive science, math and cultural experiences as they explore traditional methods of food preservation. ANSWER Camp takes place from July 17-30, and it is free to the 75-80 students lucky enough to be selected from several rural Alaska communities to participate in the program. A U.S. Department of Education grant pays for the students’ transportation to and from Sitka, their housing and food.

ANSWER Camp makes math and science instruction more meaningful for the students by linking traditional Alaska Native values to western scientific principles. The program prepares middle school students from rural Alaska to enter high school, and it helps make science and math come alive for the students as they learn how even traditional cultural activities such as preserving subsistence foods are affected by science and math.

While the students prepare salmon, they will do tests to see how different brine mixtures affect the taste (chemistry). They also will learn how to preserve berries, seaweed and medicinal plants. The students will learn biology by studying critters, and they will gather different plants to study botany. ANSWER Camp has helped steer many students toward science and health careers later in life.

This is one of several camps in the Sitka area that teach people about traditional foods from Southeast Alaska. The Sitka Native Education Program (SNEP) hosts several events during the summer, as so do Sitka residents John and Roby Littlefield at their Dog Point Fish Camp. The Alaska Native Sisterhood camp in Sitka also hosts traditional foods camps at Dog Point Fish Camp.

Click here for more information about the Alaska Native Student Wisdom Enrichment Retreat, commonly called the ANSWER Camp, sponsored by the Southeast Regional Resource Center (SERRC).

Chohla Moll grabs some sockeye salmon out of the brine mixture so she can hang it in the smoker.

Chohla Moll grabs some sockeye salmon out of the brine mixture so she can hang it in the smoker.

Sockeye salmon hangs from the racks in the smoker.

Sockeye salmon hangs from the racks in the smoker.

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• First Sitka Farmers Market is this Saturday

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The first of five Sitka Farmers Markets this summer will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Saturday, July 18, at the ANB Hall. The Sitka Blues Band will provide music inside the hall and other local musicians are welcome to join an open jam session outside the hall. The children’s activity focuses on healthy eating and is called “eating by the colors.”

Over 20 local vendors will be on hand to sell, barter or trade fresh vegetables, herbs, teas, flowers, berries, plants, salmon, art and more. Ready-to-eat food includes grilled black cod, crepes, fry bread and more. Additionally, there will be information on home gardening and building your own greenhouse. The Sitka Farmers Market is the first farmers market in Southeast Alaska authorized to accept WIC vouchers.

For more information, contact Linda Wilson at 747-3096.

Checking out the first 2008 Sitka Farmers Market

Checking out the first 2008 Sitka Farmers Market

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• This week’s e-newsletter

Preparing produce for sale

Preparing produce for sale

Here is a link to this week’s Sitka Local Foods Network e-newsletter from Linda Wilson. There are notes about the first Sitka Farmers Market of the season on Saturday, and about an open house held Sunday afternoon at Florence Welsh’s Forget-Me-Not Gardens.

Click here for this week’s e-newsletter (July 12 edition)

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• Food booths need permits for Sitka Farmers Markets

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Those vendors who plan to prepare and serve food at this year’s Sitka Farmers Markets must obtain a temporary food service permit from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation’s Food Safety and Sanitation program office at 901-C Halibut Point Road in Sitka.

By regulation, if the application is submitted after Monday, July 13, the fees are doubled. Applications are available in an envelope attached to the door at the ADEC office. Call Greg Johnstone at 747-8614 if you have any questions or need to get a permit.

Due to the danger of botulism, and other health considerations, only a certified commercial processor can sell canned foods. NO home canned goods are allowed, except for jams and jellies. All vendors selling prepared foods at the market MUST have a food handling permit.

The ANB Hall kitchen is a certified commercial kitchen and will be available for vendor use. The kitchen will be open at 7:30 a.m. the morning of each market. If you know that you will need it, please reserve the oven by calling Linda Wilson at 747-3096 or sending an e-mail to lawilson87@hotmail.com. Please be aware there will be a number of people using the kitchen at the same time, so you will need to be prepared to share space.

Click here for a detailed guide to safe food handling.

WaitingForCrepes

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• Movie ‘Eating Alaska’ to be shown July 16

The publicity poster for the movie Eating Alaska

The publicity poster for the movie Eating Alaska

The movie, “Eating Alaska,” will be shown at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 16, at the Kettleson Memorial Library in Sitka. The movie is free. “Eating Alaska” is a documentary movie by Sitka filmmaker Ellen Frankenstein about how Alaskans make their food choices. In addition to the movie, other Sitka residents will be on hand to discuss the harvesting and drying of seaweed, local medicinal plants, wild edibles and cultivating wild plants.

Click here to go to the “Eating Alaska” movie Web site.