Sitka Local Foods Network monthly newsletter for April 2017

Learn to grow your own food at our classes

Want to learn how to grow your own food here in Sitka? Check out the free spring garden classes offered by the Sitka Local Foods Network. There will be classes from 6:30-8 p.m. on several Thursdays this spring at the Sitka Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall (408 Marine Street, parking off Spruce Street). Class topics include Gardening in Sitka 101, Cottage Foods Business Basics (at UAS Sitka Campus), Growing Potatoes in Sitka, Extending Your Garden Season, Container Gardening, Raising Chickens, and Everything You Need To Know About Trees. For more info and a full class schedule, click this link. For more details, contact Jennifer Carter at 747-0520.

SLFN seeks Sitka Farmers Market manager

The Sitka Local Foods Network is looking for a part-time manager to work on contract coordinating the Sitka Farmers Market this summer. We will host seven markets this season, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays, July 1, July 15, July 29, Aug. 12, Aug. 19, Sept. 2, and Sept. 9, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall. The market manager works with vendors and helps organize the markets. The application deadline is March 31, and the pay is DOE. Potential market managers will need access to a vehicle (preferably a truck) and regular access to the Internet. To learn more and download an application, click this link.

Sponsor the Sitka Local Foods Network

Do you want to support the Sitka Local Foods Network's work to increase the amount of locally harvested and produced food in the diets of Southeast Alaskans? You or your business can sponsor the Sitka Local Foods Network, and our projects such as the Sitka Farmers Market, St. Peter's Fellowship Farm communal garden (where we grow most of the produce sold at the markets), and our community gardening education program. We have four levels of support — Grower ($2,500-plus), Harvester ($1,000-$2,499), Planter ($250-$999), and Friend ($50-$249) — and each level receives varying levels of community acknowledgement. To learn more about the sponsorship program, click this link.

We need new board members to keep growing

The Sitka Local Foods Network has three open seats on its board of directors due to some unexpected moves out of Sitka. This is your chance to help us increase the amount of locally produced and harvested foods in the diets of Southeast Alaskans. There obviously is a lot of interest in local food projects, but we need board members to help make these projects happen.

Our nine-member board meets once a month (usually the third Wednesday, unless there are schedule conflicts) at the See House located behind St. Peter's By The Sea Episcopal Church on Lincoln Street. Our board members also serve on at least one committee related to our main projects — organizing the Sitka Farmers Market, growing food at St. Peter's Fellowship Farm communal garden, and hosting a variety of gardening educational opportunities.

To learn more about our board and how to apply, click this link. Our next full board meeting is from 6-7:45 p.m. on Wednesday, April 19, at the Sitka Public Library meeting room (we had to move this month's meeting due to other events at the See House). All of our meetings are open to the public.

Learn cottage food business basics, and other classes

Want to learn how to create and run a home-based foods business, so you can sell items at the Sitka Farmers Market or other venues? The Sitka Local Foods Network and the UAF Cooperative Extension Service will offer a free class from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, April 6, at the UAS Sitka Campus (in a room TBA). This class will feature Sarah Lewis of the UAF Cooperative Extension Service in Juneau by videoconference and Nina Vizcarrondo of the Sitka Local Foods Network live in Sitka. Pre-registration is requested but not required (click this link for more info and to complete a short website form).

Also, watch for our upcoming spring gardening class series, which will be announced in the next few days once we have our schedule confirmed. Some of the classes this year include what to grow in Sitka, how to plant seedlings, how to extend your garden season, how to raise chickens, and more. The schedule has been posted on our website, and can be found in a story at the top of this newsletter.

Finally, the Sitka Kitch has two class series this spring at the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen (505 Sawmill Creek Road, inside First Presbyterian Church). There are two remaining classes in the Cooking Around The World class series — Austrian strudel and Turkish cooking. There also is one class remaining in the Nourish: Using Food As Medicine For Optimum Health class series with nutritionist Holly Marban. Space is limited for each class series, so register and pre-pay now to secure your place in the classes. You can register for the classes by going to this link and clicking on the class titles.