Pacific High School has a spring plant sale coming up next weekend. The plant sale is a fundraiser for Pacific High School’s Farm to Table program, where students learn to grow and cook local veggies through the kitchen and garden facilities on site. Xóots Elementary School kindergarteners also participate in the garden program, planting Lingít potatoes in the spring, which they return to harvest as first-graders in the fall. We’ve planted quite a variety of seedlings this year, from kale and cauliflower to tomatoes and basil and calendula and cosmos. For a more extensive list feel free ..read more

SITKA, Alaska – Alaskans Own is excited to announce that seafood lovers throughout Alaska and Seattle can now sign up for Alaskans Own’s 2024 Monthly Seafood Shares. This year marks the 15th year that Alaskans Own will deliver monthly shares of wild Alaskan seafood directly to consumers through its Community Supported Fishery. Based on the widespread Community Supported Agriculture (aka, CSAs) model, CSFs are a way for people to buy a “share” of seafood before the fishing season, giving fishermen some certainty that they have a market before they head out to the fishing grounds. Founded in 20 ..read more

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service will teach a certified food protection manager workshop on Tuesday, April 23. This is a one-day statewide class that will be offered by videoconferencing to Fairbanks, Galena, Glennallen, Haines, Homer, Juneau, Klawock, Palmer, Sitka, Skagway, Soldotna, Talkeetna, Tok, Unalaska, Valdez, and Wrangell, plus other locations that may arrange for the class. A certified food protection manager (CFPM) is responsible for monitoring and managing all food establishment operations to ensure ..read more

Join Transition Sitka and the Sitka Local Foods Network for the second Sitka Food Summit on Monday, April 22. This event will explore findings, offer feedback, and view the information collected for the 2024 Sitka Community Food Assessment. Come by Harrigan Centennial Hall any time between 6-8 p.m. on Monday, April 22, for dinner, a chance to win prizes, and to participate in an informal data-sharing event. The inaugural Sitka Community Food Assessment was a project from the 2012 Sitka Health Summit and was published in 2014. Since it’s now a decade later and the data in the original ass ..read more

The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the April 2024 edition of its monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy. This month’s newsletter includes short stories about the search for a 2024 Sitka Farmers Market manager, the closing of the 2024 Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend application period where you can donate to nonprofits through the Pick.Click.Give. program, an update about how you can support the Sitka Local Foods Network by buying a t-shirt or hoodie from our online store, information about our 2024 sponsorship programs, and an invitation to join our b ..read more

Join the UAF Cooperative Extension Service for an introduction to pruning techniques workshop with Casey Tennis from 10-11:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 30, at a Sitka location TBA. Students will receive a solid base in the science and practice of selective pruning. This will include a demonstration on anything we have access to: deciduous trees, evergreen shrubs and possibly deciduous shrubs. Location TBA and will be sent to participants in advance. The cost for this workshop is $10. Register at https://bit.ly/SitkaPruning. Accommodation requests related to a disability ..read more

By JOEL HANSON / Transition Sitka president, Sitka Local Foods Network treasurer Growing a community garden from scratch is no small feat, especially if you first have to look around for a suitable location. That can take some time, as we can attest. It was a little over a year ago in January that a few of us from two nonprofit groups, Sitka Local Foods Network and Transition Sitka, joined forces to put energy behind establishing what the Italians appropriately call an orto di orto—a garden of gardens. And what have we got to show for it so far? Niente! Actually, that’s not strictly true. If ..read more

The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the March 2024 edition of its monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy. This month’s newsletter includes short stories about the search for a 2024 Sitka Farmers Market manager, the entry deadline for the seventh annual Sika Food Business Innovation Contest, the opening of the 2024 Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend application period where you can donate to nonprofits through the Pick.Click.Give. program, an update about how you can support the Sitka Local Foods Network by buying a t-shirt or hoodie from our online store ..read more

A workshop in Sitka will teach participants how to make a classic French dish — with a Southeast Alaska flair.  Chef Jayme Schroeder said ratatouille is his favorite dish, and this version will include fresh ribbon kelp and abalone. The class is a collaboration with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service.  Schroeder came to Sitka in 2011 and fell in love with the region’s biology and ecology. When he’s not working as an anesthesiologist, he is diving in the waters around Sitka. The workshop also will include a presentation of underwater photos showing the k ..read more

2023 Sitka Farmers Market Manager Anastasia Stefanowicz, second from left, coordinates with volunteers before the July 15, 2023, market. The Sitka Local Foods Network is seeking a manager to coordinate the 2024 Sitka Farmers Markets this summer. This is a contract position, and the manager receives a small compensation, depending on experience, for his or her contract work organizing the farmers markets this summer. The manager receives a monthly check for the five months from May through September. We hoped to have our 2023 manager, Anastasia Stefanowicz, back for another season, but she deci ..read more