Hello, All!

You’ll find a few updates at the top of this newsletter from the farmers and vendors themselves, then my intern Sherrill’s more inclusive report for the market!

STRAWBERRIES!
Arthur called me from Glacier Valley Farms to tell me that he is likely to have 300 POUNDS OF STRAWBERRIES at the market!! They are so sweet and yummy!

MEET YOUR ALASKAN FARMERS: MAT-SU FARM TOUR!
On Friday, July 24th, from 8am to 5pm, you can take part in a incredible opportunity to meet your Alaskan farmers and see their farms (vegetables, fruits and dairy!) on all varieties and scales: large-scale produce farming, a small family farm, a large organic farm, a U-Pick farm, and even the Matanuska Creamery!  You’ll drive by Palmer’s farmers’ market, the Friday Fling, and the Plant Materials Center. You’ll even get to eat an all-Alaska GROWN catered lunch in a beautiful garden setting, and take home an Alaska GROWN t-shirt. Cost of the tour is $45 for adults and $35 for children 12 & under. Please email to register, and to get more information about the tour.

REMPEL FAMILY FARMS
Mr. Rempel write to tell me that this Saturday, Rempel Family Farm will have certified organic broccoli, cabbage, green onions, cilantro, napa cabbage and bok choi, cucumbers, zucchini, basil, lettuces and another 15 or so different veggies. Mr. Rempel says that this sun and heat is hurrying along the corn, beans, peas and pickling cucumbers, so stay tuned!

MUSHROOMS
Northern Lights Mushrooms emailed me to tell me that they WILL be at the market this Saturday with their oyster mushrooms!  Have you tried them yet?

FISH
This weekend Arctic Choice will have fresh Halibut, Rockfish, and Cod from the Gulf of Alaska near Montague Island. They will also have fresh King salmon from the mouth of the Nushagak River, Sockeyes and first of the season Coho salmon from Seldovia Point. Live Oysters harvested from Prince of Wales Island near Ketchikan should be there along with fresh caught Sidestripe Shrimp from Prince William Sound. We will have to wait and see, but some fresh Sablefish (Black Cod) should come in as well.

THE RED BEET
Red Beet’s offerings for this Saturday: lots of breads, including Swedish Whole Wheat with Dark Flax, Spinach with Pecans, Multi Grain Fireweed and Rye Spelt Onion. Also look for cookies and brownies! Their gluten-free breads will include Black Olive, Fresh Onion, and Fireweed. Other gluten-free treats will include Yorkshire Pudding, Pound Cakes, Regular Cakes, Cookies and Brownies! Look for their delicious farmer’s cheese, fresh cultured yogurt, and specialty butters. This week’s sprouts:  adzuki bean and black sesame. You’ll also find their regular assortment of raw, fresh, organic dressings and vinaigrettes.

BREAD
Rise & Shine Bakery will have five flavors of their whole grain sourdough breads this Saturday. Pan loaves will be their signature 100% whole wheat sourdough LEVAIN (naturally-leavened bread), and the moist and delicious SPENT GRAIN loaf, made with “spent” barley from the Midnight Sun Brewery’s summer lager. Hearth loaves will be the FRESH ROSEMARY BREAD (great for dinner bread and sandwiches), the ALASKAN ONION & RYE loaf (ditto), and the ever-popular FRUITED ALMOND loaf, loaded with golden raisins, dried cranberries, dried apricots, and toasted almonds, and scented with almond extract.

Once again, I’m delighted to introduce my intern, Sherrill Smith Collins! She’s a candidate for a Master’s of Science in Nutrition at Bastyr University in Washington State. She’s helping me with some Farmers’ Market reporting while she’s home for the summer. Take it away, Sherrill!

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SHERRILL’S REPORT

THE MARKET
Come on down to the South Anchorage Farmers Market and support local agriculture! A sign posted at Glacier Valley states “Grown Here Not Flown Here.” The tables at the market are beginning to explode with greens, cucumbers, herbs and the first of the tomatoes!

Next week, Glacier Valley Farm will have English cucumbers, strawberries, icicle radishes, zucchini, tomatoes, collard greens, kale and mizuna.  I would recommend purchasing a pint of strawberries to munch on while you stroll through the market.  I picked mine up at the end of my day and proceeded to eat all of them in the car on my way home!

Vern at Stockwell Farm is hoping to have broccoli next week if the weather cooperates.  He will also have green cabbage, red leaf lettuce, red butter lettuce, bok choy, green leaf lettuce, rhubarb, kale, and a variety of homemade jellies including dandelion jelly.  Many of us consider dandelions to be a weed in the yard, but did you know that dandelions are rich in numerous vitamins and minerals? The leaves and stems can be used in salads or sautéed and the flowers are wonderful in fritters on a Sunday morning.

Vitali and Monica Seldovitsch have snow apple turnips, beets, kale, red turnips, garlic, onion, dill, cilantro, butter lettuce, romaine lettuce, Swiss chard, basil, dill, cilantro and bok choy.  Next week he will have seedless cucumbers and zucchini.  I chatted for a few minutes with Vitali about his favorite summer dishes and he was full of recommendations; ask him for a new idea next time you stop by.  He suggested trying raw beets and garlic, grated, and tossed with blue cheese or sliced boiled beets with garlic, blue cheese and hard-boiled egg.

The Future Farmers of America have a wide variety of plants and vegetable starts, along with kale, bright lights Swiss chard and stinging nettle tea.  The nettle is harvested locally.  Many hikers are familiar with stinging nettle, but it holds a very dear place in natural medicine.  Stinging nettle has been used throughout history for muscle and joint pain, eczema, arthritis, gout and immune improvement.  Stinging nettle has high levels of calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, vitamin C, B-complex vitamins and easily absorbable amino acids.  If you are interested in stinging nettle, stop by a visit with the Future Farmers of America or check out http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Nettle.html.

Gray Owl Farm will have kohlrabi, pickling cucumbers, European cucumbers, bell peppers and a wide variety of greens and herbs.  If you are interested in making your own pickles, you should check out Shauna James Ahern’s pickle recipe on her blog, Gluten Free Girl at http://glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com/.

It is time to say goodbye to In the Garden Nursery for this season.  If you are interested in the hardy perennials, expert advice and unique varieties they offer, call 227-0172 to make an appointment.  They are located on O’Brien Street between 72nd and 74th off Lake Otis.
The Blue Poppy, located in Indian, has gigantic blue poppies, lupine and columbine for your garden! 

Dave and Fat Boy Ribs have been at the South Anchorage Farmers Market for several years.  I see many happy people licking BBQ sauce off of their fingers as they snack on the beef and pork ribs available.  Dave also has pork loin sandwiches, homemade baked beans, potato salad and the best coleslaw you’ve ever had.  Dave and his family love making good food for Alaskans.

Three Bears Farm has a variety of unique jams and butters including: tomato pepper jam, cranberry walnut jam, apple butter, pumpkin butter, carrot jam, and strawberry rhubarb jam.  The tomato pepper jam is excellent with goat cheese and crackers or as a glaze on salmon. 

Rempel’s Family Farm has over 15 varieties of greens, radishes, pre-bagged salad mix, dill, cilantro, squash blossoms, cabbage, broccoli, middle eastern cucumbers with a smooth skin and a sweet flavor, napa cabbage, green onions and snow apple turnips.  I asked Mark what he does with the snow apple turnips and he replied “eat them.” So I did just that, they are delicious raw!  He also recommended using them to replace potatoes in a slow cooked roast, grilling them or adding them to stir-fry.  When cooking snow apple turnips, keep in mind that they soften quickly and the sweetness intensifies.

The Red Beet, focused on using organic, gathered and locally grown seasonal produce and meats, continues to bring new tasty treats to the market.  This week they had a Fresh Farmers Cheese made with goat, cow and sheep’s milk.  It was herby and delicious.  The dressings they came with this week include the very popular spruce tip, rhubarb raisin yogurt, orange lemon pear and blueberry yogurt dressing.  Amidst all of the bread, market pies, tars and brownies is Hazel’s Cracker Box Cookbook containing cracker recipes from sweet to savory. 

NOTES, IDEAS AND RECIPES
Culinary herbs have antioxidant, antimicrobial and antiviral properties.  Herbs are a prominent part of recipes from around the world.  Herbs purchased at the market can be used fresh or processed to use throughout the year.  Marisa, at Food in Jars, has a wonderful blog entry on quick drying herbs, her website is worth a look http://www.foodinjars.com/2009/06/28/quick-drying-fresh-herbs/.  One rainy fall day a few years back I was watching Martha Stewart prepare pesto from a large basil harvest, she recommended freezing the prepared pesto in ice cube trays and then storing in a plastic bag for future use.  The bags of basil and parsley at the market are so tempting.  This week I picked up basil to make a batch of pesto.  I use goat cheese instead of Parmesan and I add kalamata olives to the food processor as I’m pulsing the pesto.  Pesto has so many variations; the pine nuts are easily replaced with walnuts, the basil with parsley, experiment with your pesto the next time you make it.

Cucumbers are already making an appearance at the market.  As I sift through my recipe collection, I find myself thinking about a family dinner I attended last week.  My aunt put large chunks of cucumber in the potato salad, yum!  Maybe I will make some potato salad with cucumber this week and add garlic and dill for good measure.  However, the recipe I would like to pass onto you has nothing to do with potato salad.  Several years ago, after a very hot hike in the Arizona canyons, a friend served us a Greek cucumber salad that I have since adapted to my taste.  This salad is a meal by itself, add a fresh loaf of bread and enjoy. See the link to the quinoa & cucumber salad recipe, below, as well.

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Thank you, Sherrill!!

GLACIER VALLEY FARM CSA PRODUCE BOXES!
I know that it’s sometimes hard to make it to the Saturday farmers’ market—you’re out of town, or your kids have soccer games, or you sleep in and by the time you’re up and at it—it’s already 1:00 and you know that most of the good stuff will be gone already. But there’s another option for getting local produce! Check out Glacier Valley Farm CSA’s produce boxes! 

The hefty boxes, costing $35 each, are filled with as much Alaskan produce as is available, augmented in the winter and spring with some vegetables and fruits from certified organic farms Outside. We’re just ramping up the boxes to include more and more Alaskan produce each week! Each box also contains a newsletter loaded with delicious, healthy recipes tailored to the week’s vegetables.

You can sign up for a box once a week, twice a month, or more sporadically—you choose the dates! You pre-pay for your box, then pick it up at one of several locations in Anchorage, Eagle River, or the Valley. Please visit our website for more information! www.GlacierValleyCSA.com

related recipes

quinoa & cucumber salad
cabbage salad with lime and oregano
tostadas three ways