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!
There is a new addition to our team.  Nancy has been on our Glacier Valley CSA team as our customer service contact, updating our website, and has also helped grow our young CSA by representing us at events and assisting in our marketing efforts.  She’ll also be contributing to the South Anchorage Farmer’s Market newsletter and website, offering her ideas and recipes.  Nancy is a creative home cook, previous owner of a specialty food business (Summit Spice & Tea Co.), and enthusiastic market supporter.

GLACIER VALLEY FARMS
Arthur will have those incredible strawberries at the market again this week. They are full of flavor and very fragrant, with that strawberry aroma you almost never see in the supermarket.

NORTHERN LIGHTS MUSHROOMS
They will be here again at the Saturday market. Their oyster mushrooms are not only gorgeous, they are incredibly tasty! Look for their recipes at their stand.

REMPEL FAMILY FARMS
Mark Rempel let us know that they will have certified organic zucchini in abundance, CARROTS, a few sugar snap peas, cabbage, lots of broccoli, romaine, red and butter lettuces, green onions, cilantro and another 20 or so veggies not to mention a few new red potatoes.

He would also like to see a little rain!

NEW VENDOR!
We’ll have a new food vendor this week selling fantastic local grilled salmon wraps and salmon salads!  The concession is called Eat Food, and by a fun coincidence, their debut will be the same day as our second Eat Wild salmon event. Their menu includes wood pellet-smoked and grilled sockeye salmon with a light lemon pepper glaze that can be enjoyed as a salad or wrap.  Organic summer greens, organic basil infused rice, and mango salsa are the other ingredients. Matthew Roundtree, the owner, writes that he is “excited to get folks into the idea of eating local fish, with local greens, made on locally made tortillas.  We have quite a summertime harvest here in this area, it seems past time to celebrate it in new ways.”

RED BEET
Sally tells us they will have lots of breads including their slow rise, Swedish whole wheat with flax.  Crackers, featuring a new Spinach Pecan Cracker, which goes great with their Farmer’s Cheese .  Fresh plain yogurt, and Healthy to-go salads including Roasted Potato Salad (local potatoes, local eggs, local organic herbs) and Fresh Pasta Salad (in-house made pasta, with local vegetables and herbs).  Have you tried their meat pies? Simply delicious.  A great variety of vinaigrettes and dressings too. Check out their bar cookies and bar cakes.  And they have not forgotten the gluten free folks. Lots to choose from this week! Another new item this week is their yogurt chocolate sauce!  Too good on ice cream, crepes, waffles, pancakes, or as a fresh fruit dip!!  This sauce also makes a killer chocolate drink added to a bit of milk!  Great for breakfast!  All organic!
Our Salves and lotions from wild Alaskan or local garden herbs and plants.  Wonderful for their healing and soothing properties.  Made in Palmer by Hazel Koppenberg.

KENLEY’S FARM
Carol Kenley has achieved the perfect balance in their rhubarb lemonade. It is really wonderful!
Here is what is going on at her farm:
What another wonderful week it has been--especially if you are a gardener!  We are busy juggling water hoses and sprinklers, but not complaining about it one bit!  This sunshine is working magic with every vegetable in the garden!  Reading my garden log from last year makes me doubly aware of how fabulous this year is!  Last summer there was fresh snow on the mountain July 14th and the high temperature was 48!

Friday I bought some of Arthur Keyes’ strawberries.  “Some” is not really a very descriptive term--I bought six full flats of them!  I juiced one whole flat and then made jam, lots of jam!  It is so good, fresh strawberry freezer jam made with the best strawberries that you’ll ever taste!  I got a little carried away with the jam making and so I am bringing some with me to the market.  Believe me, you’ll want some of this jam.  My grandson, Dane will also be selling his rhubarb lemonade but this week he will add strawberry juice for a new twist.

The garden is almost producing at its peak.  We still won’t have carrots or shelling peas and the celery is still a week from being ready but we will have some lovely snow peas which will dress up any stir fry recipe.  The broccoli and cauliflower are coming on strong along with the cabbage and kohlrabi.  We’ll have those large sweet onions along with a limited supply of new potatoes and green beans. Our tomatoes are ripening and the zucchini has produced in abundance!  New this week is a beautiful red romaine lettuce called Cimeron!  We’ve never grown this before and it is a great surprise--it tastes as good it looks!  We will have plenty of other lettuce varieties, radishes, green onions, turnips and beets.  Don’t forget to buy a few herbs like basil or thyme and a cucumber or two!  If you want to read more about our garden check out our garden blog at: http://kenleysakvegetables.blogspot.com. We are regularly posting garden updates, pictures, and recipes and we think you’ll really enjoy it.

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.

EAT WILD SALMON!
Trout Unlimited and Arctic Choice Seafood are teaming up to hold a special event at the South Anchorage Farmers’ Market this Saturday.  The event, “Eat Wild!,” is designed to promote Bristol Bay salmon. By building support for the fishery, they hope to help protect Southwest Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed from the threat of large-scale mining. They will be giving away free samples of grilled Bristol Bay sockeye salmon along with recipes and information about Bristol Bay and the risks this fishery faces. SACK’S CAFÉ will be there for some of the market to help cook up this bounty!!

The event is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Arctic Choice Seafood Booth. I’m including a really fun salmon recipe at the end of this newsletter for you, and I’ve also posted photos on the farmers’ market website (http://www.SouthAnchorageFarmersMarket.com) and on my blog (http://www.AlisonsLunch.com) to celebrate the event.

This week Arctic Choice will have four species of fresh salmon; Sockeye from Bristol Bay, King from the Nushagak River, Coho from Seldovia Point, and Keta from the Yukon River. Fresh Halibut and Rockfish caught in the Gulf of Alaska near Montague Island. Fresh Sidestripe Shrimp harvested from Prince William Sound along with Sablefish from the same area. Live Oysters farmed near Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska. There will be a good possibility of freshly cooked Dungeness Crab clusters from Sitka.

FARMER’S MARKETS AROUND ALASKA!
Are you traveling around Alaska this summer? Might you be tempted to stop in another town and look for a farmers market there? If this sounds like your ideal vacation (it’s definitely high on my list!), I have great news! I’ve just launched a website for the brand-new non-profit, the ALASKA FARMERS MARKET ASSOCIATION. Every farmers market in Alaska is listed by city, along with its location, dates, and hours of operation.  www.AlaskaFarmersMarkets.org
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
Stockwell Farm has a variety of vegetables including Joi Choi, Bok Choi, Kohlrabi, red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, red butter lettuce, broccoli, green cabbage, zucchini, collard greens, kale, rainbow chard and rhubarb.  The greens collection at the market is great for wilted salads, checkout the recipes the Seasonal Chef has posted at http://www.seasonalchef.com/greens.htm

Gray Owl Farm has beautiful cut peonies, eggs, pickling cucumbers, broccoli, kohlrabi, pac choi, win win choi, chocolate mint and apple mint.  Kohlrabi made its grand appearance at the market this week, but what do you do with it?  Kathy recommends eating it raw, in chunks on a salad or added to soup.  Kohlrabi is part of the cabbage family with a mild broccoli flavor.  According to Harold McGee, the name comes from the German for cabbage turnip.  Simply Recipes has a nice collection of kohlrabi recipes, http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/kohlrabi/.

Future Farmers of America has eggs every week, but you have to arrive early because they go quickly!  These young farmers also have basil, kohlrabi, collards and new potatoes.
Mat Valley Peas has returned to the market with their fresh-shelled peas.  All the work has been done for you; the only thing you will work at is deciding what size bag to take home!  The peas are available in $6 bags, $10 bags, 5-pound bags and 10-pound bags.

Mile 5.2 Greenhouse in Eagle River has perennials and herbs for you to choose from.

Three Bears Farm has yummy fresh cilantro and a variety of peppers, all you need are tomatoes and onions from the market to whip up your own fresh salsa!  And of course they also have their collection of jams, I recommend trying the carrot jam on toast.

Vitali and Monica Seldovitsch have dill, basil, cilantro, garlic, rhubarb, seedless cucumbers, sweet turnips, beets, zucchini, onion, Swiss chard and leaf lettuce.

Rempel’s Family Farm has snow apples, broccoli, carrots, romaine, red leaf lettuce, butter crunch lettuce, arugula, green onion, dill, cilantro, spinach, radishes, salad mix, beets, bulls blood beet greens, red cabbage, green cabbage, red mustard, collard greens, daikon radish, bok choi, napa cabbage, shingiku, Tat soi mustard, mizuna, Swiss char, red Russian kale, Lacinato kale, yellow zucchini, green zucchini, squash blossoms, Costata Romanesco zucchini, sorrel, cress and sunflowers.  Next week they are expecting sugar snap peas, red potatoes, more carrots and daikon.  Daikon radish is fairly mild and can be used raw or cooked.  Within food lore it is thought that the longer the daikon the higher its nutritional value will be.  Ayur Balance has some interesting daikon radish information and recipes, http://www.ayurbalance.com/explore_foodwhitedaikon.htm.
Notes, Ideas and Recipes
Strawberries are abundant at the market right now.  These beautiful jewels are best raw for breakfast, a snack or dessert.  One cup of fresh sliced strawberries (166 grams) only has 53 calories!  Not only is this a low calorie treat, but they are also a rich source of vitamin C and phenolic antioxidants.  The majority of the strawberries at the market are organic, something to watch for as strawberries are on the dirty dozen list, http://organic.lovetoknow.com/Dirty_Dozen_Organic_Foods. 
Once you’ve had your fill of fresh strawberries it is time to lightly process the strawberries to save some for this winter.  After you have rinsed the strawberries and cut the green tops off, place the strawberries on a cookie sheet and freeze for 24 hours.  Store the individually frozen strawberries in an airtight container for use throughout the year.
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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! http://www.GlacierValleyCSA.com

related recipes

http://southanchoragefarmersmarket.com/index.php/site/single/strawberry_rhubarb_crunch/