Good morning!

For so many weeks we patiently, or for some of us impatiently, wait.  The weather gets warmer and we can see things starting to grow.  Then ka-boom!  All of a sudden we have tender lettuce making their first appearance and the strawberry plants are flowering full tilt.  Very exciting indeed!  Check out the recipe below for a delicious spring salad.

For some of our vendors this will be their last week (Heart of the Mountain Organics) and for others we welcome back (Rise and Shine Bakery and Rempel Family Farm).

We also have two new videos about SAFM and VanderWeele carrots.  Just go to the website and scroll all the way to the bottom and hit “continue reading.” That is where we put our videos.  We hope you enjoy seeing these great videos by Steve Nowers.  Thanks Steve!

GLACIER VALLEY FARM has beautiful tomato plants and cucumber starts.  Their hanging strawberry baskets are as popular as ever and many are already bearing fruit.  Things are happening rather quickly now, so be sure to stop by and see if any produce is available!

MARY JANE continues to satisfy everyone’s sweet tooth with pastries and breads from French Oven Bakery. Get their early to make sure you get one of those incredible whole wheat cinnamon rolls.  She sells out frequently even though she keeps ordering more!  Ya, they’re that good!

MATANUSKA CREAMERY will be at the market again this week.  Everyone is enjoying the fresh cheese, cheese curds, and their wonderful ice cream!  Last week they offered a spectacular deal on milk.  Stop by and see what is going on this week and say hello.

HEART OF THE MOUNTAIN ORGANICS (Tom and Trish Lee) report that this will be their last appearance at the market this spring with their beautiful starter plants.  They will have:  veggies - Strong tomato plants with flowers now, ready for your greenhouse, many different lettuces, 2 kales, broccoli, green zucchini and yellow crookneck squash.  Herbs- mixed pots of basil, thyme, marjoram, cilantro, arugula, large pots of lush spearmint - add flavor, nutrition, and beneficial anti-oxidants to your salads this summer.  Flowers - colorful and fragrant stock, rare white fireweed, marigolds, bachelor buttons, and a few more pots of large fast growing rhubarb.

Remember, this is your last chance this Saturday to get your starter plants from Heart of the Mountain Organics and have an ‘instant garden’.

GRAY OWL FARM will have a wide variety of thrillers, spillers, and fillers to create your containers.  Their grasses add interest and texture to your baskets or bowls.  If you really want to make a statement, check out their New Zealand Flax Phormiums.  They are ideal in a large urn or container and can highlight an entrance or become a focal point in your garden.  They will bring in “fancy herb” including Lemon Balm, Lemon Verbena, Pineapple Sage and Pesto Basil.  Our rhubarb is available along with a few dozen eggs.  Check out their “tropical and exotic” selection of plants to keep your memories of the tropics alive.

It’s RISE & SHINE BAKERY’S debut at the market this week!  Dan and Alison will bring their delicious and nutritious whole-grain sourdough loaves. The bread freezes and thaws really well because of the long fermentation process (three days!), so if you are often gone on the weekends and can’t always make the market, remember, you can stock up and freeze the bread for later.

The 100% whole grain pan loaves that the Rise & Shine bakers are baking this week will be their standby multi-purpose loaf, their SIGNATURE LEVAIN (the French term for “naturally leavened bread”), and that perennial crowd-pleaser, the SPENT GRAIN loaf, packed with slightly sweetened cooked barley groats recycled from Midnight Sun Brewery’s beer-making process.  Both of these pan loaves make terrific toast, yummy sandwiches, or a tasty base for any kind of spread or topping, sweet or savory.

Rise & Shine hearth loaves this week will include TOASTED SEED, which is just as versatile as our pan loaves, and it’s just as healthy, since it’s also made with 100% whole wheat. But this loaf has the added richness and toasted flavor of a variety of seeds, including pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, flax, and a little polenta. The FRESH ROSEMARY will be our other savory hearth loaf, and it’s a little lighter, made with 40% unbleached organic bread flour, instead of all whole wheat flour. It’s fantastic as a dinner bread, but also great for sandwiches.

Rise & Shine Bakery’s sweet loaf this week will be their FRUITED ALMOND bread, packed with dried apricots and cranberries, golden raisins and toasted almonds. Scented with almond extract, this bread is fantastic for snacks, breakfast toast, and it’s really great (not to mention delicious!) as an energy boost on hikes or long bike rides. You can save your Clif bars for later if you have this bread in your house—or stashed in the freezer!

BISTRO RED BEET will be at the market with baked goods, their fresh, herbed farmer’s cheese, vinaigrettes, dressings and all Alaska market pies.  Delicious sandwiches include slow roasted beef brisket, slow roasted pork or roasted veggies with farmer’s cheese.  Sandwiches are made with their focaccia bread and their own yogurt-herb spread.  Yum!

Baked goods to include their NEW gluten free focaccia bread and new gluten free english muffins – both fabulous gluten free items!  Gluten free almond cake and other goodies.  Standard breads to include:  beet whole wheat with sunflower seeds, carrot whole wheat with fireweed and clover & whole wheat with sunflower seeds, flax and cranberries.  Spruce Tip Vinaigrette is in season!  Don’t miss it, they only have it for a few weeks.

A final note: All Red Beet foods are FLOSS – Fresh, Local, Organic, Seasonal and Sustainable.  They use fresh and change seasonally to bring the best to their customers!!

NORTHERN LIGHTS MUSHROOMS we will be at the market with a good supply of oyster mushrooms and a limited supply of shiitake mushrooms.  Dan and Gail do not use pesticides on their delicious mushrooms.  They do have new employees to take care of the bugs…praying mantes!  Yup, they have lots of those to keep the bugs in check. 

ARCTIC CHOICE SEAFOODS will also be bringing their awesome selection of fresh Alaskan seafood.  Stop by and see what might be for your dinner on Saturday!

Speaking of dinner, here is a great salad recipe.  I know you all know how to make a salad, but the salad dressing can be just as important.  Check out this flavorful dressing for those beautiful baby lettuces on our SAFM website!  tender spring salad with sorrel dressing

UPCOMING EVENTS
Next week we are lucky to have Trout Unlimited and their Savor Bristol Bay event on Saturday, June 19, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the South Anchorage Farmers’ Market.
Chefs from Bear Tooth Theatrepub & Grill, Sack’s Cafe, Jack Sprat and Bradley House will grill freshly caught Bristol Bay sockeye salmon, give away samples, and ask the public to decide which recipe is best. The name of the winning chef will be revealed at approximately 1 p.m. and he/she will take home new cooking utensils as a prize.

After savoring tasty samples from the world’s largest wild sockeye salmon fishery, stop by the Trout Unlimited Alaska booth to learn new salmon filleting techniques, pick up new salmon recipes and learn more about what you can do to help protect Bristol Bay from the proposed Pebble mine. Bring the kids for fish art activities and T-shirt printing too.

Bristol Bay wild salmon contribute more than $400 million to Alaska’s economy each year. The fishery employs thousands of people and offers a healthy, sustainable food source. The salmon fishery faces unprecedented threats from what would be one of the world’s largest mines, located upstream from some of Alaska’s finest salmon spawning grounds.

Get involved, have fun and help Trout Unlimited Alaska to Savor Bristol Bay.

For more information about the market, contact Nancy Lampman, South Anchorage Farmers’ Market, at 907-529.7630, .

Please respond to this email if you’d like to be removed from the newsletter list.

Cheers! And see you at the market!
Nancy Lampman
South Anchorage Farmers’ Market Reporter

Would you like to see some videos about the vendors and farmers who sell their produce at the South Anchorage Farmers’ Market? Check us out!
Chef Delicious Dave at the South Anchorage Farmer’s Market Anchorage chef Dave Thorne describes what to look for when shopping for local produce.



VanderWeele Carrot HarvestRoger VanderWeele of VanderWeele Farm talks about carrot production.

Rise & Shine Bakery: Owners Alison Arians & Dan Schwartz bake their whole-grain sourdough bread in the small commercial kitchen attached to their house on Anchorage’s lower Hillside.



Transplanting Lettuce at Vanderweele Farms: Vanderweele Farms employee Teresa Reel talks about getting plants in the ground during the spring planting near Palmer, Alaska in May 2009.



Strawberries: Arthur Keyes of Glacier Valley Farm talks about his experiment growing California strawberry varieties on his Palmer, Alaska farm.



Harvesting Corn at Glacier Valley Farm: Alaska farmer Arthur Keyes talks about growing and harvesting, corn in Alaska.



Onions from Stockwell Farm: Vern Stockwell perfected the art of growing onions in Alaska.