You have to check out some amazing pictures on Glacier Valley Farm’s Facebook page.  Arthur keeps a photo journal of what is going on at the farm and it’s a great way to keep up to date on how things are progressing.  He also has a video and pictures from Todd Pettit’s working bison and elk ranch.  Here is a link to an amazing video of running bison on Todd Pettit’s ranch.  http://tinyurl.com/29rgvfo.  Amazingly beautiful!  (If anyone knows how to embed a Facebook video, please email me.)

One of the reasons I wanted you to check out these pictures is that Todd Pettit is going to be at the SAFM this Saturday, July 10th. He is going to hold a tour of his ranch and has just a few spots open for his tour.  Come by his booth early so you can be sure to reserve your spot!

I can’t believe it is July 1st.  Living in Alaska you monitor your summer by the holidays.  Memorial Day starts off the summer and you feel you have plenty of summer ahead of you.  July 4th means that solstice has come and gone and we are almost halfway through those treasured summer months.  For our farmers though, it means that all that planting is now coming to fruition. Tender tiny seedlings are now harvestable.  You would think that once a plant is ready for the market that ends the cycle.  You couldn’t be more wrong. Some will plant another crop, others will continue to work their other varieties and keep a vigilant eye for pests.  The work never ends.  And with our long days of sunlight their workday often continues until way past midnight.

A bonus for all of us who visit the farmers’ market is the fruit of their labor.  The lettuce has been spectacular this year and I found myself with an overabundance of it in my refrigerator.  A nice problem to have.  But when you can’t close your vegetable bins and you start moving items into a cooler filled with ice on the deck, it’s time to take action.  There is only so much chewing a person can do.  The solution?  Soup!  I love soup; I’ll have it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if it is on hand.  So I hunted around for a lettuce soup.  I was slightly reluctant because I have read that the texture can be off-putting (that’s code for slimy).  I headed (you know I like puns) for my trustworthy sources.  The soup was fantastic!  Simple, not fussy, and soul soothing.  The beautiful emerald flecks vanished before I realized I had made my way through the entire bowl.  I knew this would be in my regular repertoire of soup recipes.  I hope you enjoy it too!  I have a link below.

UPCOMING EVENTS

The Wednesday South Anchorage Farmers’ Market will begin this coming Wednesday, July 7th!  Be sure to stop by and see all the wonderful produce that is now available!  Just stop in from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm behind the Dimond Center in front of the Dimond Hotel.

Starting next Saturday, the Eagle River Farmers’ Market will start.  Right in front of Mike’s Meats from 9:00 am - 2:00 pm.  Glacier Valley Farm will be there along with a few other vendors.

Be sure to stop at the Matanuska Creamery and sign up for a farm tour!  There is also a Mat-Su Farm Bureau Tour on July 31 that is a great event.  It connects you with the farm and the farmer and you get to see where your food is coming from.  Kids of all ages will enjoy it. More information in the upcoming weeks…so stay tuned.

On July 10th, Todd Pettit from Pitchfork Ranch will be joining us at the market.  He is the owner of a working bison and elk ranch in Palmer.  He will be at the market to talk about his ranch and also to promote his scenic farm tour.  He only has 20 spaces left so be sure to go to his booth early.  It is one of the most beautiful ranches you’ll ever see!

PRODUCE

VANDERWEELE FARM has a great variety of lettuce including Red Oak, Bibb, Lollo Rosso, green and red leaf, and Romaine.  Radishes will also be there along with their famous potatoes.

GLACIER VALLEY FARM will have English cucumbers, as well as cherry and yellow tomatoes at the market this weekend.  He will also have mustard greens from Carol Kenley’s farm and baby bok choy from Vern Stockwell’s farm.  Check out Glacier Valley’s Facebook page to see what is going on at the farm.  Facebook Glacier Valley Farm

Here is a report from REMPEL FAMILY FARMS:
We are grateful for the rain.  It will make the carrots easier to pull out than if I had to irrigate them.  Just before the rain Shiloh, one of our yaks, had a cut little one.  She is hyper protective so we really haven’t gotten to see it well.  He seems quite happy to be out and has already figured out that the other yaks have horns.

They will have certified organic arugula, spinach, radishes, snow apple turnips, their special salad mix, lettuces, cilantro, kales, bok choi, collard greens, zucchini, squash blossoms, basil, and probably sweet cucumbers. 

NORTHERN LIGHTS MUSHROOMS will be there with their beautiful oyster mushrooms. 

FUTURE FARMERS OF AMERICA will have spruce tips, rose hips, local duck eggs, and nettle tea.  Nettle tea is incredibly good for you and they have mixed it with peppermint so it tastes nice and refreshing.

PLANTS

COUNTRY GARDEN FARMS will be here with their high quality sod at great prices.  Buy direct from a local farm in Palmer and know you are getting the best sod available.

JANET AT BEARSDEN GARDENS will be featuring lemon basil as their fourth variety of basil.  It’s so delicious it’s hard not to eat it like candy!  They have pineapple sage, cilantro, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and eight other varieties of herbs.  Scotch moss is ready for brightening up your garden beds, and some of the hostas are ready to bloom.  She’ll have large pots of forget-me-nots again, and several blooming ground covers.  We’ll also be bringing in the showy double blooming English petunias in purple, pink, and red.
Their rhubarb muffins are made with butter, raw sugar, and organically grown rhubarb.  They were very popular last week, so they will be bringing more this week.  The perfect size to munch on while you shop the market!

GRAY OWL FARM will have a nice variety of perennials this week including 4 colors of hardy Pixie Lilies, Ligularia, Johnson’s Blue Geranium, Dark Towers Penstemon, Creeping Phlox, and Karl Forester Calamagrostis grass (about as close to Pampas Grass as we can grow here in Alaska).  We have some of our unusual annuals still available for those of you building containers or filling spots in your gardens.  As usual, we have our selection of exotic tropical plants to enjoy outside for the summer and extend that enjoyment as you bring them into your home for wintering.  We also have some of our New Zealand Flax Phormiums and grasses available.  They are just the perfect size to make a statement in your garden plans.  See you at the market!

THE BLUE POPPY is obviously known for their gorgeous Himalyan Blue poppies, but they also have other great plants and plant starts. 

MILE 5.2 GREENHOUSE will have their great selection of plants, plant starts and tropicals as well.

BAKERY & FOOD

ARCTIC CHOICE has a great selection of fresh Alaskan seafood.  Fresh King Salmon (red or white) or Sockeye Salmon, Sablefish (Black Cod) and Halibut fillets for the BBQ. Also fresh SideStripe Shrimp, Cod & Rockfish fillets will be there along with large Spot Shrimp, Razor Clam meats, Halibut Cheeks, Scallops and always a favorite King Crab, along with other seafood treats.

MARY JANE has whole wheat cinnamon rolls that make people look forward to the market every week; tender whole wheat swirls with fragrant cinnamon.  Your mouth waters just looking at them! A wide variety of breads, local fresh eggs and tender greens also available.

MATANUSKA CREAMERY will be there with their myriad of ice cream flavors.  Which one will it be for you this week?  Their candy bar crunch?  Or how about their Alaskan honey? 

Of course they have cheese and cheese curds!  They will be bringing aged white and yellow cheddar.  All of their products are made from hormone free, grass fed cows.  They are all such happy cows! 

You must take advantage of the farm tours the Havemeisters give!  See the cows and an actual colonist farm first hand.  Jean’s husband has been here 70 years and Jean has been here 50 years. Their farm has been a working farm for 75 years. They started with horses Payday and Prince, and then acquired a Ford 8N tractor.  Now they have great big cases.

NORTHFORK JAMS & JELLIES will the Blueberry Rhubarb, Jalapeno Peach and other great flavor combinations.  She will also have heirloom tomato plants that are perfect for your deck. 

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

Cheers! And see you at the market!
Nancy Lampman
South Anchorage Farmers’ Market Reporter
http://www.southanchoragefarmersmarket.com

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.

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lettuce soup