Good morning!

As you all know by now I love to try new things.  I often buy something at the farmers’ market, bring it home, and then try to figure out how to use it.  It drives my husband nuts.  “What’s this?” “I don’t know, but we’re having it tonight!”

I had an interesting cooking adventure recently.  I used zucchini squash blossoms for the first time.  They really don’t have a particular flavor all on their own, but are more a flavor vehicle for all sorts of tasty fillings.  Squash blossoms are commonly used in Italian and Latin cooking so the fillings tend to follow those flavor profiles.  In the world of zucchini there are females and males and the female blossoms tend to be pricier.  So men, maybe you’re right; females can be a little more expensive!  The females are often seen at a market with the tiny zucchini attached and the flowers tend to be larger overall.  But most people use the male blossoms because they are less expensive and slightly smaller.

You want to buy blossoms that are fairly closed.  This cuts down on the bug factor as well.  If the blossom does have a few freeloaders, just brush them out.  You then fill them with all sorts of goodies: firm cheeses, chopped mushrooms and breadcrumbs, even ground meat with herbs.  I tried all three fillings and had good success.  The frying was the tricky part for me and I quickly learned the batter needs to be very thick in order to keep those blossoms closed.  I also oven fried a few blossoms and maybe it was the mess factor of frying, but I liked the oven fried version better.

You can use the uncooked blossoms in salads, which lend a beautiful color to those greens.  And in Italy, they toss warm pasta with anchovies and torn blossoms. 

Our friends loved them and they made a great appetizer.  So if you are looking for something a bit different give them a try!

It turns out a little sun can do a lot of good for our farms!  Here is what we hope to see at the market this Saturday.

EAGLE RIVER MARKET
The market in Eagle River is now open!  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.

UPCOMING EVENTS
A great farm tour is the one of a family owned dairy farm!  Be sure to stop at the Matanuska Creamery and sign up!  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.  See happy cows first hand!

The Mat-Su Farm Bureau is hosting a special tour July 31st.  They will be touring Valley Farms, eating an Alaska Grown luncheon and meeting with Valley farmers.  It was a huge success last year, so sign up early if you want to go.  The cost is only $55 which is a real bargain.  The price barely covers the cost of the motorcoach so the lunch, t-shirt and guided tour are practically free.  The Farm Bureau is doing this as a service to our market customers so that you can see where your food is grown.  Contact Patricia O’Neil to register at 907-763-3858 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              907-763-3858      end_of_the_skype_highlighting or .

Alaska Farmland Trust Corporation will also have a booth here this week.  AFTC is a private, non-profit land trust dedicated to assisting landowners in preserving their working agricultural lands.  The Alaska Farmland Trust envisions a future with thriving local food markets that will give Alaskans access to fresh, healthy food and keep our farmers farming.  Because only 4% of Alaska’s farmland is accessible and viable for farming, and less than 10% of food consumed in Alaska is locally grown there is an immediate need to protect agricultural lands in production and educate the public about the agricultural opportunities available in Alaska.  Come visit their booth to learn more about the organization and find out how you can help keep our farmers farming.

PRODUCE
Glacier Valley Farm will have beautiful zucchini, tomatoes, crisp English cucumbers, and tender lettuces.  The first of the strawberries will be making their debut!  Check out Glacier Valley’s Facebook page and look at Arthur’s photo journal of life on his farm.  Here is the link:  http://tinyurl.com/29rgvfo You’ll always find it interesting and informative.  There is a great recipe showing off those beautiful English cucumbers on the SAFM website.  A sauce that goes great with fish too!  http://tinyurl.com/2ad68bg

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

Stockwell Farms will have a great assortment of greens including baby bok choy, Asian kale and other greens, chard, and homemade relishes.

This week Rempel Family Farm will have certified organic CARROTS, lots of greens and lettuces, some new red potatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, dill, cilantro, arugula, basil, broccoli, green cabbage, and maybe cauliflower.

Country Garden Farms will also be there with their direct from the field sod. Great prices too!

Northern Lights Mushrooms will be there with their beautiful oyster mushrooms. 

FFA (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.

Earthworks Farm will be there with a great assortment of lettuces and greens. 

BAKERY AND FOOD
This week, Rise & Shine Bakery will be bringing two different 100% whole wheat sourdough pan loaves with Alaskan ingredients: the BAKED POTATO bread and the ALASKAN BARLEY loaves.  The barley is grown in Delta Junction, and adds an interesting tang to the bread. The potatoes are grown in Palmer, of course, and add a moistness and keeping quality to the whole wheat bread that makes it a perennial favorite.

As for hearth loaves, Dan and Alison will be baking their 100% whole wheat TOASTED WALNUT bread, which is great with any kind of cheese, or as a dinner bread or toast with breakfast, soups, or salads. The other savory hearth loaf will be the ONION RYE loaves, with their distinctively cakey texture and a slight grassy texture from the rye flour. And the sweet loaf this week will be the much-awaited DARK CHOCOLATE & CHERRY loaves, not just for breakfast anymore!

Mary Jane will be bringing baked good from French Oven Bakery.  Huge loaves of marble rye, cheddar, jalapeno cheddar, white, and wheat and white sourdough.  Lots of pastires including palmiers, macaroons, and those tempting cinnamon rolls.

Matanuska Creamery will have something new-mozzerella cheese!  Lots of ice cream as well.  They will also have Alaska Grown hoodies and t-shirts as well!  Check out some of their cute notepads that they will bring.  All of their products are made from hormone free, grass fed cows. 

Nonessentials has Alaskan honey, barbecue sauce from Apple Branch Pantry and balsamic vinegars made with local fruit such as ligonberry!  Also check out their fresh roasted coffee by Coffee Roastery. 

Southfork 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.
Arctic Choice has a great selection of fresh Alaskan seafood.  Fresh King Salmon 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.

Three Bears Jam will have a great variety of homemade jams and jellies.  They have a great sample policy too.  It’s so nice to be able to taste something before you buy you it!

Fat Boyz Ribz will be there grilling up their delicious ribs and hot dogs.  Great cole slaw too!  Just follow your nose!

PLANTS
Janet at Bearsden Gardens will have lots of basil along with 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.  Don’t forget to look for their rhubarb muffins too.  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 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. 

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

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

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.

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