NEWS AND UPCOMING EVENTS

One of our generous sponsors, Northrim Bank, will hold the Purple Plant Contest this Saturday, August 21. Enter your best purple flowers and vegetables at the Northrim Bank booth at the market between 9:00-12:00 Noon.  Judging will begin at 1:00 pm. 

For purple flowers:  enter one to three stems of any annual or perennial flower that is predominantly purple in color.  Bring entries in a disposable container.  Judging is based on color and appearance.

For purple vegetables:  Enter one to three of any vegetable that is predominantly purple in color.  Bring entries in or on a disposable container.  Vegetables may be cut to display purple interiors.  Judging is based on color and appearance.

First place prize in each category will be $100 cash and a Proud To Be Alaskan hooded sweatshirt.  Second place in each category is $50 cash prize and a Proud To Be Alaskan hooded sweatshirt.  Third place price each category is $25.00 cash prize and a Proud To Be Alaskan hooded sweatshirt.

For more information call Northrim Bank at 261.3593.

Name that cheese contest!  Matanuska Creamery needs your help!  They have a wonderful new Pepper Jack cheese but need help finding an Alaskan name for the new cheese and cheese curds.  It is absolutely a beautiful cheese with red chilies and hot peppers.  They will have an entry box there for people to enter names this Saturday.  Matanuska Creamery will notify the winner sometime that week and will give a block of each type of cheese for their effort.  The name of the cheese and the name of the winner will be announced at the market the following week, August 28th.

On August 28 the SAFM will have their first vegetable poetry slam contest! Get those creative juices flowing and submit your entry by noon, Wednesday, August 25th to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).  There are three categories: veggi haiku, veg rap, and vegetable general.  You will be notified August 27th via email and hope that you will be available to read your poem at the market on August 28th.  We will have prizes for first, second, and third place, but all poets who submitted entries are encouraged to read their poems upon approval.  This is a family friendly event! 

The Eat Local Challenge is August 22 to August 28th! To learn more about the challenge go to http://www.eatlocalalaskagrown.org.

For this Saturday’s Anchorage South Side Farmers’ Market:
PRODUCE

VanderWeele Farms has a great variety of lettuce including Red Oak, Bibb, Lollo Rosso, green and red leaf, and Red and Green Romaine.  Check out their white, purple, yellow or “cheddar” and lime green cauliflower!  Incredibly beautiful and tasty! Broccoli, radishes and red and green cabbage will also be there along with their famous potatoes.

Glacier Valley Farm will have beautiful zucchini, red, ripe tomatoes, tender green beans, crisp English cucumbers, broccoli, cabbage, a variety of lettuces and big, sweet, strawberries!  There are some great pictures from last week’s wine benefit for the Alaska Farmland Trust.  Here is the link:  Glacier Valley Farms Facebook

Stockwell Farms will have a wide variety of greens including baby bok choy, kale, Asian kale and other greens, chard, lots of new potatoes including Yukon Golds, Rose, German Butterball and more!  Sweet carrots and homemade relishes too.  Try their homemade cookies.  It will give you the energy to make it around the market!

Rempel Family Farm reports:  This week we will have Sugar Snap Peas, green beans by the end of the week (earlier if we get some sun), a few spaghetti squash that are not real stringy yet but very delicious baked or steamed.  We are have an abundance of carrots, lots of broccoli and cauliflower, at least 8 varieties of potatoes, and about 30 other varieties of herbs and vegetables.
Last Saturday we came home from market to another baby yak!  All three of our girls have produced boys this year.  It is a lot of fun watching them grow play and interact.

Wolverine Farm will have their delicious tender peas!

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

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

FFA (Future Farmers of America) will have 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.  They also have greens and homemade jams and jellies. 
Gray Owl Farm will have a variety of produce including sweet European (English) cucumbers, pickling cucumbers, fresh fennel and cilantro, Napa cabbage, scallions, raddichio, beets, cauliflower and broccoli, some tasty mustard greens and spinach, and a nice selection of potted herbs. They will also have fresh cut herbs including dill, summer savory, borage blossoms, cilantro, and Italian & Curly parsley.  Look for leeks and collard greens as well.

Lewis Family Farm will have a fantastic selection of new potatoes and gift baskets!  Perfect for your host or hostess.

BAKERY AND FOOD
Rise & Shine Bakery will be bringing 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 include the TOASTED WALNUT bread, great with sweet and savory toppings (I love it with honey or cheese!) ,  and ONION RYE which makes the best grilled swiss cheese sandwiches on the planet!  For their 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!
Mary Jane will be bringing baked goods from French Oven Bakery.  Huge loaves of marble rye, cheddar, jalapeno cheddar, white, and wheat and white sourdough.  Lots of pastries including palmiers, macaroons, and those tempting cinnamon rolls.

Arctic Choice has a great selection of fresh Alaskan seafood.  Fresh King and Silver 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. 
Matanuska Creamery will have a great selection of cheese curds.  Their newest, with big grain black pepper and spices is a huge hit.  They will also have an assortment of cheese including mozzerella and cheddar cheese and a wide selection of ice cream.  They will also have Alaska Grown hoodies and t-shirts.  All of their products are made from hormone free, grass fed cows.  And for all you pepper jack fans, they are working on a new pepper jack cheese that is incredible!  They will probably have it ready next week.

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.  Check to see if they have their tasty salmon wraps!
Southfork Jams will have baskets of multi-colored heirloom tomatoes available through August.  These varieties were started from seeds brought over from Eastern Russian.  The hardy plants do well in the cooler climates, bearing solid, flavorful fruits.  A limited supply of heirloom cherry tomatoes are also available - but come early to get a basket of these, as they sell out quickly. They will also have a limited supply of their popular zucchini relish during August.  The sweet-sour condiment is very versatile, good mixed in tuna or salmon salad, or in deviled eggs for the barbeque.  The relish also makes a nice tartar sauce, to compliment that fresh halibut and grilled salmon.  Of course, you can also use it on those hot dogs and hamburgers.  For those of you who want to stock up for the winter, Southfork will take orders and set aside your jars. 

Three Bears will be bringing their jams and jellies as well.  A wide variety made with local fruit at terrific prices.

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

WeBeDogs will be there with their local buffalo and reindeer dogs! 
Denali Kettle Corn will have their sweet treats ready for you! 
PLANTS
Country Garden Farms will also be there with their direct from the field sod. Great prices too!

Gray Owl Farm will also have fresh cut herbs including dill, summer savory, borage blossoms, cilantro, and Italian & Curly parsley.  They will also have a few leeks and collard greens available.  Check out what perennials are still available! Johnson’s Blue Geranium,  Ligularia, Asiatic Lilies, Hosta, Penstemmon, Perennial grasses and Cerastium.  They have a large variety of houseplants and tropicals to choose from including a rainbow of colors in Coleus, Pink Philodendron, Ferns, Red Banana Plants, Scented Geraniums, Hawaiian Ti Plants and New Zealand Flax (Phormiums).  They have locally grown Nugget Bluegrass Seed in 2# bags available and offer free estimates on Delivery and Placement of their pure Nugget Bluegrass Sod.  Stop by and pick up a card to plan an appointment for a free estimate for “Instant Grassification.” Can’t we all just get a Lawn?  The garden is producing and they will offer Kohlrabi, Beets, Napa Cabbage, tender Mustard Greens, Arugula, Spinach, Bunching Onions (Scallions), and from the greenhouse their “so sweet” European Cucumbers and crunchy Pickling Cucumbers as well as a variety of herbs. 

For more information about the market, contact Nancy Lampman, South Anchorage Farmers’ Market, at 907-529.7630, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).  Please note our new email address.

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.

related recipes

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