Recycle compact fluorescent bulbs at Spenard market

This week the market is giving away free compact fluorescent lights - one per person; they have 250 of the bulbs - and offering CFL recycling.

Chugach Electric Association and Municipal Light and Power are donating the light bulbs, which will be available at the market's information booth. The Spenard market is open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and is in the Chilkoot Charlie's parking lot along Spenard Road between 25th and 26th Avenues.

CFLs generally use about 75 percent less energy than traditional incandescent bulbs and last significantly longer.

Residential homeowners may also recycle unbroken CFLs placed in sealed plastic bags at the information booth. Broken CFLs and incandescent bulbs will not be accepted.

For those looking to stock up on items other than light bulbs, the Spenard Market will have plenty of options. Products will include:

Seafood: Glacier Seafood with fresh Prince William Sound shrimp and Northern Lights Oyster Co. with Kachemak Bay oysters. Produce: Glacier Valley Farm with lettuce, radishes, kale, cabbage, broccoli and tomatoes; Spring Creek Farm with beets, carrots, greens, squash and herbs; P&M Garden Services with perennials, annuals, English cucumbers and zucchini; and Anchorage-area home gardeners with fresh strawberries, strawberry and raspberry plants, lettuce, radishes and fresh eggs.Foods: Grandma's Old Kitchen with Russian food; Alaska Corn Co. with kettle corn, hot dogs and Philly cheesesteaks; and AK's Best Hotdogs with polish sausage, reindeer sausage and hot dogs. Other items: Rabbit Ridge Designs will have alpaca natural fertilizer; AS2 Designs will have photos, jewelry and mixed-media art; Shake Designs will have garden art, honey and birch sap products; and the Alaska Permaculture Guild will have books on permaculture, fresh produce, holistic design systems and chai tea from Yak & Yeti restaurant. More information on the Spenard Market is available at www.spenardfarmersmarket.org.

Market options

Market shoppers can get a jump by visiting a pair of markets today - the South Anchorage Market at the Dimond Center and the Northway Mall Market.

Highlights of the Dimond Center market include Glacier Valley Farm with zucchini, tomatoes, English cucumbers, green beans, strawberries and a large variety of lettuces; Stockwell Farms with carrots, bok choi, kale, chard and new potatoes; Country Gardens with locally grown sod; French Oven Bakery with marble rye, cheddar, jalapeno cheddar, white and wheat breads along with lots of pasteries; new market vendor Webedogs with locally made reindeer and buffalo dogs; and new vendor Denali Kettle Corn from Willow. Many vendors will also be at Saturday's market, along with Matanuska Creamery, Arctic Choice Seafoods and Rise & Shine Bakery among others.

Northway Mall vendors include: Rempel Family Farm will have peas, carrots, snow apple turnips, cucumbers, green onions, several varieties of potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbages and lots of greens, spinach and beets (they will also be at Saturday's South Anchorage Market); Duane Clark will have fresh shelled peas, grass-fed beef cuts, seafood and local honey (he will also be at the Friday Fling in Palmer, the University Center and downtown markets Saturday, and in Eagle River on Tuesday); A.D. Farm will have strawberries, rhubarb, tomatoes, cabbage, fava beans, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuces, salad mix, potatoes, beets, baby carrots, fresh eggs, pork sausage and perhaps bacon and pork chops (also available at Saturday's Center Market).

Grass Roots will be at Saturday's Anchorage Market and Festival with a variety of cauliflowers, collard greens, kohlrabi, lettuces, broccoli, radishes, zucchini, kale, flower bouquets and fresh cut herbs.

Many of the regular vendors will be at the other Saturday markets: the South Anchorage Farmers Market at O'Malley Road and Old Seward Highway, the Anchorage Farmers Market at 15th Avenue and Cordova Street and the Eagle River Farmers Market in front of Mike's Meats.

Farm tour

The Mat-Su Farm Bureau's five-stop farm tour is Saturday. Stops on the daylong tour include Glacier Valley Farm, Havemeister's Dairy, Pyrah's Pioneer Peak U-Pick farm, Bushes Bunches Stand and Kenley's Alaskan Vegetables and Flowers, where an all-Alaskan grown lunch will be served.

Tickets are $55. Anchorage residents will gather at Carrs on Muldoon Road at 8 a.m. Valley residents will start the tour at 9 a.m. at the Division of Agriculture in Palmer. Bus service is provided, and participants will receive a Farm Bureau T-shirt. Space is limited. For more information, or to register, contact Patricia O'Neil at 1-907-761-3858 or Patricia.ONeil@alaska.gov.

Broccoli with caramelized garlic and pine nuts

1/3 cup pine nuts

¼ cup butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 pound broccoli florets

½ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

Toast pine nuts in a large skillet over medium heat 6 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from skillet, set aside.

Heat butter and oil in same skillet over medium heat until butter melts. Add garlic, and saute 1 to 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Add broccoli, salt and crushed red pepper. Saute 8 minutes or until broccoli is tender. Stir in pine nuts before serving.

Yield: 6 servings

Source: "Farmers Market Cookbook: A Fresh look at Local Flavor" by Southern Living (Oxmoor House, $29.95)

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Steve Edwards lives and writes in Anchorage. If you have a suggestion for a future Market Fresh column, please contact him at sedwards@adn.com.

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Local farmers markets

Today

Wednesday Market, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Northway Mall; Wednesday South Anchorage Farmers' Market, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., behind the Dimond Center, in front of the Dimond Center Hotel; Wasilla Farmers Market, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. behind Wasilla Public Library

Friday

Palmer Friday Fling, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Pavilion across from Visitor's Center; Willow Farmers Market, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., Mile 69 Parks Highway

Saturday

Anchorage Market and Festival, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Third Avenue between C and E streets; Center Market, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., University Center mall; South Anchorage Farmers Market, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Subway/Cellular One Sports Center at the corner of Old Seward Highway and O'Malley Road; Spenard Farmers Market, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Spenard Road and 26th Avenue; Saturday Eagle River Farmers Market, 9 a.m to 2 p.m. at Mike's Meats on the Business Loop; Anchorage Farmers Market, 10 a.m to 2 p.m. at 15th and Cordova in the Central Lutheran Church parking lot.

Sunday

Anchorage Market and Festival, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Third Avenue between C and E streets

Tuesday

Eagle River Farmers Market, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., VFW Post Parking Lot