According to Sarah Bean from Arctic Organics and the Anchorage Farmers Market, "Things are rolling in from the field now that it's midsummer."
New on the market scene this week is today's South Anchorage Farmers Market. The market sets up from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. behind the Dimond Center. Several vendors will be at the market, including Glacier Valley Farm with zucchini, other vegetables and strawberries; Vern Stockwell with a wide variety of greens and homemade jams and jellies; and Carol Kenley with a large selection of fresh from the farm vegetables.
The South Anchorage market joins the other two Anchorage-area Wednesday markets -- the Center Market at the Mall at Sears and the Northway Mall Wednesday Market -- along with the Wasilla Farmers Market.
Highlights of the Saturday South Anchorage Farmers Market include a pair of special events: Leslie Shallcross from the University of Alaska extension office will give hourly talks and advice on canning and preserving, while Winestyles will have a wine tasting to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. For $10, Winestyles will provide a sample of three varieties of wine and an eco-friendly glass.
Vendors include: Rise & Shine Bakery, back at the market after a week off, with raisin and toasted pecan, Alaskan potato, spent grain, onion rye and fresh rosemary; Arctic Choice with fresh Cook Inlet salmon fillets, shrimp, halibut fillets, cod and rockfish fillets, Dungeness crab, scallops, razor clam meat and smoked sockeye salmon; Matanuska Creamery with cheese, ice cream, butter and cheese curds; VanderWeele Farms with lots of lettuce options; the Rempel Family Farm with collard greens, arugula, spinach, radishes, kale and herbs; Bruce Hougan with cut flowers, greens and lettuces; Country Garden Farms with Kentucky bluegrass sod in 2-by-5-foot rolls; NonEssentials with sourdough starter among other items; and plenty of vendors with flower options and others with food choices.
The Spenard Farmers Market is focusing on the "Sustainable Spenard" theme Saturday in cooperation with the Bicycle Commuters of Anchorage, which will provide free, secure bike parking. Additionally, the market will host CFL recycling and demonstrations to encourage a more sustainable lifestyle.
Among the vendors this week is Coastal Villages Seafood, which will be selling fresh Kuskokwim River king salmon. The corporation employs local fishermen and their families from 25 villages along the Western Alaska coast. Spokesperson Jill Phelps says: "We have fresh king fillets for the market for a very reasonable price so that our interns from the Kuskokwim villages can receive experience in sales and marketing. We plan on rotating personnel and have seven interns from various villages where the fish are caught."
Other vendors will bring fresh vegetables, greens, salad mixes, herbs, fresh-cut flowers, jams and jellies, fresh oysters and shrimp, crafts and various food items.
The Anchorage Farmers Market will feature many of its regular vendors, including Arctic Organics, Seldovitsch Family Farm, Persistent Farmer, Matanuska Creamery, Bushes Bunches, Alaska Community Action on Toxics, Turkey Red Cafe, and VanderWeele Farms.
The Seldovitsch Farm expects to have beets, carrots, snow apple turnips, garlic, zucchini, red onions, green onions, lettuces, Swiss chard, radishes, eggs, herbs and other items. New this week from Arctic Organics will be snow apple turnips, zucchini, kohlrabi, collard greens, Chinese cabbage and watercress. Repeat items include broccoli, kales, spinach, radishes, greens mix, arugula, lettuces, herbs and other vegetable items.
The Center Market, both today and Saturday, will feature fresh pork products from Alex Davis at A.D. Farm. He says: "We are fully loaded on pork products. ... You can come get pork directly from the guy who raised it." Items include pork chops, steaks, loin roast, leg roasts, side pork, breakfast sausage, Italian sausage, spicy sausage and ground pork. Davis' other items include jams, fresh eggs, salad mix, rhubarb, beet greens, spinach and mustard greens.
Many farmers' fields are producing loads of kale. Put it good use with this simple recipe from Katheryn Powers from the Spenard Farmers Market.
Kale Chips
1 bunch Alaska Grown kale
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
Preheat an oven to 350 F. Use a flat cookie sheet, or line Pyrex with parchment paper.
Remove the kale leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite-size pieces. Wash and dry kale with a salad spinner or paper towel. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.
Source: Katheryn Powers, Spenard Farmers Market
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.
Local farmers markets
Today: Center Market, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Mall at Sears, Benson Boulevard and Denali Street; Northway Mall Wednesday Market, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Northway Mall parking lot; South Anchorage Farmers Market, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., behind the Dimond Center; Wasilla Farmers Market, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., behind the Wasilla Library
Friday: Palmer Friday Fling, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Pavilion across from Visitor’s Center; Willow Farmers Market, 2-7 p.m., Mile 69 Parks Highway
Saturday: Anchorage Farmers Market, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 15th and Cordova in the Central Lutheran Church parking lot; 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., Mall at Sears, Benson Boulevard and Denali Street; 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, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Spenard Road and 26th Avenue
Sunday: Anchorage Market and Festival, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Third Avenue between C and E streets
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