Don't have the time or the desire to go dipnetting? Combat fishing isn't for you?
But you still want a freezer full of sockeye salmon.
The Alaska Marine Conservation Council has the perfect solution. The AMCC is partnering with Naknek Family Fisheries through its Catch of the Season Community Supported Fishery program and offering 10- and 25-pound boxes of Bristol Bay sockeye salmon.
"This is seafood caught by Alaskans for Alaskans," says Rachel Donkersloot of Alaska Marine Conservation Council.
Orders will be accepted through July 25. The boxes will be available for pickup in Anchorage and Homer as the salmon season continues. The 10-pound box of sockeye fillets is $130, and the 25-pound box is $300.
For more information, or to order, visit www.akmarine.org. Orders can also be made by calling 277-5357.
The Alaska Marine Conservation Council will have a booth at several local farmers' markets starting Wednesday.
"Don't need a whole box but still craving the savor of wild sockeye? Visit AMCC's booth at farmer's markets this summer where they will be selling Bristol Bay sockeye, Kodiak jig caught rockfish and smoked black cod from Pickled Willy's in Kodiak," Donkersloot says.
Here is the AMCC schedule: Wednesday at the Center Market; Saturday at the Spenard Farmers Market; July 16 at the Center Market; July 19 at the AMCC Seafood Cooking Demonstration at Anchorage Museum; July 23 at the Homer Farmers Market; and July 30 at the Center Market.
New Wednesday Market Opens
The South Anchorage Wednesday Farmers Market will have five vendors for its first market of the season on Wednesday. Scheduled vendors are Glacier Valley Farm, Stockwell Family Farm, Alaska Sprouts, Zoi Food 4 Life and Kenley's Vegetables. The market is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Dimond Center.
Featured this week will be Alaska Division of Agriculture's Chef at the Market program. Chef Terri Norton will be cooking with ingredients available at the market.
"There will be lots of veggies, meats and breads this week at the Wednesday market as well as the cooking demonstration," says market organizer Arthur Keyes.
Chef at the Market
A variety of chefs will visit several markets during the upcoming weeks.
Chef visits to Southcentral markets include: South Anchorage Wednesday Market (July 9 and 16); South Anchorage Farmers Market (July 12, Aug. 16 and 30, and Sept. 13 and 27); Anchorage Farmers Market (July 19 and 26, and Sept. 6 and 20); the Spenard Farmers Market (Aug. 30 and Sept. 13); the Homer Farmers Market (Aug. 16 and 30, and Sept. 6 and 20); the Central Kenai Peninsula Farmers Market (Aug. and 16)
The program also will provide chef cooking demonstrations at the Glennallen Wednesday Market, the Tanana Valley Farmers Market and the Downtown Market in Fairbanks.
At the Markets
As summer heats up, the options at local farmers markets continues to grow.
"The weather this year has been typical Alaskan, unpredictable," Keyes says. "This past week's hot days and cold nights has put everything except strawberries in overdrive here at the farm. The Yensis sweet onions are two weeks ahead of last year, and the strawberries are probably two weeks behind last year; it's the Alaskan weather confusing the plants!"
Check out some of these highlights:
Spenard Farmers Market: "A little sun, a little rain and voila -- harvest time," says Cindy Shake, the market's community and media relations volunteer. "Along with the larger selection of veggies and the weather cooperating for our farmer/growers, fresh seafood is also now abundant at the market." Look for black cod tips (raw, smoked or marinated), along with Copper River salmon from new vendor Alaska Black Cod. Alaska Gourmet will have fresh king crab and Prince William Sound spot shrimp. Other vendor highlights include: Dinkel's Veggies with green beans, zucchini and tomatoes; Spring Creek Farm will have kale, radishes and bok choi; Ba-Lescas Brothers is bringing garlic, gourmet onions, rose salad radishes and cilantro; Brown Dog Farm will have spring mix salad, chard, kale, spinach, arugula and kohlrabi; A Pie Stop will feature fresh pies, while Fire Island Rustic Bakeshop will have breads, sweet and savory scones, muffins and cookies. Another Market favorite, P&M Garden with the big white truck is back and will be loaded with hearty, priced right annuals and perennials, hanging baskets as well as unique indoor varieties of plants!
South Anchorage Farmers Market: Look for nearly 20 vendors at the market this weekend. Rise & Shine Bakery is back at the market with levain, flax seed and spent grain loaves, along with fresh rosemary and raisin and toasted pecan hearth loaves; Glacier Valley Farm will have onions, zucchini, cucumbers, turnips and bunched beets; Arctic Choice Seafood will have fresh cod and halibut, along with oysters and mussels from Simpson and Kachemak Bay, fresh salmon, sablefish, side-stripe shrimp and king crab; new this week from the Rempel Family Farm will be red beets, golden beets and green onions, along with plenty of other options including arugula, cilantro, kale, dill, salad mix and turnips; among the other vendors are Drool Central, Stockwell Family Farm, Sweet and Sassy Kettle Corn, Alaska Sprouts and Joan's Salmon Burgers.
Northway Mall Farmers Market: Among the vendors will be Dinkel's Veggies with new items including tomatoes and broccoli, and Papa B will have plenty of fruit options, including white peaches, pluots, bing and Rainer cherries and pears.
Center Market: A.D. Farm will have bunched beet greens, salad mix, spinach, rhubarb, red beets, peanut potatoes, fresh eggs, a whole lineup of pork products and barley flour and cereal. Choose Food Wisely and Farm 779 will have first-of-the-year peony blooms, along with cacao sprouted quinoa tea cakes, cacao raspberry truffle kefir and other items.
Anchorage Farmers Market: Look for the regular vendors at the market, highlighted by Arctic Organics with four varieties of kale, snow apple turnips, spinach, Chinese cabbage, radishes, pac choi, arugula, leaf lettuces, nasturtium blossoms and other items.
Steve Edwards lives and writes in Anchorage. Contact him at sedwards@adn.com.
Local farmers markets
Monday: Mat-Su Farm Market, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Palmer Depot
Wednesday: APU Farmers Market, 1:30-6:30 p.m., 4101 University Drive; Center Market, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Mall at Sears, Benson Boulevard and Denali Street; Northway Mall Farmers Market, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Northway Mall; South Anchorage Wednesday Market, Dimond Center, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Wasilla Farmers Market, near Wasilla Wonderland Park, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Thursday: Peters Creek American Legion Post 33 Farmers Market, 3-7 p.m., 21643 Old Glenn 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