It's a long holiday weekend and the perfect time to fire up the grill.
And since the Fourth of July falls on Saturday, a quick trip to a local farmers market can put the freshest ingredients on your picnic or barbecue table.
"The Fourth of July has impeccable timing; all different types of fresh Alaskan seafood are being harvested this week," says Dannon Southall of 10th & M Seafoods.
Southall says they will have headed and gutted kings for $8.95 per pound, with fillets going for $12.95 a pound. The sockeye are "starting to show up all over the state," so there is a good supply of those beautiful reds.
Other seafood options include halibut and cod, along with Prince William Sound side-stripe shrimp, Southeast oysters and Kachemak Bay mussels.
John Jackson of New Sagaya Markets is happy to see the sockeye start to really hit the markets.
"After all of the predictions of a very strong year for the reds, we may finally start to see that actually happen," he says. "Supplies were hit and miss the beginning of the season but supplies are starting to roll in."
New Sagaya will have headed and gutted reds for $5.99 a pound. They also have headed and gutted king salmon for $8.99 a pound, Southeast Dungeness crabs for $8.99 a pound and some other tasty treats.
New Wednesday market
The Northway Mall Wednesday Farmers Market opens this week. Mark and Lesley Dinkel are now managing the market, which is operating as a non-profit.
"The Northway Mall market is the second oldest one in town," Lesley Dinkel says. "We helped start it back in the middle 1990s."
Dinkel's Veggies will be among the vendors lined up from 9 a.m. to 4 .m. Wednesday. They will have zucchini, strawberries, beans, leaf lettuce, broccoli and pickling cucumbers. Look for the Dinkel's at other locations, including the Wasilla Farmers Market on Wednesday and the Spenard and Muldoon farmers markets on Saturday.
At the other markets
South Anchorage Farmers Market: Keeping with the fish on the grill theme, Arctic Choice will be at Saturday's market -- on the Fourth of July -- with fresh options for the grill including sockeye and king salmon. They also will have halibut, cod, oysters, side-stripe shrimp and king crab.
Glacier Valley Farm will have zucchini, carrots, radishes, tomatoes, lettuce and green onions.
New from Rempel Family Farm will be broccoli, beets, zucchini and zucchini blossoms, and red and romaine lettuces. They also will have arugula, mint, cress, salad mix and snow apple turnips.
Rise & Shine Bakery's loaves this week include flax seed sourdough, Alaska potato, spent grain, fresh rosemary, and raisin and toasted pecan.
Sweet Caribou's James Strong says, "Saturday is a Fourth of July berry fest!" Included in the holiday menu are chocolate-cherry, chocolate-covered-strawberry, raspberry-chocolate, triple-lemon, blueberry-hibiscus and blackberry blitz Parisian macarons. Also look for cupcakes and other sweets.
Spenard Farmers Market: "In town for Independence Day?" asks Rene Haag of the Spenard Farmers Market. "Join us. … Farmers are bringing in the goods including farm fresh eggs, cucumbers, tomatoes and all the salad greens you'll need for the week. For your Fourth of July barbecue, pick up a fresh catch of Copper River salmon or a bag of Gordon's mondo Alaskan shrimp."
For dessert, grab something sweet from A Pie Shop, which is featuring mini-pies including pecan, rhubarb and apple. The market also has vendors with Alaska-made arts and crafts, perennial flowers and flowering plants.
Anchorage Farmers Market: Sarah Bean of Arctic Organics says the great weather continues to produce an abundance on the farm -- and at the market.
"We continue to enjoy the effects of the early spring this year. We will have the first snow apple turnips this weekend," Bean says. "The very beginning of the broccoli and cauliflower harvest surprised us last week. We'll try to bring more of those as well. Spinach is in full flourish. We should have loads of bunches this week."
Arctic Organics also will have three types of kale, Chinese cabbage, purple and green kohlrabi, radishes, greens mix, arugula, mibuna, lettuces and two types of basil.
Other vendors include Bushes Bunches, Stockwell Farm, Seldovitsch Farm, VanderWeele Farm, The Vang Garden and Turkey Red baked goods.
Center Market: This week, the Center Market is taking a holiday break. The market is open Wednesday but closed on Saturday, along with the entire mall.
La Grassa is at the market with a variety of fresh pastas and vegan basil strozzapreti, pea and ricotta ravioli, vegan potato and garlic ravioli, and roasted tomato and goat cheese ravioli. They also will be at the South Anchorage market.
Farm 779 will have kefirs, kvass, kombuchas, ferments and bee-based body products.
Sweet Caribou will be at the market with fleur de sel caramel, maple-bacon, chocolate-cherry, dairy-free peppermint-chocolate and bananas-foster macarons.
Alaska Black Cod has smoked black cod and Copper River salmon, along with fresh items ready for the grill. Black cod ($16.50/pound) and Copper River sockeye fillets will be available.
Alex Davis of A.D. Farm has had a busy week.
"Had one litter of piglets on Thursday and one litter on Saturday," he says. "Monday morning, I dropped five full-sized pigs for butcher, so those will be appearing in the meat cooler in a couple of weeks."
On Wednesday, he will have pigs for the barbecue, along with pork chops, roast, fresh side pork, slab belly, spicy sausage, hocks, skin and fat. Vegetables include tomatoes, kale, chard, spinach, salad mix and rhubarb. He will have plenty of fresh eggs, along with a variety of Alaska Flour Co. barley items.
Steve Edwards lives and writes in Anchorage. Contact him at akmarketfresh@gmail.com.
Alaska farmers markets
Monday in Palmer: Depot Farm Market, noon-6 p.m., Palmer Depot
Tuesday out of town: Eagle River Farmers Market, 3-7 p.m., VFW Post parking lot, Eagle River; Farmers Fresh Market, 3-6 p.m., Kenai Peninsula Food Bank, Soldtona
Wednesday in Anchorage: Center Market, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., The Mall at Sears, Benson Boulevard and Denali Street; Northway Mall Wednesday Market, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Northway Mall
Wednesday out of town: Homer Farmers Market, 3-6 p.m., Ocean Drive; Soldotna Wednesday Market, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Soldotna Creek Park; Tanana Valley Farmers Market,11 a.m.-4 p.m., 2600 College Road, Fairbanks; Wasilla Farmers Market, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Nelson and Weber streets intersection
Thursday in Peters Creek: Peters Creek Farmers Market, 3-7 p.m., American Legion Post 33, Old Glenn Highway
Friday in Palmer: Friday Fling, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., across from the Palmer Visitor's Center
Saturday in Anchorage: Anchorage Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Central Lutheran Church, 15th Avenue and Cordova Street; Anchorage Market and Festival, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Third Avenue between C and E streets; Center Market, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., The Mall at Sears, Benson Boulevard and Denali Street; Muldoon Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., 1467 Muldoon Road; South Anchorage Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., O'Malley Sports Complex at the corner of Old Seward Highway and O'Malley Road; Spenard Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Spenard Road and 26th Avenue
Saturday out of town: Central Kenai Peninsula Farmers Market, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Kenai Spur Highway and East Corral Street, Soldotna; Homer Farmers Market, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Ocean Drive; Kenai's Saturday Market, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center; Tanana Valley Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., 2600 College Road, Fairbanks
Sunday in Anchorage: Anchorage Market and Festival, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Third Avenue between C and E streets
Sunday in Fairbanks: Tanana Valley Farmers Market, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., 2600 College Road