Tuesday, September 29th
It’s the last week of September, and autumn is officially here!
As most of our beautiful farmers markets wind down for the summer, I am writing to say THANK YOU to all our farmers, market managers (many of whom are volunteers), and customers who made the 84 markets in Alaska come alive this year! AFMA is so happy to be here to support you and we look forward to another vibrant market season in 2027. We also want to acknowledge that this was not an easy year- high diesel prices, late spring, wet summer, and an early frost means we- the customers and advocates- need to do all we can to support our local growers. And the good news is we still can!
Did you know the Matanuska Community Farmers Market in Palmer runs through the full month of October? I stopped by market manager Brandi Jo’s farm in Palmer last week to join in her bountiful potato harvest. And the Winter Market @ Bell’s Nursery in Anchorage opens Saturday, October 8th for the season. In Fairbanks, OffBeet Farm grows all summer to support a Winter CSA (community supported agriculture) subscription and the Goldstream Farmers Market is year-round. There are also local food stores statewide- from Bushes Bunches, to the Rambling Root, to Salt & Soil Marketplace, and more- buying from local farmers to stock their shelves.
Not to mention the celebratory harvest festivals around the state! This Saturday, I took my turn staffing a market booth at the lovely Harvest Moon Festival in Soldotna hosted by our friends at the Kenai Local Food Connective. It was a good reminder that the wind can really blow your display all to pieces. And that there are so many exciting connections to be had as we strengthen our shared resilience when we come together. From live music, to giant kohlrabi stir fry, to pie contests raising funds for the local Farm Bureau chapter, there was much to celebrate!
Another AFMA September highlight has been supporting the Free Farm Stand hosted by volunteers from Neighbor Works and Anchor Gardens in Anchorage. I had the pleasure of buying produce from farmers markets to donate to the effort which continues into October (contact Theresa at 907-947-8217 if you have produce to share or time to offer). We had a recent generous donation at AFMA that supported those purchases and will also support buying produce to donate to the upcoming Project Homeless Connect day in Anchorage this October.
Here’s to coming together to make sure all can join in the bounty of harvest time in Alaska!
This autumn you will find Claire and me presenting at the Alaska Food Festival & Conference in Fairbanks, launching a Farmer Market Resiliency Cohort of 12 markets statewide who applied to work closely with us ahead of next market season, and preparing for Food Security Week in Juneau in the early new year. We’ll keep our eyes on the prize of reviving Farm to Food Banks, growing our SNAP Market Match fund, and showing up for farmers markets however they ask for support.
If you have a market you hope we visit next season, please reach out. We’d love to Meet You at the Market! Happy Fall to all!