Enjoyed my visit to Delta Junction

This week I traveled to the far-off land of Delta Junction to learn about farming there. After touring a hayfield, a feed mill, a research facility, a dairy and a meat plant, I determined that eating local in the Interior is as doable as it is here in Southcentral.

I’ve been telling you where you can find local produce, but wouldn’t you like to see it?

According to the National Farm Bureau, most Americans are now more than three generations removed from farm life. Lucky for you, the Mat-Su Farm Bureau holds a farm tour each year. This year’s tour is on July 26. For just $55, you get an Alaska Grown goodie bag, an Alaska Grown lunch and a full day of touring local farms on a tour bus. Contact me to register if you’re interested, but hurry — space is limited.

Can’t make it to the tour? You can still experience a bit of farming by picking your own produce at Pyrah’s Pioneer Peak Farm. Getting your food is a bit more work, but the price is worth it: the Pyrahs price their items by dividing the store price in half. This week you can pick your own rhubarb, lettuces, radishes, collard greens, mustard greens, kale, bok choy, Napa cabbage and spinach.

In stores this week you’ll find romaine, head, cello, red leaf and green leaf lettuces, green cabbage, collard greens, kale greens, broccoli and rhubarb. At the Wednesday market in Wasilla and the Friday market in Palmer, you can buy cabbage, potatoes, broccoli, zucchini and green beans from the Dinkel family stand. Vitali’s will be selling lettuces, onions, tomatoes, cabbage, cucumbers, zucchini, beets, radishes, carrots, spinach, garlic, Swiss chard, turnips, broccoli, new potatoes, rhubarb and a variety of herbs.

Bushes Bunches stand on the corner of the Old Glenn Highway and Robin Lane will be selling rhubarb, turnips, kohlrabi, zucchini, radishes, collard greens, Swiss chard, beet greens, Chinese cabbage, kale greens, tomatoes and lettuces.

Don’t forget to wash down all your veggies with Matanuska Creamery milk, available in stores. Cheese, cheese curds, butter and cream are also available at the creamery. And don’t forget dessert! You can buy ice cream by the scoop at Friday Fling, or buy one of more than 25 flavors at the creamery. Ice cream is sold in pints, half gallons, and three-gallon tubs.

Local eggs are sold at Three Bears, and you can find broiler hens at Friday Fling. Kahiltna Birchworks syrups, ice cream toppings, candies and condiments are sold at Nonessentials and Alaska Wild Berry Products. Local honey can be purchased at Turkey Red and local jams and jellies can be ordered online at juicejellyandjam.com.

Meat products including Alaska Grown beef, pork, elk and yak can be purchased at Mat Valley Meats. The variety is too staggering for me to print, so head to the store to see just what it has to offer!

For a dishes-free night, eat at Bistro Red Beet, Vagabond Blues, Rusty’s or Turkey Red and enjoy the variety of local produce used in many of their dishes. If you aren’t sure if what you’re eating is local, ask your waiter.

Do you know if any local food that’s available that I didn’t mention? Have any questions about eating local? Contact me at rachel.kenley@alaska.gov. And don’t forget to eat Alaska Grown, because it’s closer, fresher, better!

Rachel Kenley Fry is a Division of Agriculture intern who writes for the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman as part of her internship. She is 2009 Palmer High School graduate.