Grow Palmer hosting food workshop; edible rail trail in place

PALMER — It has been a busy spring and summer for Grow Palmer, the grassroots, urban agriculture project that literally turns downtown Palmer into a “you pick” outlet every harvest season.

Along with unveiling its new “edible rail trail” along the South Valley Way bike path near the Palmer Depot, the group was selected as one of 27 civic organizations nationwide to host a “Local Foods, Local Places” public work session aimed at promoting local food access and economic opportunity in the city.

Grow Palmer director Jan Newman said in an email Thursday that the two-day workshop runs from 3-6 p.m. July 26 and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 27 at the Palmer Depot. A special session for local growers has been set for 6:30-8 p.m. July 26, Newman added, for those producers busy with their harvests during the day. Anyone interested in any session is welcome to attend, Newman said.

The full-day session will be led by a consultant team from Progressive Urban Management Associates, a Colorado-based group which specializes in designing local food systems. The consultants will craft an action plan around the input and ideas generated during the community discussion, according to Newman.

“Our overall goals are to nurture a culture of food production that brings residents together to learn about growing, local agricultural history, gathering, preserving, preparing and savoring good food,” Newman wrote. “It is this basic awareness of, and connection to, food production, combined with a strong sense of community connection, that will do the most to promote economic growth and self-reliance.”

She said confirmed participants include representatives from the Division of Agriculture, the Alaska Farmland Trust, AARP, the City of Palmer, the Mat-Su Borough and NeighborWorks Alaska.

“We are also expecting landscape architects, land planners and designers, farmers and ranchers, restaurateurs, local business owners, gardeners and community members,” she said.

Palmer was selected from some 340 applicants to be one of the sites chosen for the nationwide workshops, Newman said. Progressive Urban Management Associates works with a broad range of cities and their needs, Newman said.

“I know some (cities) are interested in developing a farmers market and others, a community garden,” she said.

Anyone interested in attending any of the workshops is urged to RSVP Newman at growpalmer@gmail.com or 232-5016.

Grow Palmer’s hectic summer can be somewhat summed up visually these days. The barrels and other garden plots scattered around downtown Palmer that hold vegetables free for the picking are bursting with produce.

Newman said phase I of the edible rail trail was complete. The group was forced to move its edible park from a donated plot near the Salvation Army building this year after the land was sold. Fred Meyer donated many of the round, whale-themed concrete planters left over from the old Pioneer Square Mall property, which were installed along the rail trail by City of Palmer public works employees. An irrigation system was then installed which is fed by city water, Newman said.

“The planters were then filled with soil and in late June and were finally planted,” Newman said. “Volunteers participated in every step of the process from shoveling and compacting gravel for the site work, to hauling soil, designing planting areas and finally planting. ”

Newman said the group hoped to install the sign, which was retrieved from the edible park, along the rail trail within the next few days. Phase 2 of the rail trail is in the design stages, she added.

As for harvesting, Newman said the time is now, adding that

“The gardens are thriving,” she said. “The planting areas along South Alaska Street in front of the Depot and in all the barrel planters along the sidewalk are full of lettuce, kale, kohlrabi, squash, zucchini, edible flowers and herbs. Some items in the edible rail trail are also ready to sample.

“Anywhere you see the Grow Palmer logo means you are welcome to harvest and sample the food.”

Contact reporter Steven Merritt at 352-2269 or steven.merritt@frontiersman.com