Health at Every Size

Kari Natwick a dietitian for Search Hospital in Juneau, came to Hoonah for the last week of school and gave a few presentations about nutrition. The first day she was here she used sugar cubes to demonstrate the amount of sugar found in different drinks students commonly consume. The following day she spoke with the students about body image and "health at every size".

Planting

What a beautiful sunny day to put our transplants into the ground. Being the last week of school we are spending the entire week in the garden!

First we used the rototiller to make our rows.


Next, we removed the large rocks and sticks from the row.



Dirt sifters were used to remove the small rocks.

Finally our rows were ready to add fertilizer.

Pot Ash, Bone Meal Crushed Clam Shells and Alfalfa Pellets.

Presto! Planting Time.

More Planting Photos

Sea Week

With the rapidly approaching summer break we decided to spend a few days talking about Sea- Safety and Survival Skills. As a part of this three day seminar, students were asked to scavenge the beach and forest for wild edibles. Volunteers from the community included Kenny Carl, Bob Barton, and Sally Dybdhal. Robin Hasselquest and John Hyde from the forest service helped students to identify edible and poisonous plants. Thanks to all the volunteers who shared their knowledge on harvesting wild food!
Indian Celery or Cow Parsnip can cause painful rashes in the summer months but the young, spring shoots are delicious and reminiscent of celery (hence the name). Peel the outer bark off before eating raw and prepare your immune system for a Vitamin C boost.

Dandelion leaves are best before the flowers appear. These can be eaten raw or cooked. The smaller the leaves, the less bitter.
YUM! Little Fiddlehead Ferns are best when the fiddlehead is still tightly curled. Simply remove the plant at the base, rinse off the brown peels, and saute'. The entire stem is edible not just the fiddlehead!

The emerging leaf buds of Devil's Club must be picked when the spines on the undersides of the leaves are still soft. Throw these in a soup or saute' them with some olive oil and garlic.

Another intimidating & prickly plant, Nettles become friendlier when roasted or steamed.

One of Alaskan's favorite summer treats, Fireweed must be eaten when they first emerge. These have a taste similar to wild asparagus. When boiled these shoots loose some of their bitterness.
More Pictures of Sea Week.

Muddy Day

Today we set our plants in the greenhouse to get them acclimated to the cold air. We only left them out for a few hours. We made sure the plants were protected from direct sunlight, wind, and rain.
We headed over to our larger plot to dig out rocks and sticks. It was a rainy, muddy day but the soft dirt made our jobs a bit easier.

This soil is rich and fertile; we are digging in what used to be home to a thicket of salmon berries whose large and stubborn roots we wrestled all day.

More Photos