Food Hub opens for a second season

The Kenai Peninsula Food Hub is back for its second season, offering a selection of locally sourced produce, meat, shellfish and more.

“The Food Hub is the state’s first online farmer’s market,” Kenai Soil and Water Conservantion District Manager Heidi Chay said.

The Food Hub launched last year with pickup locations at Christ Lutheran Church in Soldotna and at Kachemak Community Center in Homer.

“This year, what’s different is that you can find products from Homer area markets,” Chay said. “This means we can get bouquet of tulips, fresh oysters, turkeys, ducks and all these things that weren’t available before.”

Chay explained that as the transportation system between the two locations develops, they hope to bring Soldotna-area goods to Homer as well.

Pickup at the Soldotna location is every Wednesday from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. All ordering is done online ahead of time, with producers updating their product availability and customers choosing their products and placing an order.

The order will be available at the Christ Lutheran Church on Wednesday, where Steve Dahl, volunteer coordinator for the central Kenai Peninsula sales, will be waiting to greet customers and divvy out their orders.

“This week is a slow week,” Dahl said. “It really picks up more in the summer.”

Dahl, who also runs Eagle Glade Farm in Nikiski, said he and his wife Louise Heite plan on having chives out next week, but that poor weather has led to a later growing season on the central peninsula overall in comparison to Homer.

“We have a lot of Homer stuff today, because we’re in a different climate than them,” Dahl said. “There are six different microclimates on the peninsula. It’s been cold in ours.”

As summer picks up and temperatures warm, the Food Hub will see an influx of products, including local flowers and crafts.

“I love it,” Beck Metz said as she picked up this week’s order, which included oysters from Jakolof Bay Oyster Company in Homer.

“I love getting good, local and organic produce,” Metz said. “I’m most looking forward to Lou’s Greens, though.”

Dahl thinks potatoes are going to be a big hit this summer.

“Because, who doesn’t like potatoes?” he said.

To purchase items from the Food Hub, visit KenaiFoodHub.org.

Reach Kat Sorensen at kat.sorensen@peninsulaclarion.com.

More in News

A copy of "People, Paths, and Places: The Frontier History of Moose Pass, Alaska" stands in sunlight in Soldotna, Alaska, on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Moose Pass to receive award for community historical effort

“People, Paths, and Places: The Frontier History of Moose Pass, Alaska” was a collaboration among community members

Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board Member Debbie Cary speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Tuesday, April 5, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. Cary also served on the borough’s reapportionment board. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
School board president receives award for meritorious service

Debbie Cary, of Ninilchik, is the Alaska Superintendent Association’s 2024 recipient of the Don MacKinnon Excellence in Education Award

Dr. Tara Riemer is seen in this provided photo. (Photo courtesy Alaska SeaLife Center)
SeaLife Center president resigns

Riemer worked with the center for 20 years

Voters fill out their ballots at the Challenger Learning Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Election Day, Nov. 8, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Election 2023: When, where to vote Tuesday

City council, Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly, the local school board races are all on the ballot

Dianne MacRae, Debbie Cary, Beverley Romanin and Kelley Cizek participate in a Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education candidate forum at Soldotna Public Library in Soldotna, Alaska, on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
School board candidates wrap up forum series

The forum was the eighth in a series hosted by the Clarion and KDLL ahead of the 2023 elections

Signs direct visitors at the City of Seward’s city hall annex on Sunday, Nov. 28, 2021, in Seward, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Electric sale referendums to be reconsidered next month

The two referendums aim to remove from the city’s Oct. 3 ballot two propositions related to the sale of the city’s electric utility

Sockeye salmon caught in a set gillnet are dragged up onto the beach at a test site for selective harvest setnet gear in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Board of Fish proposals center on king salmon, east side setnet fishery

Many proposals describe changes to the Kenai River Late-Run King Salmon Management Plan

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
Senior Prom King and Queen Dennis Borbon and Lorraine Ashcraft are crowned at the 2023 High Roller Senior Prom at Aspen Creek Senior Living in Kenai, Alaska, on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023.
Senior prom crowns king and queen

In brainstorming options, the concept of putting on a prom turned some heads

A photo distributed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows a man who allegedly robbed the Global Credit Union branch located in Anchorage, Sept. 19, 2023. Tyler Ching, 34, was arrested last week on charges related to robberies at the credit union and an Anchorage bank. (Photo courtesy Federal Bureau of Investigation)
Alleged bank robber arrested in Cooper Landing

An Anchorage resident was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in… Continue reading

Most Read