By Theresa Isaac

We have completed another fantastic year of our Annual Community Potato Harvest!

On Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, over 175 pounds of Tlingit and Haida potatoes were harvested from the Matanuska Experiment Farm & Extension Center’s Community Gardens for the Alaska Native Medical Center. Chef Amy Foote, Nana Management Services, Director of Indigenous Cuisine, along with several colleagues, harvested these potatoes to serve to patients, many of which have traveled a long way for care.

The ANTHC provides health services to Alaska Native and American Indian people in Alaska and Chef Amy and her team use about 60% traditional ingredients in the food they serve. Traditional food helps to bring a familiarity to those who have traveled a long way to be cared for and nourished back to health.

Tlingit and Haida potatoes have a long history in Alaska. Thought to have been brought up from Mexico and Chile, they have been grown in Tlingit gardens for more than 200 years.

Harvesters digging up potatoes in the community garden plot. lady standing in an orange coat with a shovel, the rest are crouched on the ground picking up potatoes. green field, blue sky.
Harvesting the Tlingit & Haida potatoes grown in the Community Gardens
Lady in Orange Shirt holding up potatoes that are in a large bin. lady beside her on right in pink hat with hands in potato bin.
Colleagues of Chef Amy Foote examining the harvested Tlingit & Haida potatoes.

On Tuesday, Oct. 1, a beautiful and sunny fall day, the Matanuska Experiment Farm & Extension Center had their Annual Community Potato Harvest. Registration opened at 10:30 a.m. on Sept. 26 and was filled within 20 minutes. 38 families with approximately 45 kids came out to dig in the dirt and fill bags of potatoes. A Flat Stanley from a 2nd grade classroom in Wisconsin even came out to help! He posed for a photo shoot to help teach kids in Wisconsin about agriculture in Alaska.

Melissa Clampitt, Program Coordinator, and Jodie Anderson, Director of IANRE, gave brief introductions about growing, harvesting, and storage of potatoes, as well as information about the potato varieties, to each group. After harvesting each group had their potatoes weighed and received a packet full of CES potato publications.

The day ended with a total harvest of 1008.8 pounds of potatoes from 134 varieties! The children had so much fun. One little boy looked like he had already been eating his potatoes.

Field of potatoes with people harvesting them. Blue sky above and buildings in the background.
Participants harvesting in the Annual Community Potato Harvest on Oct. 1, 2024
Two children harvesting potatoes during the Community Potato Harvest on October 1, 2024. One is holding a small shovel and holding a potato up. Field behind them with other people digging potatoes.
Two children having success digging up potatoes.
Participants in the community potato harvest picking potatoes in a field. People in foreground and background crouched on the ground picking potatoes.
Participants filled bags with potatoes at the MEFEC community gardens

On Wednesday morning MEFEC staff and a group of volunteers with the Valley Thanksgiving Blessing came and dug up the rest of the potatoes. They harvested a total of 603 pounds of potatoes and Gino Graziano & Joey Slowik donated another 470 pounds from their potato research. A grand total of 1074 pounds of potatoes went to the Valley Thanksgiving Blessing, which coordinates with the Food Bank of Alaska to distribute meals to local families in need the Saturday prior to Thanksgiving. In 2023 they distributed 2,525 turkeys with all the sides. MEFEC is so honored to be able to help provide these meals to our community!

A huge thank you to Christine Macknicki from the Alaska Division of Ag’s Plant Material Center for the donation of the seed potatoes! 

We are already looking forward to next year!

Theresa Isaac, Senior Administrative Assistant, tmisaac@alaska.edu