Food preservation workshops scheduled for Yakutat

Three days of workshops with sessions covering water bath and pressure canning, pickling and fermenting vegetables, and making fruit leather are scheduled for April 25-27 in Yakutat.

Join University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service agent Sarah Lewis for these informative and hands-on classes about safely preserving food at home.  

They will start off with a free Food Preservation Fair from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 25, in which Lewis will offer free pressure canner dial gauge testing and food preservation demonstrations and publications, plus door prizes. Pressure canner dial gauges should be tested every year to ensure they reach the pressure and temperature needed to preserve foods safely. The fair will be held at the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe Human Services classroom at the Yakutat School.

From 2-3 p.m. on Friday, April 26, Lewis will offer a fruit leather workshop, designed for youth and their families. In this hands-on class, participants will prepare and puree berries and fruit, then start dehydrating them into tasty, healthy fruit leather snacks. The workshop will also be held at the YTT Human Services classroom.

Lewis will hold a workshop on pickling and fermenting vegetables from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Friday at the Yakutat School home economics kitchen. In this hands-on, kitchen-based class, participants will learn the basics of lacto-fermentation and vinegar pickling for tasty homemade snacks and digestive health. The cost is $15. 

On Saturday, April 27, Lewis will teach a class on water bath and pressure canning. Participants will learn to safely preserve wild meats, fish, berries and garden harvests for the pantry shelf. The class is for people of all experience levels, with a focus on wild-harvested meats, berries and Southeast Alaska-grown vegetables. The class will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Yakutat School home economics kitchen and costs $25.

Register at https://bit.ly/yakutat-workshops. No cost for members of Native American tribes or participants in the Migrant Education Program, nor for youths accompanied by an adult.

For more information, contact Lewis at sarah.lewis@alaska.edu or 907-455-2010.

181-24