Author: Heidi Rader

Growing Ranunculus in Southcentral Alaska

Heidi Rader

by Megan O’Mullane I fell in love with ranunculus in the spring of 2020 when I was working for Greta Lewanski on her cut-flower farm, Turnstone Farm, in our Airport Heights neighborhood. The ranunculus was blooming ahead of everything else because she had started them so early. They had the same lush, romantic appeal as peonies but were blooming in a far wider range of colors, and I knew I had to try growing them for myself. Last year was my first season growing ranunculus in my own garden and Read More …

Alaska Educators Guide to Hydroponically Growing, Harvesting, and Learning about Food and Plants in the Classroom

Heidi Rader
NFT Hydroponics setup growing lettuce

This guide is for Alaska educators to incorporate hydroponics into your classroom. There are five sections included in this guide, and they are presented in order,  with the beginning sections giving you what you need to know/do first to get started,  following with a section on lesson plans to help you teach important aspects of growing  plants. There are many resources out there to help with this process, and this guide  concludes with some of those resources. Using hydroponics in the classroom is a wonderful way to connect students to Read More …

Enjoying the Taste of Summer Throughout the Winter: Food Preservation in Southeast Alaska

Heidi Rader

by Katie Craney, an Alaska Master Gardener All of the hard work has paid off, its harvest time! I’ve found that I enjoy planting my garden just as much as figuring out ways to keep the freshness and flavors of summer and fall going through the winter. As a gardener and forager, I spend so much time planning and waiting for the right time to pick that I feel I owe it to myself to get the most out of every effort! It can feel a little overwhelming during harvest, Read More …

Importance of hardening off plants and soil testing prior to planting

Heidi Rader

By Natalie Jo Cossette, an Alaska Master Gardener The month of May rolled around and I was chomping at the bit to get into the garden. I tried to satisfy my urges with starting seeds in the garage under lights but it wasn’t enough. The beautiful weather called to me and I knew better than to put my plants outside before the last weekend in May. But the raised bed I’d constructed last year was ready and I hadn’t been able to have a garden for four seasons, so I Read More …

Love for the neglected Crabapple Trees: A lesson in pruning

Heidi Rader

By Andrea Hood, an Alaska Master Gardener My small yard is edged by two crabapple trees planted by the amazing couple that built this house so long ago. Every year, in spite of being ignored by the new residents and abused by snow hurled from the plows and occasional windstorms, they have produced small, tangy, beautiful fruit. This year, while they are sleeping, they will get some TLC. The idea is a bit overwhelming. They are now overgrown beautiful monsters. This is going to be a multi-year treatment plan. Sustainable Read More …

Alan Jackson was right, it is okay to be “Little Bitty”: A small garden plot in Alaska

Heidi Rader

By Andrea Hood, an Alaska Master Gardener This has been a growing season of revised expectations, and you know what? It has turned out just fine! Finding a great spot to garden can sometimes be a challenge. For those of us with the gardening bug, winter time is for dreaming of glorious spaces filled with fruiting vines, flower laden bushes, and vegetable patches overflowing with zucchini and tomatoes. In the spring, we receive or catalogs and make lists. All of those plans were shot earlier this year with news of Read More …

Wait

Heidi Rader

By Dana Fedorchuk, an Alaska Master Gardener Like a new page, Spring gives the feeling of newness and fresh opportunities. Posting my first blog post in Spring feels right in touch with the seasons, just like a planting the garden. In many parts of the world, planting begins with Spring, but here in Alaska we wait. We wait because of that evening chill in the air. We wait because the Farmers Almanac tells us to. We wait because of the handful of snowflakes that fell with the chilly breeze. We Read More …

An Alaskan Landscape

Heidi Rader

By Amy Reed, An Alaska Master Gardener in Anchorage, AK Footprints outside the window. This is my first time writing a  blog, and I am excited to share my adventure with my new flowerbeds! My husband, daughter, and I moved to  Anchorage from Eagle River this past winter. Because our new yard was covered  in snow, I had no idea what I was in for come spring! The new house abuts the Chugach State Park, so from the grizzly bear prints in the snow, I knew I would be sharing Read More …

Marigolds: Edible, Beneficial, and Beautiful

Heidi Rader

By Mary Hinkley, an Alaska Master Gardener in Tok, Alaska   I believe in marigolds. Though marigold’s pest resistant qualities are mentioned on many of their seed packets, I feel they’re under rated. Most of my raised beds have a marigold border. This serves two purposes; the garden is beautiful and it’s safe from pest invasion. Early this season I went to the local nursery to get some for my greenhouse and found that it was too early for their marigold crop, so I bought some seeds, went home, and Read More …