Category: Southcentral Alaska

Seward Climate – So, What’s Normal?

nmurawsky

General Climate On the USDA Plant Hardiness Zones map, Seward is in zone 6b. However, there are many micro climates within the community. My garden is approximately six miles north of the nearest weather station at the Seward airport where “normals’ are for years 1908-2011. See link here. Generally, the sun warms the airport/downtown area early in the morning. But in the afternoon, the area cools off much earlier because of the wind off of Resurrection Bay and shade from the mountains to the west. My garden is shaded longer Read More …

Windy Mountainside Gardening in Anchorage

jcooperc

Wind is Always a Threat Gardening in my mountainside neighborhood is a challenge just like so many other places in Alaska. In addition to the cool temperatures and neighborhood moose and rabbits, I have quite a bit of wind to contend with. We chose our property because of it’s remote location about fifteen minutes southeast of downtown Anchorage. Once off the highway it’s another ten minutes of climbing, winding roads. It’s a really quiet setting most days but occasionally the wind picks up outside and pummels the yard and house Read More …

Mild and Wild: Soldotna’s Climatic Zone

mamillay

Soldotna is a great place to grow cooler weather plants and vegetables. As a USDA Hardiness Zone 4a (-30 to -25 degrees F), we can grow a number of cold resistant fruits and veggies very well. From my experience and that of other gardeners in the area, kale and rhubarb do very well here. Not only is the climate relatively mild in the summer with long days and the temperatures hovering just under 60 degrees, it is located close enough to the ocean to benefit from fantastic natural fertilizers – Read More …

Getting Warmer? North Anchorage Garden Climactic Zone

MarahG

Gardening in North Anchorage Every spring I feel a hint of jealousy when my mother describes the new growth in her garden.  She lives in New York state where she enjoys a longer frost-free period and Zone 6a hardiness. Just like any northern climate, gardening in Anchorage has challenges. However, with careful site and plant selection, by the end of summer it’s not too hard to have an abundant garden that makes even a New York mother envious. Between the moderating effect of Cook Inlet’s water and the steep rise Read More …

Homer–an Alaska Climate Profile

lldevita

Homer is on the southwestern edge of the Kenai Peninsula on the north side of the Kachemak Bay. The weather is effected by the close proximity to the Gulf of Alaska and other large bodes of water nearby. In the Homer area the summers are cool and moist, with relatively mild winters. It rains lightly throughout much of the season interspersed with some weeks of sun, so watering may only be needed occasionally. The probable growing season is from June to mid September. Reliably there are 113 frost free days, Read More …

Girdwood, Alaska – A Climate Profile

ggphillips

Girdwood Girdwood is a small community located 48 miles southeast of downtown Anchorage. Because Girdwood is located in a temperate rainforest, its summers are often overcast, cool and the ground is wet year round. The annual temperature usually varies between 16 to 64 °F but sometimes dip below -9 °F or rise above 72 °F. The record low was -30 °F (January 1989) and the record high was 88 °F (July 1972). A gardener can expect a typical growing season of approximately 4 to 4.5 months. In a really exceptional Read More …

The search for local knowledge: the Homer Garden Club publications

lldevita

A slow start Last spring I moved to the Homer area with my family. It was late June by the time I got a chance to start a garden. I knew I was going to have a late start, but I have always had a garden, and I knew I could grow something in what was left of the season. I knew the season was going to be short, so I decided to focus my efforts in the greenhouse. I planted some beans and squash in six inch deep boxes, Read More …

Viburnum Edule, A “Berry” Nice Garden Shrub

nmurawsky

Highbush Cranberries “Highbush Cranberries” is a publication from the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service (CES), to which I have been referring on an annual basis for a couple of decades. The current version, revised in 2013, by Roxie Rodgers Dinstel (Extension Faculty) and Marci Johnson (Extension Program Assistant) is sitting in front of me as I blog. I have temporarily misplaced the berry-stained original that my mother handed down to me, but it will resurface, most likely stuck to another spot-on CES publication. The Stench Highbush cranberry is Read More …

Love Cloves? Read Growing Great Garlic

MarahG

“It  is not a ‘garlic gospel,’ nor it is another garlic cookbook. It does answer most of the questions that no one could answer for me fifteen years ago when I began to grow garlic.’ -Ron L Engeland, Growing Great Garlic (p. xi) Engeland is a content expert as a “founding farmer” at Filaree Garlic Farm in North-Central Washington State. This book, published in 1991, seeks to educate organic gardeners and small famers about best practices in garlic production. Although this is a broad goal and the content often leans Read More …