Root Maggots–Brassicas’ worst enemy!

cjdavidshofer

I live in Ketchikan, Alaska where I garden intensively all over my yard with mostly fruits, and vegetables. This is my second season gardening on my property and it has been a bountiful year so far with garlic, onions, potato’s, lettuce, spinach, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, and gooseberries–to name a few. I love watching the garden evolve and grow over the spring and summer–how bare soil can grow into such lush, delicious greens that fill up your belly. As things grow, so do pests and diseases along with other small problems Read More …

When to Harvest in a Typical Southeast Alaskan Garden

emprado

Harvest Time! The last few months have been chalked full of preparation, planting, and weeding and now it is time to harvest the rewards. New gardeners can find it difficult to determine when exactly to harvest each vegetable at the peak of freshness. So I have done some of the research for you and have compiled a list of fifteen vegetables to help you get the most of each vegetable found in a typical Southeast Alaskan garden. Also to make it easier the list is in alphabetical order. 1. Asparagus Read More …

Easy Blanching for Winter Feasting

Jenna Miller

The Wonders of Food Preservation As delicious as fresh produce straight from the garden can be, most of the time we hobby gardeners have too much to eat all at once, and we must choose what to do with the extra! Some give their surplus garden bounty away. The other day, a co-worker of mine offered to buy my extras from me. But the best choice in my mind is to preserve them for winter eating! There is nothing like the satisfaction of knowing I have a freezer full of Read More …

See Weeds? Try Seaweed!

rkboettcher

THE COMPLETE PACKAGE My neighbor has been saying for years that we should try seaweed in our garden. I brushed it off until a recent beach walk had me looking at the shoreside debris in a different light. The sea grass snaked along the coastline in rows that reminded me of hay drying in the fields right before the baler came to scoop it up. I did a little online research first and then just felt silly for living and gardening here for years and never using it! It’s free Read More …

Peas Be With You

nrambo

Well, it is now nearing August and my first Interior Alaska garden is thriving more than I ever imagined it would. I planted a little bit of everything to see how it would all do. My most thriving vegetables happen to be my lettuce and snap peas. I planted the last week of May, and my snow peas were the last thing I thought would do so well in my raised beds. Week after week, night after night, after watering them I would check to see if there were any Read More …

Growing Media Literacy with Garden Foods

Sarah

Subject Area: Language Arts Appropriate Grade Level: 3rd, 4th or 5th grade Ideal season for lesson: Late Summer, Early Fall Suggested materials: Magazine and newspaper ads (or access to the Internet) Magazine and newspaper articles Art materials An assortment of vegetables, at least some of them garden fresh. What you use will depend on availability and the preferences and needs of your group. Goal and outcomes: Alaska Anchor Standards For Reading, Grades K-12 Integration of Knowledge and Ideas Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually Read More …

Adventure in Apartment Gardening: Containers for the Busy and Mildly Forgetful

sjump

What lead me to apartment gardening: I grew up having a garden, white picket fence and all. As I became an adult and ultimately ended up living in an apartment, I realized how much I missed having fresh fruits and vegetables at my fingertips. I also remembered how much better they tasted. Not just because they were fresh but because of the amount of pride I took in being able to enjoy the fruits of my labor. Where the apartment gardening began: So at 18, living in a small apartment Read More …

Growing Garlic in Alaska

sjkesting

Growing beautiful and tasty garlic in Southcentral Alaska is easy and fun! I now grow so much that I have enjoyed giving it as gifts. The dried bunches are very cute tied with a bow.   The Alaska Botanical Garden performs a growing garlic class each fall. I thoroughly enjoyed this class. Much of the information in this post, I gleaned from that class and through my own experience. I also recommended the book Growing Great Garlic: The Definitive Guide for Organic Gardeners and Small Farmers by Ron L. Engeland Read More …

If You Can’t Beat ‘Em Join ‘Em

kkneill

Our house was built in 1991. A cute little cottage on five beautifully wooded acres in the foothills of Lazy Mt. According to our neighbors, the original owners had landscaped the yard beautifully. I could see some of the remnants of flowers and berries mixed in with 10+ years of neglect. I have been battling weeds and tree shoots since we moved in! While doing research on how to naturally eradicate these weeds, I kept running across articles suggesting there are many of these weeds that can be used for Read More …