Our south central Alaska gardening season has begun and I am honored to be part of the premier issue of Last Frontier Magazine’s Alaska Gardening section. I recently retired from my job and the two plus hour commute to Anchorage and back, so the timing is perfect to renew my love of gardening. I’m excited to be out from behind a desk, out of the driver’s seat and am ready to get behind a shovel and watering hose. Through this column I would like to share my knowledge of Alaska gardening, and take you all on my journey from working a full-time job in the fast-lane to slowing down, rejuvenating my home gardens, and taking time to smell the flowers.
My husband and I are blessed to live on a portion of property my great-grandparents, Alice and Gerrit ‘Heinie’ Snider, lived on in the Matanuska Valley. My great-grandparents did not have the convenience of a local grocery store. With ingenuity and plenty of physical labor they had to plan and work with their community to feed their family. They grew crops, fished, hunted, and raised chickens and other farm animals. In the early 1900’s life in Alaska was about survival. I often marvel at how our lives are so different from when my great-grandparents immigrated to Alaska from Holland. My great-grandparent’s were living in a tent city in the Ship Creek area of Anchorage when my grandmother, Elizabeth ‘Pat’ Hjellen, was born in 1916. They eventually moved to Wasilla and made a home on the fertile land.
Many of us today are becoming so far removed from where our food comes from that we have lost touch with some of the basic skills needed to sustain ourselves. One of my goals in retirement is to re-learn these skills and become as self-sufficient as possible when it comes to feeding my family. I still imagine we will have our weekly trips to the grocery store. Why ignore such a great resource full of variety and fresh items? What I want though, is to be able to provide enough fruits, berries and vegetables through efforts in our own garden to not only supplement our own table throughout the year, but to have enough to share with family and friends. We are fortunate to live in a location where our weather and long days of sunshine are ideal for growing healthy crops of broccoli, cabbages, peas, carrots, potatoes, etc... My great-grandparents grew enough to help sustain their family on the very plot of land we now live on, so why can’t we? My husband and I intend to try. I will share our successes and/or failures with all of you.
These days we have many local commercial greenhouses to choose from if we don’t have the space, time, or inclination to start our own seeds. There is absolutely no shame in buying starts from our many local nurseries and supporting our economy. I love browsing our local plant nurseries every spring, and I can rarely resist buying something for our home garden. But for those who love a challenge and want an extended gardening season, starting seeds will do just that. For me, one of the most satisfying parts of gardening is watching the miracle of seeds I planted sprout and flourish.
Starting Seeds
Most of my mail-ordered seeds from Anchorage based, Denali Seed Co., are already sprouting and maturing in flats under grow-lights. Broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, chives, cilantro, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce and onions. Someday I hope to have a heated greenhouse to start my seeds in, but for now grow lights set up in our basement work just fine. Around the first of May I will be starting cucumber, zucchini and other squash seeds inside in individual pots. Some of our favorite seeds will be sowed directly into the garden such as beets, carrots, peas, spinach and radishes.
Hardening off Seedlings
Once the snow is gone and the ground finally thaws enough to work we can start thinking about hardening off our seedlings. The hardening off process takes a week to 10 days of taking plants outside to gradually expose them to the outdoor elements. It is especially important to be careful when exposing your tender seedlings to the sun. At first set them outside in the shade for a few hours a day. Increase the amount of time spent outside until they are strong enough to spend the entire day and night outside.
Planting Time
The general rule of thumb I follow is when the birch leaves are the size of a squirrel’s ear it is safe to plant hardened off seedlings. The proper time to plant outside varies widely by up to two weeks depending on your location. We must be careful and realize we risk losing our tender seedlings to frost or sunburn if we plant
too soon. It is best to start planting your more hardy seedlings that can handle a light frost and wait until all danger of frost is gone before planting more tender seedlings. The safe planting date for most areas is generally June 1st.
This year I am adding row covers to our garden beds to extend our season and productivity. Flexible PVC piping attached to the raised beds with pipe brackets will be covered with plastic sheeting to help warm the soil. Rather than using one solid sheet I am using two and planning to secure them together at the top with clothes pins. This way planting and watering will be easier and if our days do get too warm I can release the hot air easily. Using this method I also plan to try some squash and bush bean types that normally don’t do well in our cool summers. I will let you all know what succeeded and what failed at the end of the season.
Our south central Alaska gardening season has begun and I am honored to be part of the premier issue of Last Frontier Magazine’s Alaska Gardening section. I recently retired from my job and the two plus hour commute to Anchorage and back, so the timing is perfect to renew my love of gardening. I’m excited to be out from behind a desk, out of the driver’s seat and am ready to get behind a shovel and watering hose. Through this column I would like to share my knowledge of Alaska gardening, and take you all on my journey from working a full-time job in the fast-lane to slowing down, rejuvenating my home gardens, and taking time to smell the flowers.
My husband and I are blessed to live on a portion of property my great-grandparents, Alice and Gerrit ‘Heinie’ Snider, lived on in the Matanuska Valley. My great-grandparents did not have the convenience of a local grocery store. With ingenuity and plenty of physical labor they had to plan and work with their community to feed their family. They grew crops, fished, hunted, and raised chickens and other farm animals. In the early 1900’s life in Alaska was about survival. I often marvel at how our lives are so different from when my great-grandparents immigrated to Alaska from Holland. My great-grandparent’s were living in a tent city in the Ship Creek area of Anchorage when my grandmother, Elizabeth ‘Pat’ Hjellen, was born in 1916. They eventually moved to Wasilla and made a home on the fertile land.
Many of us today are becoming so far removed from where our food comes from that we have lost touch with some of the basic skills needed to sustain ourselves. One of my goals in retirement is to re-learn these skills and become as self-sufficient as possible when it comes to feeding my family. I still imagine we will have our weekly trips to the grocery store. Why ignore such a great resource full of variety and fresh items? What I want though, is to be able to provide enough fruits, berries and vegetables through efforts in our own garden to not only supplement our own table throughout the year, but to have enough to share with family and friends. We are fortunate to live in a location where our weather and long days of sunshine are ideal for growing healthy crops of broccoli, cabbages, peas, carrots, potatoes, etc... My great-grandparents grew enough to help sustain their family on the very plot of land we now live on, so why can’t we? My husband and I intend to try. I will share our successes and/or failures with all of you.
These days we have many local commercial greenhouses to choose from if we don’t have the space, time, or inclination to start our own seeds. There is absolutely no shame in buying starts from our many local nurseries and supporting our economy. I love browsing our local plant nurseries every spring, and I can rarely resist buying something for our home garden. But for those who love a challenge and want an extended gardening season, starting seeds will do just that. For me, one of the most satisfying parts of gardening is watching the miracle of seeds I planted sprout and flourish.
Starting Seeds
Most of my mail-ordered seeds from Anchorage based, Denali Seed Co., are already sprouting and maturing in flats under grow-lights. Broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, chives, cilantro, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce and onions. Someday I hope to have a heated greenhouse to start my seeds in, but for now grow lights set up in our basement work just fine. Around the first of May I will be starting cucumber, zucchini and other squash seeds inside in individual pots. Some of our favorite seeds will be sowed directly into the garden such as beets, carrots, peas, spinach and radishes.
Hardening off Seedlings
Once the snow is gone and the ground finally thaws enough to work we can start thinking about hardening off our seedlings. The hardening off process takes a week to 10 days of taking plants outside to gradually expose them to the outdoor elements. It is especially important to be careful when exposing your tender seedlings to the sun. At first set them outside in the shade for a few hours a day. Increase the amount of time spent outside until they are strong enough to spend the entire day and night outside.
Planting Time
The general rule of thumb I follow is when the birch leaves are the size of a squirrel’s ear it is safe to plant hardened off seedlings. The proper time to plant outside varies widely by up to two weeks depending on your location. We must be careful and realize we risk losing our tender seedlings to frost or sunburn if we plant
too soon. It is best to start planting your more hardy seedlings that can handle a light frost and wait until all danger of frost is gone before planting more tender seedlings. The safe planting date for most areas is generally June 1st.
This year I am adding row covers to our garden beds to extend our season and productivity. Flexible PVC piping attached to the raised beds with pipe brackets will be covered with plastic sheeting to help warm the soil. Rather than using one solid sheet I am using two and planning to secure them together at the top with clothes pins. This way planting and watering will be easier and if our days do get too warm I can release the hot air easily. Using this method I also plan to try some squash and bush bean types that normally don’t do well in our cool summers. I will let you all know what succeeded and what failed at the end of the season.
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Writing, history, gardening, and traveling are a few of Wendy Wesser’s interests. She grew up in Alaska, living as far south as Metlakatla and as far north as Fairbanks. Her family’s history of six generations in Alaska reaches back to the Gold Rush years. She loves reading, hearing, and sharing Alaskan stories of newcomers and oldtimers alike—Last Frontier Magazine has provided her the opportunity to work in this very venue.Alternate bio for articles: Wendy currently resides in Wasilla, Alaska, but has also lived in Metlakatla, Ketchikan, Juneau, Anchorage, and Fairbanks. She enjoys sharing her life experiences of hiking, skiing, gardening, winter camping, etc…, as well as helping other Alaskans (old, new, current, or past) to share their own tales. Since she always says, “Yes!” to the next adventure, her backlog of stories is varied and almost endless.
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