tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475064489755072239.post7361930935157946201..comments2024-03-12T00:28:15.537-08:00Comments on Life in Alaska — A View From Homer: Spring Planting...Michelle Waclawskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014072867568135532noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475064489755072239.post-73724920181234248802013-04-28T20:52:00.116-08:002013-04-28T20:52:00.116-08:00Thanks for your answer. Not only am I interested ...Thanks for your answer. Not only am I interested in gardening, and obviously Alaska, but while I was there observing, I couldn't help but wonder the complexity of gardening in Alaska, so I will love to hear how your season goes. I will be planting our raised bed garden around May 10th, or whenever I can gather most of our grandchildren to help as we do every year. We have 6 in Charlottesville, one in college and 2 about an hour away, so I always try to involve them, as much as possible. We have a fenced in raised bed garden near the house and last year we plowed in our lower field, and planted corn, pumpkins, green and lima beans. Just when the corn was ready, something ate most of the corn, we think raccoons, even though it was fenced. It was very upsetting as each of our grandchildren had planted a row, and marked it. Hopefully we will have better luck this year. I never heard the term 'bolting' before applied to gardening, love to learn something new. Happy Gardening.Audrey Welbornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01720006149747642031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475064489755072239.post-74090974328673349352013-04-26T21:56:26.073-08:002013-04-26T21:56:26.073-08:00Hi Audrey,
I remember you posting last year and wo...Hi Audrey,<br />I remember you posting last year and wondered how your vacation went. Thought of you when we drove by the Princess Lodge in Cooper Landing--what a gorgeous place, huh?<br /><br />Yes, in my outside garden I plant potatoes, carrots, onions, spinach, greens, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage mostly (those are the easy ones). <br />The ground freezes sometime around the first week of October or later by a week or so (depends on elevation!), and it can freeze overnight so I err on the side of caution and usually dig out all my root plants by the last week of Sept. or first week of Oct. <br /><br />The biggest impact of the light is bolting, though you have that in the Lower 48 also. Multiple plantings of spinach and lettuce can help with that, as can buying special slow-bolt seeds. The other result is that things grow extremely rapidly--it looks pathetic, pathetic, and then suddenly, kaboom! Everything goes nuts (including the weeds!) the garden looks like a garden should in mid-July. Pea plants blossom in like July here and if you get the peas before the frost some years you're lucky so I've given up on those. <br /><br />If I stay hyper about my blogging you'll get regular updates on the garden this year.....with pictures!Michelle Waclawskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17014072867568135532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475064489755072239.post-17682325789369518042013-04-25T19:37:42.252-08:002013-04-25T19:37:42.252-08:00Do you have an outside garden as well as your gree...Do you have an outside garden as well as your greenhouse, for the potatoes, etc. When is your last freeze date, can't believe your daffodils bloom in June. In Virginia, where I live, they bloom in February-March depending on the variety. We traveled to Alaska last summer, I wrote you about it last year. We loved Homer, what a beautiful place to live. We drove to the spit as well as up the winding road to the top where the views were incredible. We stayed at Cooper Landing at the Princess Lodge, which we also loved and had a beautiful cruise out from Steward, clear blue skies and temps in the 70's, for glacier, dolphin watching, etc. Kenai Peninsula was absolutely one of our favorite places. I am a gardner with a greenhouse so I am interested in how your long daylight hours impact your gardening. I am a night person so I loved the daylight past midnight, we were there late June, early July. We did bike in Anchorage on the Tony Knowles Trail, but I was scared we might run into a moose or bear, had a hard time relaxing to enjoy the beauty of the trail. Love your blog.Audrey Welbornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01720006149747642031noreply@blogger.com