Clamming

Saturday, July 14 was one of the best low tides of the year, and we happened to be in Ninilchik, one of the best places for clamming for razor clams so we had a great couple hours clamming. The weather was perfect--warm enough for short-sleeved t-shirts, which is unusual on the ocean. Of course we overdressed, since it is rarely that warm!

We had the odd, long, skinny clamming shovels and a bucket each. Low tide was at 10:10. We got there at 10:30 (had forgotten to get our fishing license the day before, so had to wait in line!). The shore was wall-to-wall people, and we were a little discouraged until we started digging. We found a spot where no one had dug and no one was digging. I was getting a clam in just about every hole I dug, though it took a little experimentation to avoid breaking them while digging or while grabbing for them. Denver found plenty of clams sitting on the surface by a stream that crossed the beach. Doug dug and Aurora grabbed the clams. It helps to have a long arm and strong hands. The clams wiggle to about arm's length deep upon being disturbed, so once the hole is dug we had to get down on our knees and feel around the bottom of the hole for the clam. The shells are actually delicate, so oftentimes in our gripping we would break the shell. They're still edible, just a little more difficult to clean.

In an hour and a half we got a 5 gallon bucket full. It then took 6 of us 2 hours to clean them all! Aurora cut off necks and cut them open; Doug and I scraped out the guts inside and scraped them off the shell, while Delores did the final cleaning picking off any bad parts we missed. It took another hour to bread them (flour-egg-saltine crackers), and then just a few minutes to eat them! Yum!

Car Shopping in Alaska

Since we sold our second vehicle in Michigan before we moved here, we have been managing all summer with one vehicle, and with Doug beginning his principalship next week, we were down to the wire in finding a second car. All the teachers and anyone who knows his school said he would need a high clearance 4-wheel drive to get to Razdolna in the winter and spring. While our Subaru is AWD, it is not high clearance, so we were looking for a sport utility or pickup truck.

Our mechanic recommended getting a Nissan or Toyota truck since they don't break down as much. We looked online, in newspapers and at 10-15 car dealerships in Soldotna and Anchorage, and did not find one that was big enough for the kids and 4wd. Prices seemed higher than midwest prices, and were outrageously high at one used car outlet in Soldotna. Minivans are just not the vehicle of choice up here, and we don't see very many of them.

We ended up getting an '02 Dodge Durango. It seats 6, has enough space in the back that we can actually go camping with all our gear, has the tow package so we could get a popup or put a rear cargo carrier on it, and basically best fit our needs.

Travel in Alaska

Air travel is a common means of transportation in Alaska. While Anchorage, which is 5-6 hours from our place, is the closest international airport, Homer and just about every other little town has an airport. There are airfields in lots of places since there are so many pilots who fly up here. Water airports are very common too.

The Alaska Railroad goes up to Denali (known as Mt. McKinley to the uninitiated) and I think Fairbanks. It also goes south of Anchorage to the Portage Glacier. Beyond that I think there is only roads.

Many people fly up here and rent RVs or cars. RVs are nice so that one can save on the expense of hotels (which might also be full) and meals in restaurants (which adds up anywhere, but more so in Alaska). Some people also take a boat out of Seward, choosing the inside or outside passage down to Seattle.

Gardening II

The crops that I have heard do very well include cabbage (1 per wheelbarrow--prizewinning size!), broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, carrots & leafy plants such as spinach, all of which I plan to grow next year. Corn, cucumbers and tomatoes appear to be greenhouse-only crops. I'm not sure if zucchini is indoor or outdoor here. Pea plants grow exceptionally tall, but not bushy. At first I thought this was because they were not healthy, but I realize that with the large amount of light, it stimulates the growth of tall plants.

Invasive weeds are a problem, and Alaska has many of them. Horsetail (grows about 1-2 ft. tall & is so named because it is bushy like a horse's tail. It is related to snakegrass), cow's parsnip, fireweed (a beautiful flower, but it can take over), daisy (yep, another beautiful flower that can take over), chickweed (comes from horse manure) and butter'n'eggs (yet another flower) all can become a problem in a garden. Since the field I tilled up was all horsetails that is the weed I'll need to look out for! Even parts of the plant, if broken off, can grow new plants.

Gardening in Alaska!

I now have a garden!! Bill & Stephanie, who we are renting from, suggested it, and I jumped at the chance! I had just emailed a friend and told her the worst part of living in Alaska for me was not growing anything, so it was the answer to my prayer!

It's not a big plot, but it will be enough to help me learn what to do, and what not to do!

So far I have a composting bin that has straw, alder leaves, horse manure, shredded paper, salmon scraps, and sawdust. The Homer Gardeners handbook suggests using 4 pallets stood upright and tied together to make a compost bin, so we whipped up an economical bin in 10 minutes! Since the area our bin is in is horsetail city, and we don't want horsetails in our compost, we put down heavy duty black landscaping cloth, double thickness, underneath the pallets as horsetail prevention.

So far I have put alder leaves, horse manure and chicken manure on the garden, and have managed to completely cover the entire garden with this combination. Since the tiller did not go very deep I will need to dig this into the soil to a depth of 8-10 inches. The chicken manure/straw was actually already composted, as it has been sitting in an unused chicken coop for 2-3 years. I was so excited to actually find a worm, since I haven't seen any since I've been in Alaska. On the Jones ranch there is also goat manure, cow manure, and more horse manure, so I will have as much work as I want getting the soil up to snuff this year. It really needs it. I ran water on the garden for a minute and the water sat there without seeping in for about 20 minutes! And when I stuck the shovel in, it was thick, heavy, goopy muck. Sounds like clay to me! In addition to nutrients, I need to add sand, sawdust and peat to help the drainage. Did I say I have my work cut out for me??!!

We have sunk holes in the corners for the fence, but hit roots under one so will have to get some heavy duty equipment to get through them. I will keep you posted as I continue my trial and error with Gardening in Alaska!

Local Mudhole

We have discovered a new entertainment: rafting in the local pond. Today was actually (!!) warm enough to wear shorts and a t-shirt outside and be comfortable, so we inflated our Eco-Explorer and carried it down the driveway to the local pond. It is fairly deep, but there are lots of dead trees in it, so avoiding snags developed Aurora and Denver's skill at canoeing. They were proud of themselves to go out in the boat by themselves, and Aurora got proficent at steering. When they got bored with paddling they collected pond specimens to check out under their computer microscope. And then, the most fun of all, was jumping off the raft in the middle of the pond. Aurora had a blast pulling the raft around with Denver and I in it!

Russian River Falls Hike

The trail to the Russian River Falls is probably one of the best maintained trails in Alaska. It is a wide 6 feet, gravel the entire 2.3 miles. There are 2 viewing decks overlooking the falls, though many people traverse down the bank for a closer look at the falls and the fish. It is amazing to see scores of salmon swimming upstream against the current, against the falls. In shallow areas I could see the fins of fish sticking out of the water. Occasionally a fish will fly out of the water and jump up the falls. Three years ago when we visited the falls we had the fortune of seeing a brown bear wading at the base of the falls, hunting for fish. It looked more like play than hunting as the bear jumped around in the water.

There is an entry fee of $8 per day per car to get in to the Russian River Falls parking area. The number of people fishing the river in that area is carefully restricted, so the attendant took our day pass as we left the park.