Looking for an Alaskan farmer to talk to

[Bubblingbrooks]

Crops not to even try.
Corn
Runner/Pole Beans (bush do ok)
Solar power. Very few do it up here. With good reason.
Yes, we have long daylight hours in the summer, but that is not a guarantee of sun.
And we get very little actual sun in the winter. Overcast is the norm.
It will cost less to pay the grid by a long shot.
Wind. Very doable if you have the resources to get it set up.
When sustained winds of 70+miles per hour occur in the lower 48, its news worthy across the nation.
You will never hear about it happening up here. But it does. Often.
Its always windy in the Valley, especially Palmer.
Two weeks ago, we had over a week of 70-80 mile an hour winds sweeping down from the Matanuska river/glacier.

Be aware that newcomers are not appreciated if they are coming in to change farming in Alaska
You have to earn your place first. Make a good name for yourself.

Feed prices are WAY higher then you would imagine.
We skirt that a bit, by buying barley by the ton ($230), and mixing our own feeds.
Our chickens get Barley, fish meal and BOSS, oyster shell (grit in winter) and our goats get small amounts of barley, BOSS and Alfalfa pellets with hay.
If you are thinking about getting Alfalfa hay, be aware that it is shipped in special at $18 per bale.
Regular hay is spendy as well. And it is lacking nutritionally due to our soil. If you see it under $12 a bale, especially in the fall, be very wary of it. Really good hay will be around $14 per bale.
Loose minerals are an absolute must.

Moose and local dogs are going to be your biggest issue with gardens and livestock if you have any.
Good tall fencing for your garden (moose will step right over a 5 foot fence), and good Fort Knox fencing for animals.
Many do not fence though, and do just fine.
You just have to see what your area deals with first.

We are working to fence in our property, because a neighbor that moved in after us, has very unruly dogs.
We never see moose in summer, but often in winter.
Bear can be an issue, depending on where you live, but more likely you will never see one in person, unless you are hunting for them.

That is all for the moment.

 

[lwheelr]

My sister lives in Wasilla. She said she can get hay for $10 a bale if she buys in quantity (a ton or more), in the fall (she shops around and knows the area). By spring it is much more. She says she uses hay for everything, because it is cheaper than straw.

Her soil is not good either. I don't remember the exact issues. Much of her land is shaded, so not very good sun - she has a little bit of woods too.

So over time, she's had to build good garden soil, and put beds in odd places. She raises goats, rabbits, and chickens, so she says she just locates where she wants the next garden bed, digs a trench about 3 ft wide, and as long as she wants it, and starts filling it with manure and used hay. When it is full and heaping, she dampens it down, and covers it over with black plastic and leaves it for two or three summers. She started doing this about six years ago, so every year now she has a couple of these to uncover and start to use.

When she's ready to use them, she puts some soil in where she's planting, and just plants into that soil. She grows a variety of berries, and some other heavy feeders in those beds.

You can use black plastic to warm up the soil, and row covers to extend the season just a little. Short season crops will grow, and some longer season foods if you choose the fast maturing ones.

It isn't a lot different from growing where I am in Wyoming - three month growing season, extended on either end with greenhouse or coldhouse, row covers, etc. Cole crops generally do well if you start them indoors, and put row covers over at the end of the season. The major difference is that it gets hotter here for 1 month of the summer than it does there.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

My sister lives in Wasilla. She said she can get hay for $10 a bale if she buys in quantity (a ton or more), in the fall (she shops around and knows the area). By spring it is much more. She says she uses hay for everything, because it is cheaper than straw.

Her soil is not good either. I don't remember the exact issues. Much of her land is shaded, so not very good sun - she has a little bit of woods too.

So over time, she's had to build good garden soil, and put beds in odd places. She raises goats, rabbits, and chickens, so she says she just locates where she wants the next garden bed, digs a trench about 3 ft wide, and as long as she wants it, and starts filling it with manure and used hay. When it is full and heaping, she dampens it down, and covers it over with black plastic and leaves it for two or three summers. She started doing this about six years ago, so every year now she has a couple of these to uncover and start to use.

When she's ready to use them, she puts some soil in where she's planting, and just plants into that soil. She grows a variety of berries, and some other heavy feeders in those beds.

You can use black plastic to warm up the soil, and row covers to extend the season just a little. Short season crops will grow, and some longer season foods if you choose the fast maturing ones.

It isn't a lot different from growing where I am in Wyoming - three month growing season, extended on either end with greenhouse or coldhouse, row covers, etc. Cole crops generally do well if you start them indoors, and put row covers over at the end of the season. The major difference is that it gets hotter here for 1 month of the summer than it does there.

I like how she is doing her beds. We are on a gravel/fill pad, so we do the opposite. Raised beds.
We grow our potatoes in hay and leaf mulch.
We also have hodge podge setups due to how everything was set up here.

I was shocked at straw prices myslef, but then realized that since the mushers by it up, the farmers found the market bears the higher price quite well.
Though it kind of shot down our plans to build with straw.

 

[farmseeker]

Hey Bubbling Brooks!

Sorry I haven't responded to your posts, which are so HELPFUL beyond imagine! I've been busy and away from internet for a few days but i'm not done asking questions. The one thing I DO want to say is I'm in no way looking to change farming in Alaska. The method I use to farm with is called BioDynamic Organic and it's OLD as the hills. My grandparents used it! I respect everyone for their own views on farming and don't try to push my views on others. I only share if asked and do understand that I'll need to prove myself in the community. I'm prepared.

I have to run but I'll be asking more later. Thanks for all of your info!

Jen