Is there any farming in alaska (Anchorage, Fairbanks: houses, rent, college)

[berries]

This may be a stupid question but I was wondering are there any small family farms in Alaska, and if so what do they grow. I am not talking about a big garden. If so what is the acreage price in Alaska for farm land, not development land.. Thanks all

Cheers

[stiffnecked]

Potatoes and just about everything else but Okra. I've never seen any Okra farmers.

[Dusty Rhodes]

Originally Posted by stiffnecked

Potatoes and just about everything else but Okra. I've never seen any Okra farmers.

Hummmmm,.....kinda makes me wonder just how deep, how far from the surface of the land, is permafrost, does all of Alaska have permafrost? Okra is really easy to grow, but...then again, I live in the South, and Okra is commonly thought of as a southern food. Of course, this begs the question, "How in the world do you make a good stew without Okra?" I normally grow half of a 30 yard row in Okra, the other half of the row in Peppers, both hot and mild. This supplies us with plenty of both Okra and Peppers for the year, and I use a good bit of each - Fried Okra = southern popcorn. Stewed Okra adds a wonderful taste to a lot of dishes, ergo the Cajun term "gumbo" Okra being one of the major seasonings in said dish. Of course, "dem Cajun folks be livin' in de warm, yeah". In all fairness, very few people in the South eat Salmon, Moose, Caribou, or Trout with any degree of regularity. I also have 2 rows of tomatos (for two months I essentially live off of Tomato sandwiches),- 6 rows of corn,- half row of watermelon,- half row of cantelope,- a row of squash, yellow and zucchini,- odds and ends gourds, I don't grow any peas or beans, if I try, the deer come in, eat the peas and beans, then browse their way across the other stuff, without the peas and beans, the deer do not visit-----well----- not until the corn gets ripe anyway. I don't grow potatos or peanuts, here we have red clay, the potatos and peanut grow really well, but,...getting them out of the clay is a pain in the_____________! A lot more trouble than it's worth.

[mal_flisk]

The Mat-Su Valley was originally "colonized" by Scandihoovians from ND, SD, Wisconsin and MN. The families were offered unimproved land and transportation up to AK sometime in the 1930's, I think. (will accept any corrections from the peanut gallery!) They have their descendants still operating a lot of these farms. AK still has the records for largest cabbage, squash, maybe pumpkin, etc etc. Long summer daylight hours are the recipe for rapid growth. There are farmers down in the Kenai and up by Delta and Fairbanks. Fresh veggies are always prized up here. At the state fair, there are 3 or 4 farmers who consistently take home the first prize for largest whatever.

[Metlakatla]

Quite correct, mal.

Vegetative crops don't go so deep; permafrost really isn't an issue.

Some of the best soil is in the Sustina Valley and some of the soils around Homer are pure loam. I know of a couple of small family farms that have been in the Sustina for generations.

In the rainy sections of SE the soil gets leached of nutrients so much that anything but a small personal plot is way less than cost effective.

No clue about price per acreage but I'm sure the prime stuff in the Mat Valley goes for an awful lot. You might want to get in touch with the extension service in Palmer for some more detailed info.

[rotorhead]

Excellent advice there on the agricultural extension service in Palmer. They even have some great pamphlets on berry jelly and canning salmon and such, pretty much free for the asking. The Matanuska-Susitna valley is the hotbed of agriculture in AK, such as it is. The season is short but the days are long.

There are other challenges besides the frost. If you think rabbits are hard on a garden, can you imagine what one of these guys can do in your rows?


(This is actually a warning sign along a popular walking and bike trail in Anchorage)

I talked to a farmer once around Willow who said a moose can clear a six foot fence from a standstill, if there's tasty enough vittles on the other side.

[saul harvey]

give up on tomatoes, okra, watermellons,hot peppers corn. the season simply isnt long enough to grow them outside of a greenhouse. The better farms will be in the mat-su valleys in south central or anywhere in the interior of alaska (between the alaska range and the brooks range) however you can grow any root crop or member of the cabbage family. These wil, grow so large as to beyond belief. The other factor is that the suger contant will be higher so many alaskans who try outside potatoes will wonder whats wrong with them.

Most of the insects and plant fungus that you are used to wont survive here either. so no need for insectiside. fleas and ticks as well as chiggers don't live up here either.

Well to buy farm land would cost you a lot but why buy it? get a state homesite or agricultural site. low or moderate costand often with fantastic soil. one advantage to the cold ground is that nuterents have not been broken down or lost so the soil tends to be very rich even without any fertilizer.

[HeartsnAK]

I've saw lots of tomatoes and cabbages grown in AK. In fact, some cabbages at the fair in Fairbanks were so large they could only be pushed around one at a time in a wheelbarrow.

[bustedknee]

Seems to me it is basically root veggies, outdoors.

Indoors (greenhouse) however, produces great tomatoes, cabbages, zucinni, cucumbers, turnips, radishs, etc. The long days in the summer allow for a lot of growth.

There is this other green leaf plant that does quite well up here. It is grown in green houses but mostly in flower pots (so they can be moved around) in the house and in secret rooms under grow lamps. It is not a veggie. It is not even eaten.
While growing and producing this plant can be very lucrative it can also get you a free trip to see Rance...in Kenai...at WWCC (Wildwood Community College).

[Rance]

I have never been in Wildwood for more than 30 minutes! But I have run across some wildwood weed! Matter of fact, I used to toss a tennis ball full of herb, over the fence while doing a driveby. Paid rather well.