Sometimes our travels around Alaska bring us an opportunity to show you how others around the state garden. Today, we’re going to feature the community garden in Seward, Alaska!
Being a coastal community, the most immediate thing you’ll observe is how prevalent high tunnels are. Coastal influences tend to lower the ambient air temperatures to the point where the gardener can cover their beds throughout the entire summer.
However, you’ll also observe some of the exact same concepts we talk about in the interior where certain crops are just fine growing outdoors. Here, you’ll find cabbage, onions, chives and potatoes happily growing in these lower temperatures.
In addition, these folks aren’t messing around. Raised beds are the way here. It gets those crops off the ground, which significantly helps to raise those soil temperatures and make it more palatable for those crops.
When you gaze more deeply, you see many of the same problems we face in the interior. The midnight sun encourages certain crops to bolt early and the heat produced by the high tunnels brings bolting just like we see further north.
We love the personalized nature of these gardens, with each gardener hand painting a cute sign indicating who’s garden it is. The local food bank also has a couple beds here, further showing the essential relationship between community gardens and food security Alaska.
This garden is absolutely gorgeous with a backdrop of Resurrection Bay, slightly protected by snow capped peaks on either side of the bay. The clouds and mists rarely lift here, making for an almost magical experience. At noon you hear the wailing of the tsunami sirens, reminding you daily that this place is both beautiful and potentially dangerous.
We hope you enjoy this somewhat rare glimpse into a different garden and our interpretation of the challenges faced in this area. Keep it up, Seward you’ve got an amazing community garden here! Also, let us know if you like this kind of content, we sometimes have opportunities to do it around Alaska!
