I was visiting young friends yesterday. The house they own has an established perennial bed on the south wall. A perennial bed that the previous owner installed. The question presented me went something like this: It’s all weedy and I’m just going to dig it up. Then what?   Well, lots of ‘what’. First thing that needs consideration (and I’m talking to all of you) is to move this bed out from under the eaves. Why should you stand out in the pouring rain, hose in hand, watering a bed that is under the eaves and bone dry? Lay down some landscape fabric, cover it with rock/stones/ gravel and move the bed out.  Now you need to think about what shape you want that bed to take, how deep. Think about the scale of house to bed. Don’t be skimpy.  That’s enough for now ~ be thinking.

Not being committed to a newspaper deadline is opening possibilities that I hadn’t considered.   So here I am, thinking about all of you and wondering if you have stored your red cabbage and carrots and are now wondering what to do with what you have left. We are reaching the bottom of the tote that has been sitting on the covered porch most of the winter. We’re a long way off from fresh carrots but those we have are in beautiful condition. That said, I need to do something different with a carrot. I have paraphrased the following recipe from ‘Jam Today, A Diary of Cooking With What You’ve Got’ by Tod Davies. This is a delightful read and a wondrous way to eat carrots. About 1 1/2 pounds of carrots, grated Melt some butter in a skillet, add the carrots with a little salt, cook until soft (this won’t take long) Add some cream, maybe a 1/2 cup Grate some nutmeg over all Put into a buttered covered casserole and bake with whatever else you have going into the oven.  Check and giv...

Welcome to my first blog entry.   I’ll attempt to encourage you get a vegetable plot planted. Here in the Far North we are always and forever under the onus of questionable food security. If this is your first garden, please, think small. You don’t have to feed a third world nation, just your family, and if you’re a family of one why not harvest what you want to eat right outside your door?   Choose the spot ~ not too far from the kitchen. That is one of many mistakes you can learn from me. Having gardened in Alaska for 50 years I’ve made many and am willing to share so you don’t have to make the same ones. For instance, our vegetable plot is on the only flat surface with good drainage that was available. That may seem obvious but that perfect spot is as far from the kitchen and still on our property as it can get. Maybe not a mistake, but not the most convenient location. How about those spruce trees? They offer dense shade so you’ll want to take that into consideration. Bir...

Having arrived in Alaska May, 1972 I have had much to contend with on the gardening front.   The impetus to start gardening can be traced directly to empty grocery store shelves in 1973 due to a Teamsters strike. That was a wake up call.  The first garden was on a gravel pad in Eagle River, the second in Wasilla. That one was rounded out with two goats, a flock of chickens and our two children. The third in Homer, where we settled in 1978, is the spot where much was learned.  Starting in 1990 I have written the Kachemak Gardener in an attempt to encourage new gardeners and those of you who have tried and failed.  Stick with me, let’s get you gardening.