Gardening in Alaska : Meet the Future

Talk Dirt To Me

Gardening in Alaska presents big challenges, whether it's the extra effort in finding plants tough enough to survive our Zone 2-4 climate, communicating with like-minded Alaska gardeners, or keeping up with the latest trends, issues and solutions. We'll try to help with that. We'll also tour gardens from Homer to Anchorage to Wasilla to Willow whenever we get the chance, and post the best garden photos around. Presenting a forum about cold-weather gardening and for cold-weather gardeners is what we are all about. We hope you'll join us on the Talk Dirt garden blog.

Photographer and gardener Fran Durner (fdurner@adn.com) writes the blog.

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Jeff Lowenfels

A member of the Garden Writers Hall of Fame, Jeff writes a weekly column on gardening in Alaska.

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Meet the Future

Posted by talkdirt

Posted: February 22, 2009 - 3:22 pm

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Rachel Kenley. Fran Durner photoMeet Rachel Kenley, an 18-year-old senior at Palmer High. Rachel is president of the Alaska Future Farmers of America, a third-generation Valley farmer and is currently singing in a production of "Hello Dolly!" at Palmer High School.

View video of Rachel and her animals

Q: How did you get started as a Future Farmer? Do you live on a farm? What kind?
A: I joined the FFA my sophomore year of high school, but it has been big part of my life since all six of my older siblings went through the program. I do live on a farm, but it’s really more of a hobby. I run my own vegetable production business in the summer. One of my favorite things about being an FFA member is really learning about all the different kinds of agriculture there is- it stretches much further than production farming.

Q: Were you a member of 4-H growing up? Do you raise animals now?
A: I am a member of the 4-H, and I have been since I turned 9. I started by raising sheep for the auction, and then experimented with swine and young beef. I’ve been raising steers since eighth grade, and I love it. It’s tricky, especially since I’m short, to control a steer that weighs over 1,000 pounds, but that’s part of the fun.

Rachel Kenley with Ollie, her 4-year-old alpaca. Rachel raised and bottle-fed him. Fran Durner photo.Q: What does being a member of FFA mean to you? Do you see this as a means to reach other goals? What are they?
A: To be honest, I didn’t understand the FFA organization and how important it would be to me when I joined. But now, having participated in many things during high school, I can honestly say that no other activity or club has given me the training that FFA has. Being a member of the FFA has exposed me to over 300 career opportunities in the field of agriculture and natural resources. It has also provided me with leadership training in the areas of public speaking, organization, responsibility, service, and professionalism, to name a few. It’s been an invaluable experience, I don’t know how else to describe it.

Q: You are about to visit Juneau and the Legislature this week - what do you hope to accomplish there?
A: I don’t know my exact schedule for the trip to Juneau, but I do know that I, along with our Alaska state secretary, reporter and FFA adviser will be meeting with legislators from areas where FFA has the most involvement: Fairbanks, Homer and Palmer. We will be promoting FFA week and informing the legislature of what our program has to offer.

Q: I see there are eight statewide chapters, about how many members are there altogether?
A:The national official count is, I believe, 130. We are hoping that we’ve expanded a little this year to somewhere between 150 and 200, but the official numbers won’t be tallied until the end of the school year.

The kitties are on barn mouse duty. Fran Durner photo.Q: Do you get to travel the state and meet other FFA members and see what they do?
A: Yes I do! As you can see from the previous question, our state’s program is much smaller than other states, but in some ways I enjoy that. During my travels as a state officer, I’ve gotten to meet most of our really amazing members personally, which is an opportunity I wouldn’t have if our state had membership numbers in the thousands. This year I’ve travelled to Fairbanks, Kodiak, Wasilla, and Homer, and I’ll probably be going to Homer and Fairbanks again. When I travel, I try to find time to take a tour of the agriculture in each area. I especially enjoyed touring the fish processing plant in Kodiak and learning how important that resource is for Alaska.

Q: How do you think being a member of FFA has influenced/changed your life? (If at all.)
A: FFA definitely has changed my life. The first thing I think of is meeting and working with the amazing people in this organization: National Officers, local members, our state staff and our chapter advisors. My chapter advisor, Mr. Berberich, has definitely influenced my life by teaching me the skills necessary to lead FFA members. FFA is a student run organization, so I think that I’ve learned a lot of confidence from running events with my peers. FFA has made me a more considerate and caring person from working with different students from all different backgrounds, with diverse viewpoints.

Q: Do you enter the State Fair every year? How do you do?
A: I sell a steer at the 4-H auction each fair. One of my proudest accomplishments thus far was being the Grand Champion Beef Showman. I also enter vegetables in the 4-H and open division. I’ve had a lot of luck doing really well in the past few years.

Rachel and Ollie. Fran Durner photo.Q: You are a high school senior this year - what are your plans after graduation?
A: I actually just got a great scholarship to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, so I’ll be attending there in the fall. I want to study broadcasting or print journalism, with an emphasis in agriculture.

Q: Where do you see yourself in five years? Ten years?
A: In five years, I’d like to be graduating from college, and I want to start a family. In ten years, I hope that I’ll be writing for some kind of an agricultural newspaper or magazine…maybe even run my own!

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