August Garden Calendar
View Garden Gallery
Submit Your Garden Photos!
Carol Kenley in her garden. Fran Durner photo.We took the round about scenic way into Kenley's Alaskan Vegetables and Flowers near Palmer. If you can picture a sleek white tour bus, the kind cruise ship passengers travel on when they are on land, trying to negotiate gravel off-road driveways and farm fields, that was us.
Carol Kenley met us at her parent's farm off Fishhook Rd. where she grew up, just a field or two away from her own farm where she and her youngest daughter, Rachel, grow produce for the Wednesday Farmer's Market behind the Dimond Center. I wrote about Rachel, who is the president of the Future Farmer's of Alaska, earlier this year.
GALLERY: View photos from the tour
Under Carol's directions the bus driver negotiated a hill behind the house and crossed fields to arrive at Carol's own gardens where rows of greens, onions, corn, celery, squash, etcetera grew through green plastic mulch stretched over the ground. Carol said she's tried different colors of the plastic mulch and found the green to be effective. She lays new plastic every year.
Arthur Keyes handed out celery from Carol's field. Fran Durner photo.Arthur Keyes handed out stalks of fresh picked celery for us to sample. People ogled Carol's healthy field grown artichokes and asked lots of questions. Then we all hiked up another hill to the house where tables with white covers had been set outdoors for our buffet lunch prepared by Dave "Delicious" Thorne, a Valley chef with credentials a mile long.
Lunch with a view! Fran Durner photo.Silver warming trays held locally farmed elk and buffalo, roasted zucchini and crookneck squash and mashed curried cauliflower. People helped themselves to a large bowl of mixed salad from Carol and Rachel's garden. For dessert we feasted on Arthur Keyes' strawberries with Matanuska Creamery vanilla ice cream and washed it all down with a sweet-tart strawberry rhubarb lemonade that was just as pretty to look at.
Strawberry rhubarb lemonade. Fran Durner photo.Packed onto the bus once more, we were off again to a quick stop at Pyrah's Pioneer Peak U-Pick Farm off Bodenburg Loop Rd. I've been going to Pyrah's for years to dig potatoes, pick greens and when it's been a good year, buy a pumpkin or two. This year, Janet Pyrah, who was our hostess, says they they will have pumpkins again. She also said the potatoes should be ready about now as well. On September 19, the farm will have it's annual Fall Harvest Festival with games, rides and entertainment.
Grace Hamman wipes organically grown cucumbers at the Rempel farm to ready them for market. Fran Durner photo.Last stop of the day was at the Rempel family farm. Mark Rempel's parents bought 120 acres of land in the Butte area for $600 in 1959 and Rempel helped his father clear it all the following year. Mark Rempel's grandfather, a Russian immigrant, came to farm in the Valley in 1944. Rempel has been farming organically since 1992 and became certified organic in 1999 through the Alaska Organic Association.
Mark Rempel leads the group through his fields. Fran Durner photo.As he led the group on foot through the fields, Mark's son, 14-yr-old Ben tagged along. Was Ben planning on following in the family business? After all, he would be the fourth generation. But Ben said he wasn't sure. He's been thinking seriously about it but hasn't made up his mind yet.
Although the Rempel's are famous for their carrots, they grow lots of other veggies as well and Mark has branched out with three recently acquired yaks he hopes to grow into a herd. "Does it get any easier?" he said when talking about his dream of eventually selling certified organic yak meat. They are easy to care for, and the meat is high in Omega-3 fatty acids.
Our group - look at the size of that bus! Photo by Patricia O'Neil.During the day I had asked Arthur Keyes if he had a good life and was happy being a farmer. He seemed at a loss for words at first but then couldn't contain himself. "It's a great living! It's great! It's fantastic!" he fairly shouted with enthusiasm. After meeting and listening to our local food growers, it makes me happy to know that they are enthusiastic about what they are doing and dedicated to growing a quality product virtually on our doorsteps.
The local Farmer's Markets will be ongoing through September and some into October until frost.
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.
