agriculture

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UAF Cooperative Extension Service updates Alaska’s Sustainable Gardening Handbook

Sustainable Gardening 2015 cover

“Alaska’s Sustainable Gardening Handbook” has been updated.

This publication was first produced in 2010 as an adaptation of “Sustainable Gardening: The Oregon-Washington Master Gardener Handbook” and this is the first revision. It is used as one component in Master Gardener training programs for University of Alaska Cooperative Extension Service volunteers in Alaska, but is also a must-have for all Alaska gardeners.

UAF Cooperative Extension Service agriculture and horticulture agents have contributed their expertise to provide information on topics such as basic botany, lawns, vegetable gardening, orchards, entomology, pest management and more.

Call 877-520-5211 (toll-free in Alaska) to order the handbook, or check with Jasmine Shaw of the Sitka District Office at 747-9440 to see if she has any copies available locally. The 490-page book costs $50.

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• Alaska Farm Bureau wonders if it’s time to create a Southeast Farm Bureau chapter

(from the Alaska Farm Bureau)

There will be a teleconference at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 27, to discuss whether there is interest from Southeast gardeners, greenhouse operators, farmers, ranchers and mariculture growers in forming a new Southeast Chapter of the Alaska Farm Bureau.

The Alaska Farm Bureau is the largest agricultural organization in the state and currently has six chapters:  Fairbanks, Delta, Mat-Su, Kodiak, Kenai Peninsula and the Copper River Valley.  Those who live in the Southeast are currently members of the Mat-Su Chapter.

Farm Bureau membership benefits include a subscription to the Alaska Farm and Ranch News, (Alaska’s only monthly agricultural newspaper), discounts at Grainger and Office Products, (both offering free shipping to Alaska for on-line orders); full service banking at Farm Bureau bank, farm policy insurance as well as all their other services from COUNTRY Financial, a prescription drug discount program for you and your employees and a $500 discount on GMC, Chevrolet and Buick new vehicle purchases.

To participate, call 1-800-528-2793.  Enter the conference ID of 7807353 and press # at 7 p.m. on Sept. 27.  There is no charge to participate.

If you are not able to participate that evening, please send an e-mail to Alaska Farm Bureau Executive Director Jane Hamilton at janehamilton99737@yahoo.com or mail a note expressing your interest to the Alaska Farm Bureau at PO Box 760, Delta Junction, AK 99737.  Please include your name and contact information — mailing address, e-mail addresses and telephone number.

People who are not actively growing agricultural or mariculture products may join the Farm Bureau as Associate Members.  Associate Members pay the same $40 annual membership fee and receive all of the same membership benefits.  While they may join in discussions during chapter meetings, they do not have voting privileges.  Their membership supports their local chapter as well as the state association.  Any individual person or business is welcome to become an Associate Member.

If there is an interest, potential SE members will select a one person to represent them at the Alaska Farm Bureau Board of Director’s meeting that will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Anchorage on Nov. 8.  The Friday Forum (conference day of agricultural speakers), Awards Banquet and Scholarship Auction will be held on Nov. 9 and the Annual Meeting will be held on Nov. 10.

The Board of Directors will pay travel expenses for your representative to attend the three-day event.  The Board of Directors will decide whether there is enough interest to form a Southeast Chapter at their Nov. 8 business meeting.

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• UAF Cooperative Extension Service publishes new sustainable gardening manual for Alaska

(The following is a press release from the University of Alaska Fairbanks news service)

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service has published a new comprehensive gardening manual.

“Sustainable Gardening: The Alaska Master Gardener Manual” was adapted for Alaska from an Oregon State University publication, “Sustainable Gardening: The Oregon-Washington Master Gardener Handbook.”

The 490-page manual, which sells for $40, is a basic gardening text. It also offers information on soils and fertilizers, propagation, berry crops, pruning, composting, flowers, greenhouses and season extenders, lawns, plant diseases, pesticides and integrated pest management. The manual is a good resource for home gardeners and also will be used as one component in Extension’s master gardener training programs.

Michele Hebert, Extension’s Tanana District agriculture and horticulture agent, was one of several people who contributed to the manual. She said gardeners need additional information to overcome the challenges and capitalize on the benefits of growing vegetables and flowers in the Far North.

The manual focuses on sustainable gardening practices, a holistic method for growing plants that is good for the environment, good for families and good for the community, said Hebert. “It takes a minimal input of labor, water, fertilizer and pesticides while building the soil into a healthy living system. A thoughtful balance is made between the resources used and the results gained.”

Other contributors to the manual include current and former Alaska Extension faculty Stephen Brown, Jeff Smeenk, Tom Jahns, Robert Gorman (of Sitka), Fred Sorensen, Julie Riley, Heidi Rader, Bob Wheeler, Peter Bierman and Jay Moore. Copies may be ordered through Extension’s toll-free line at 1-877-520-5211 or by clicking this link.

(The Alaska Public Radio Network ran this story about the book on the Tuesday, Sept. 7, Alaska News Nightly show.)