Tiffany Davidson

Raised beds are a necessity in Alaska...

We are looking to buy land on/near the Kenai Peninsula within the year :]

Ah, thank you!

Greetings folks--

I am currently saving to buy land outright and should be ready to do so within a year.
I'm wanting to homestead in southern Alaska... probably on or near the Kenai Peninsula.
If any of you live in/near the area, I'd love to pick your brains with a few questions I have :]

If any of you out there are homesteaders in Alaska, I'd love to pick your brains about a few things ;]

Hey there,

I've been growing three sea kale (crambe maritima) plants in three separate containers & they have begun to wilt & yellow a bit. Any advice or suggestions based on experience would be quite helpful!

//Geothermal energy provides nearly free heating for greenhouses//

Thanks for mentioning this - excellent news!

I just read something this morning in "Four-Season Harvest" and I thought to come here and mention it to you:

"Every increase in degree of slope of the land to the south improves the soil-warming effects of the sun over similar land on the flat. (Example) Along the 44th parallel, a garden on soil sloping 5 degrees to the south has the same solar climate as flat land 300 miles further south."

This is great to read.
I am a permaculturist currently in Kentucky (USA), with plans to move to Iceland in about 3 years.
I've just started researching growing food in that climate. Right away, it seems there must be a wind break, yes. And lots of heat traps - the volcanic rocks you mentioned sound perfect. Sepp Holzer has lots of good information regarding creating heat traps with stone (managing to grow citrus in high elevations of Austria).
I discovered a nice blog last week about a gardener in Iceland. She lives in southern Iceland, but it has been really helpful to me: http://www.gardening-iceland.blogspot.com/

I wish I had more to offer, but I've just started this research myself. I'm drawn to the challenge though -- very much looking forward to it all :]

x- Good luck!