Living in Alaska - Life in the Last Frontier

We have had the most wonderful weather lately, and I’m hoping that the sunshine (and the continual watering of our lawn) will bring green soon. I’m so impatient. I want to wake up and have a carpet of grass. Germination should take about 7-10 days, so that means I’m going to have my eyes peeled for a tinge of green on Saturday! *grin*

While I’m talking about growing… a couple of weeks ago, Lisa and I drove by the Fairbanks Community Garden here in Fairbanks. I read about it in the newspaper, and talked to several folks who had plots there, but never knew where it was.  When we were there, several families were working the soil.

I found the history of the garden on the website above:

The Fairbanks Community Garden started about 1979 when The Alaskan Federation for Community Self-reliance, Inc. received a free lease of land from Fern Palfy, who owned the land where the present Borough Office Building sits. The Community Garden sprouted and flourished in this location for several seasons…

… In 1983, we moved from Pioneer Street to our current location in Hamilton Acres, where our present 2.5 acre site is leased to us free from the Borough.  We did receive a one time State Grant of $20,000 which was used to clear land, install electricity, put in the well, buy the fence, and generally prepare the gardening site for use. Today, the Fairbanks community Garden is an entity in it’s own right. When the original 10 year lease was up, the gardeners got together, formed their own nonprofit organization, and re-leased the land. The Garden is currently run through 3 elected officials and is funded by the collection of plot fees each spring.

The average growing season in Interior Alaska is 90 days. Many folks garden in raised beds and use plastic or weed barriers to help increase soil temperatures. The folks who use the Community Garden may live in a place where there is permafrost or no running water. Some live in apartments and can’t have their own garden. Church groups use their plots to feed the hungry. The gardeners come from all walks of life, are all ages, and speak many languages - a direct reflection of the Fairbanks community.  The Alaska Cooperative Extension has all kinds of free handouts on gardening in Alaska. You can find them here.

We have bluebells growing in the woodline. The prickly rose are budding too, but no blooms yet. It seems a little late, but I could be wrong.  I bought some more flowers for my hanging baskets. They’re all doing fairly well, although I lost a few pansies in the transplant from garden pack to hanging basket.

Steve was thrilled to find two tiny tomatoes on one of his plants. I sowed some sunflowers in pots (straight from the birdseed) and they’re coming up too. I hope to transplant them to an area near the front of our driveway, or off in the woodline next to our driveway.

I took a couple more photos of the front yard, now that the driveway is in and smoothed down. As you can see, we have an area for turning our cars around after backing out of the garage, and a wide, level area next to the garage to park our RV. We’re really pleased with the results as it looks much neater. (Now if only the grass would grow! *grin*) We plan to build a stone retaining wall to corral the trees at the corner of the driveway. It will make it look much neater. We’ll also be edging the lawn with stone. All in time…

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On Sunday, after working so hard on the lawn, I picked up my friend Lisa and we went for a very long drive. Our travels took us from Fairbanks to Delta, where we stopped at Rika’s Roadhouse for a look around. Lisa tried on a beautiful fur coat that was made of fox and (I think) beaver.  It was priced at more than $7000. This was not a fur coat of necessity, but rather a garment of luxury. Too luxurious for my wallet, however.

We continued down the highway, driving through Delta and then past Fort Greely lands. Near Fort Greely is Bolio Lake, a beautiful area to stop and fish, camp, or just enjoy the scenery. On a clear day, when the mountains are visible, it is one of the most spectacular landscapes in the state.

The mountains were indeed visible, and as we approached the lake, I stopped several times to take photos. When we got down to the lake, there were several families camped for the weekend, as well as folks fishing.  I stopped the car to take a few lake photos and noticed that the air was just full of swallowtail butterflies. There were hundreds of these beautiful yellow and black beauties flitting around my head and landing on the muddy shoreline.

We continued down the Richardson Highway to Donnelly Dome. The last time I drove down to Donnelly Dome with Steve (March 31st), there was still snow on the mountains, and dotting the brown landscape. But it’s not like that anymore! The snow has melted, and the tundra is beginning to turn green. In fact, the wildflowers are beginning to bloom on the side of the road. Sweet pea, purple lupine, and mountain avens are bringing color to our world.

I drove up the dirt road to the base of Donnelly Dome, so that I could take a photograph of the mountains from that vantage point. I wanted a panoramic photo to match the one I took in January - when we were in the midst of our bone-chilling winter.  Here are the two photos so you can see what a difference 4 months makes:

This first photo was taken in mid-January:

This was taken this past weekend:

Our drive continued past Black Rapids, and Gulkana Glacier, where the snow was now gone, and the streams were running freely. However, when we reached Summit Lake, we were surprised to see that ice still covers much of the lake. In fact, that entire area looks like April and not May.

We decided to drive in on the Denali Highway for 30 miles - the portion that is paved. Along the way, we saw caribou, an eagle, quite a few snowshoe hares, and moose. We even saw a very young calf - newborn - but he was hidden quite well in the bushes along the highway, and there wasn’t a good place for me to stop to try to get a photo.

We turned around and started back to Fairbanks at Tangle Lakes Campground on the Denali Highway. All in all, it was a 420 mile drive and took us about 9 hours. What a beautiful day for a drive! I’m so glad we went, and I’m glad that Lisa was able to go with me.

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We’re heading into another military transition, shortly after our Stryker Brigade returns from Iraq this fall. I’ll be saying goodbye to some wonderful friends yet again. Abby and her family will be leaving AK, and Lisa just found out that she and her husband will also be leaving. I’m sad that they’re moving, as they both are wonderful friends and I’ve enjoyed spending time with them. It’s difficult to live in a military town, but I wouldn’t change a thing. My closest friends have been military spouses. There’s a bond forged that isn’t ever forgotten.  I may have only had these women in my life physically for a couple of years, but I will hold their friendships and the memories we made forever in my heart.