Kachemak Bay Growers November Newsletter

Dive into planning Garden 2025! 

We got our first real snowfall last night. It’s amazing how quickly a snowfall can change the season overnight, and also our mindset. For me, that snowfall is the bookend on the 2024 gardening season - with the exception of a few foraging trips to snag a bunch of frost-hardy kale, there is not much left to do. 

At the same time, however, this marks the beginning of every gardener’s favorite season - the planning season. While some might choose to wait until spring to start planning their garden, there are many advantages to starting sooner rather than later. 

1. Garden amnesia 

This is a very real thing, perhaps second only to childbirth in its ability to wipe our minds clean of past experiences. Wait until spring to plan your garden, and I guarantee you will forget important details, like the fact that half of your tender starts perished that weekend because you need more effective irrigation in May, or how your salad all bolted and you should have planted a second and third succession. These lessons learned are only helpful if we can remember them, so starting your plans when those nuggets of wisdom are still with you is very important. 

2. Some seeds need to be started in January! 

That’s right - crazy to think, but there are a few plants that you either need to sow in January or February or source from a greenhouse. Leeks and tomatoes, as well as so many flowers, all need a long time to grow to a full-size start worthy of planting in your garden, so getting those seeds ordered now is essential to realizing your gardening dreams.

3. Sourcing infrastructure time!

If you’re new to gardening, there are some infrastructure needs to consider. In Alaska, that can include season extension measures, like low tunnels and irrigation systems and most of all, fences (take that, Bullwinkle!) We all know ordering and shipping take forever! 

4. Time for Research! 

There is so much amazing information out there about growing techniques and ideas! Why not take a dive into YouTube University and get some new ideas! Warning, however, don’t go overboard into the new! I use a 10% limit on new ideas, trailing varieties, etc. before I go all in. On that note, have we got a class for you!! See the Garden Planning for all Levels Class deets below! 

Happening in November

Garden Planning Intensive

Date: Thursday, Nov. 7, 14 & 21 2024

Time: 5-6:30 pm

Location: Kachemak Bay Campus

Intensive garden planning workshop and intimate study group. Are you a gardener looking to get organized and have a more cohesive plan for next year? Are you a backyard grower looking to grow more food for yourself or your family? Are you a current or aspiring farmer looking to increase yields, efficiency, and profit margins? Come one come all to this three-part garden planning series to take your garden to the next level! Attend all three or any you can make it to!

Nov. 7 Session 1: Setting your goal and how to achieve it through yield calculators, crop selection, and scale.

Nov. 14 Session 2: Analyzing your past performance, identifying areas for improvement or growth.

Nov. 21 Session 3: Creating your garden map, planting calendar, and seed order.

$10 per session or $30 for all three. Register and pay here.

Women Farmers Aging Strong

Wednesday, Nov. 6

Time: 8-9 am

Topic: How to prioritize self-care during harvest season abundance.

Are you a woman farmer (or hope to be) who wants to keep farming and ranching in a healthy manner for a long time?

Join the University of Vermont (UVM) Farm Labor Dashboard for a unique, monthly online series running September through May covering a range of topics to help us preserve and protect our most important farming tool: our own bodies.

These sessions continue a successful pilot to create such safe, supportive “Learning Circle” spaces for women-identifying farmers to share and learn together.

Each month we will cover a different theme and topic, including both mental and physical health awareness along with a new movement exercise we’ll do together. Come whenever you can or -- better yet -- come to all!  Free to attend.  

After you register, you will receive an email with the Zoom link, along with the dates and topics for the full series. We will also send monthly reminders about the upcoming sessions.

Note these sessions will not be recorded as they are discussion and sharing based.  Come for something fresh and different from the expected webinar.

Visit https://www.uvm.edu/aglabor/dashboard/events/women-farmers-aging-strong for more information.

Monthly farmer meet-up

Date: Nov. 19, 2024

Time: 5:30-7 pm

Location: KBC commons

Monthly topic: Efficiency!

This monthly gathering gives Homer’s farm community a chance to gather and talk about a monthly topic - November’s topic is efficiency - what works, what doesn’t, what resources are helpful. We’ll touch on the Lean Farmer book’s ideas about efficiency as a conversation starter, but bring any and all thoughts, ideas and challenges and we’ll applaud and trouble-shoot as a group.

Kachemak Bay Growers September Newsletter

Hello Kachemak Bay Growers! 

Whew!!! The frantic pace of summer is finally winding down, but wow, what a great growing season we had this year, despite the cool spring (remember that?). 

Now that we’re no longer scrambling to get plants in the ground (except garlic and tulips) it’s time to turn our attention once again to learning from our successes and challenges, quick before seasonal amnesia sets in and we forget everything. The fall is the perfect time to assess our farm and garden systems and set ourselves up for growing success next year. 

There are a lot of different events and organizations offering classes and programs (us included!) this fall and winter and we don’t want you to miss them. This monthly newsletter will be a collection of those events and give you information on where to find more details. If you have any questions or want to add something to the October edition, email us at crestino@alaska.edu or makopp@alaska.edu. 

Here we grow!!! 

Happening in September

Farm Bureau Garlic Presentation w/ Lori Jenkins

Date: Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024 

Time: 5-7 pm

Location: Kachemak Bay Campus P201 & 202

The Southern Kenai Peninsula Farm Bureau is hosting Lori Jenkins of Synergy Gardens to talk about growing garlic. Come see what the Farm Bureau is all about and learn a few things from our local garlic expert!
More info: kpchapterfb@gmail.com

Women Farmers Aging Strong

Wednesday, Sept. 4

Time: 8-9 am

Topic: How to prioritize self-care during harvest season abundance. 

Are you a woman farmer (or hope to be) who wants to keep farming and ranching in a healthy manner for a long time? 

Join the University of Vermont (UVM) Farm Labor Dashboard for a unique, monthly online series running September through May covering a range of topics to help us preserve and protect our most important farming tool: our own bodies. 

These sessions continue a successful pilot to create such safe, supportive “Learning Circle” spaces for women-identifying farmers to share and learn together. 

Each month we will cover a different theme and topic, including both mental and physical health awareness along with a new movement exercise we’ll do together. Come whenever you can or -- better yet -- come to all!  Free to attend.  

After you register, you will receive an email with the Zoom link, along with the dates and topics for the full series. We will also send monthly reminders about the upcoming sessions.

Note these sessions will not be recorded as they are discussion and sharing based.  Come for something fresh and different from the expected webinar.

Visit https://www.uvm.edu/aglabor/dashboard/events/women-farmers-aging-strong for more information. 

Breaking Ground on an Educational Foodscape 

Date: Thursday and Friday Sept. 12 & 13, and Saturday Sept. 21

Time: 11 am-3 pm

Location: KBC High Tunnel (hands-on)

Exciting things are happening at the Kachemak Bay Campus Growers School! We are installing a perennial foodscape (otherwise known as a perennial agroecosystem or permaculture garden). In the spring of 2025 we will be planting fruit trees and shrubs, native edible plants, and annual vegetables in our new outdoor space next to the KBC high tunnel. 

BUT FIRST! We need help getting the site ready for planting! Come help Shawn Jackinsky, Monica Kopp, and Carey Restino prep the space to be homes for apples, cherries, currants, nagoonberries, chocolate lilies, and more! We'll trade you wisdom about growing and nurturing soil and ecosystems for a little manual labor!

What goes into transforming a vacant city lot into a thriving agroecosystem? How do you plant a beautiful garden if your site is occupied by invasive species? How do you deal with poor, compacted soil?

Shawn Jackinsky will be leading this series of three work days prepping our planting site so that it's ready to plant in the spring. Come learn from his wealth of knowledge about our native flora, the needs of desired cultivated plants, and how a site will respond to disturbance. 

This is a FREE EVENT, but your work is greatly appreciated! Come grab a shovel (tools and gloves provided) and help get the site ready for planting while learning all about what goes into planning, prepping, and planting a perennial food garden. 

Raised Strawberry Bed Building

Date: Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024

Time: 4-6 pm

Location: KBC High Tunnel (hands-on)

Come to this FREE hands-on workshop and learn to build raised beds that are ergonomic and accessible, affordable, compact, and ideal for strawberry growing for personal or commercial use! 

Come ready to help or watch beds being built to grow strawberries at the KBC Grows garden!

Collecting & Processing Seeds From Your Garden

Date: Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024

Time: 1-3 pm

Location: Up Yonder Farm - 58823 East End Rd., Homer, AK

Free to attend. Carpool with friends. Learn when seeds are ripe, how to harvest, clean, and store seeds, and various techniques for different crops. Bring your own seeds to clean if you have some!  Taught by local permaculture instructor and curator of the Homer Seed Library, Saskia Esslinger.

Driving directions: 

Once you pass Wasabi’s on East End Rd.,  turn on the second road on the right, and Up Yonder Farm is the first driveway on the right after that. There’s a boat and a container by the driveway.

This will be the final seed saving workshop in our 2024 Seeds & Soil Series funded by a Specialty Crop Block Grant through the Alaska Division of Agriculture to help build local seed production on the Kenai Peninsula and support the Homer Seed Library.

Garden Irrigation 101

Date: Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024 

Time: 5-6:30 pm

Location: Kachemak Bay Campus (Room P201&202 first, then a visit to the KBC high tunnel) 

Did you struggle this spring to keep up with hand-watering your gardens? 

Consistent irrigation is key to a successful garden, but the options can be overwhelming. Sprinklers? Drip irrigation? What sizes and flow rates work for your garden? 

Come learn all you need to know to set up an irrigation system for your garden and create a game plan to make water woes a thing of the past. Farmers Carey Restino and Monica Kopp will walk you through the ways they have set up irrigation systems on their farms and brainstorm what would work best in your setting. The class will also tour the irrigation system at the KBC high tunnel. 

The class will start in KBC Pioneer 201/202 and then move out to the high tunnel for the last half hour. 

Have something you want to share? Email us at crestino@alaska.edu.