February 2024 – Stephanie Richey Art

Gardening in Alaska

Gardening is one of my favorite things, but it hasn’t always been. Alaska gardening is a little different than what I grew up with as well.

Vegetable garden at sunset in the spring

I grew up in Southern Utah. The soil there was clay and sand. Growing up we always had a garden. I remember growing tomatoes, corn, peas, carrots, squash, and I’m sure much more that I can’t think of right now. The garden wasn’t huge, just a small backyard garden, but it produced well.

We also had fruit trees: apple, peach, plum, and pear at various times. The neighbor had a cherry tree and was always kind enough to shared. We had a big rhubarb patch for a while as well.

I wasn’t super fond of gardening when I was growing up. I enjoyed planting and harvesting, but all the weeding in the middle was hard. I never realized growing up, how little of the work we as kids actually did.

Winter in Alaska with a snowy meadow, gray sky, and dark spruce trees along the edge.

As an adult I have learned to enjoy gardening, even the weeding. My garden is never “show” worthy, but it does usually produce pretty well now. But there was a huge learning curve. I told my husband one year, “give me a desert and soil with sand and clay and I can grow anything! Here in the fertile soil with lots of moisture I can’t make anything grow!”

Part of the problem was learning what grew here in Alaska. The soil is always cold, even in the summer, and the long daylight hours aren’t always what certain plants need, some need as much dark as they do light. Then there’s the germination rates, and growing “season” for each plant. Many plants just don’t mature in our short season.

But, every year has been a great learning experience and we have enjoyed the fruits of our labors immensely. Right now in Alaska, it is 11 degrees and there is about 3 feet of snow. But this is when gardening starts, at least if you want to start your own plants.

Peppers starts for transplanting later in the spring

Right now I have peppers growing, and a little bit of parsley and rosemary starting to peak out of the soil. In a couple of weeks I will be planting tomatoes. Around the beginning of April I will plant broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower, and then about the beginning of May I will plant zucchini. Everything else will be planted in the garden at the end of May or first of June.

This winter has been long in some respects. I’m not sure why it’s felt that way. But having these little green plants starting to grow is so exciting to see. It lifts my spirits and helps me see that spring really is just right around the corner, or maybe the next corner, here in Alaska.

Is it Spring Yet?

Sun shining through the trees on a winter day.

Today after Church my son and I went for a quick walk with the dog. The sun was shining, and it was 22 degrees outside! It felt like it was springtime, but I hate to get my hopes up just yet, it’s a little bit early for that.

Where I grew up in Southern Utah, the sun shines most of the year. It does get cold in the winter, and there’s still snow, but during the day, even through the winter, it will often warm up above freezing. Here in Alaska, if you have a beautiful clear day in the winter, the temperatures drop. Even if the sun is shining it can be well below zero.

I often find myself vacillating through the winter between wanting it to snow, so it will warm up, and wanting it to be sunny, even though that means cold, cold temperatures. This year we have had a good mixture of both snowy weather and sunshine and cold. I feel like it’s been more typical of what it was like when I first moved here, and my husband who grew up here says it is as well except not quite as cold as he remembers it getting (which I appreciate!).

Pussy Willow set against a sunset type background.

The temperatures have made me really excited for summer however, and so about 10 days ago I started a few plants. I now have jalapeño’s, rosemary, and parsley planted and most if it has sprouted. Having the green, new plants growing is now giving me cabin fever and I’m ready to get going with the garden and all the fun summertime activities.

In a couple more weeks I will be planting tomatoes and a few weeks after that I’ll get my broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower started. The last thing to start, at least for me will be the zucchini plants about the middle of April or so. I am excited to get going and this sunshine and warmth helps me think that maybe winter won’t last forever after all!

Favorite Drink

I love citrus and tart things, consequently my favorite special occasion drinks involve these.

I am not a drinker as far as alcoholic type drinks. In fact, the drink I love most is water, I know, I’m weird. But once in a while I like a couple of other types of drinks, so I thought I would share those today.

Pitcher of lemonade with lemon slices on the tray.

My favorite drink without a recipe would be lemonade. I mean real lemonade, not water with lemons in it. I really do not like lemon slices in my water. I love tart and I love lemons. Limeade is a pretty close second, with orange juice coming in third. Actually, I think I could go for any one of those juices. I think I have a thing for tart and citrus.

Consequently you won’t be surprised by my favorite drink recipe. If I am going to make some sort of punch for a gathering or party (which I usually forget about and just have water), I will either have some sort of citrus like the above, or I will do one or the other of the two below (I have no idea of the name of the first).

I love to have lemon-lime soda and orange sherbet ice cream. Scoop the ice cream into a punch bowl in about 1/4 cup scoops and then pour the soda over top of the ice cream. This is my favorite drink. I don’t really like soda all that much, so I like the addition of the sherbet.

If you have lime sherbet then you can make one called a Yoda Soda. At least that’s how it was introduced to me in one of my kids elementary school classes. Using the lemon-lime soda again as the base. I actually think the lime one is more my favorite than the orange, but they’re both really good.

And lastly, along the same lines, at least once a year I have a root beer float. I rarely drink all my soda, but I love that crusty edge of ice cream where the soda made bubbles and the flavor of creamy root beer. Weirdly enough, I don’t like cream soda at all. Maybe it’s nostalgia from childhood, I don’t know, but I do love a root beer float on occasion.

I really do think that water is the best drink, but for special occasions I like some sort of punch. The more tart the better. What is your favorite non-alcoholic drink?

The Best Gifts

There are so many gifts to choose from these days, but what is the ultimate gift you could give to someone else?

Picture of a present wrapped with blue wrapping paper and a gold ribbon

When I was younger, and I used to ask an older person what they wanted for a gift for a birthday, Christmas, or special occasion, I never understood why so many of them just wanted my time. A visit, an experience with me, a trip to town for lunch. Never stuff. I always thought to myself, surely there’s some “thing” that they needed.

But as I have gotten older I realize that “things” aren’t what I desire as much anymore either, my house is full of things. It’s more the time of someone else that I appreciate most. Not to say that at Christmas I don’t have a list of items that I would like. But whereas it used to be just stuff, now if it doesn’t have a use or purpose, I don’t want it coming into my house.

Two people holding a gift wrapped in brown paper with a satin cream colored ribbon

The last couple of years around my birthday I have had more desire to spend the time with people I love doing something rather than just getting a gift. A couple of years ago my husband and I went for a glacier train ride. The scenery was beautiful, but spending time with my husband was priceless. It wasn’t really his cup of tea per se, but he humored me and went. I will forever remember that ride and cherish that time with him.

Last year one of my daughter’s wanted to go to Salt Lake City, Utah for my Church’s General Conference. She asked me to go along, and I decided that would work for my birthday in 2022. My parents and siblings, along with most of their kids came too. We had such a good time, and it was way better than any “thing” I could ever have received as a present and the memories will last way longer than a physical item ever would.

Yesterday my older son wanted some Panda Express for lunch. We live about 35 miles from the nearest Panda Express. He asked me if I would like to go with him. At first I thought of all the stuff I needed to get done. But then was prompted by the Spirit to remember that he will be graduating this year and I don’t have a lot of time left for these spontaneous trips to town. I went. We had so much fun! The drive, eating lunch, listening to music, visiting about things. I am grateful he asked me to go.

So what is the best gift? That varies from person to person I’m sure, but I am learning that as I get older, the gift that so many older people wanted when I was young is starting to become the same gift I desire, the gift of time.

Pay with Cash

I have vacillated on the subject of cash verses digital currency, but more and more lean this way. What’s your opinion?

Pocket with $100 bill and a credit card sticking out.

There has been a huge push to go to digital currency. Over the years I have had varying opinions on this subject. I like the simplicity of using my credit card so I don’t “run out of money” when I’m out of town, or simply for the convenience of never having to check how much money I have with me before I go to the grocery store.

But in recent years, especially as I have started my own business and have a card reader for shopper convenience, I have learned more and more about the down side of paying with a credit card, especially when paying for items at a small, local business. Not long ago I read an article that kind of laid it out pretty well and now cannot find it anywhere, so I’ll give you the gist of what it said, or at least my understanding

When you pay with a card, there is a certain percentage deducted from that transaction that goes to the credit card company. This is your fee for utilizing their service (which is fine, they’re running a business too). So say you pay $10 for an item. The business owner would receive approximately $9.65 for that item (based on what is deducted from the company I use), the credit card company receives the other $0.35. Then you take that $9.65 and pay for an item, and it’s been reduced again to around $9.30, and so on.

As you go along, that $10 continues to reduce until the credit card company has now $10. But, if you pay someone with a $10 bill, that person can then go spend that $10 for the full value of the bill. And it continues. That $10 never loses it’s value through repeated transactions.

Depending on the business and the amount of money that runs through that business, those fees can add up to quite a large amount of money that they don’t receive for their services. So, how do they combat that loss? They raise their prices. Some companies do an overall price adjustment with each item, others charge a fee for using a card at checkout.

None of this is actually why I am currently against digital currency. I do think that each company involved in a transaction should have the ability to recoup the cost of their involvement.

What worries me is the ease with which my accounts can be closed or frozen when all I have is digital currency. Case in point: We had a friend who owned their own business and ended up having a workers comp dispute. Workers Comp simply withdrew the fee (which was over $20,000) from every account which the business owner was listed on until they had their fee covered. This included the business account, the couple’s personal account, as well as their children’s accounts.

Dollar sign with a stack of $100 bills sitting beside it.

In the end, workers comp had to give the money back as an agreement was reached, but it happened at the click of a button with no warning. Suddenly, they didn’t have money for their mortgage, phone bill, electric bill, etc. There was no, “lets work this out,” it was more guilty until proven innocent.

This was years ago. If it was that easy then… There are more and more advertisements about fraud these days, as well as so many people’s information being stolen. Besides the fact that we have turned into a country of act first and ask questions later. Don’t discuss and come to a mutual agreement, accusations mean guilt, until, oh wait, maybe that wasn’t right.

I am a small business owner and would rather receive cash. Not because I’m trying to hide my income (which is one of the reasons the government is pushing for digital currency). But because then I have the ability to do with it what I need to do without worry or fear of it suddenly disappearing somewhere in the system. I still have a bank account, I still use my credit card for convenience, but more and more I use cash as much as possible. Where do you stand on the digital currency issue?