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.

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.

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.