Crops
Alaska is cold during the winters and warm during the summers. It rarely, if ever, gets hot. During the winter the ground freezes, and in the summer it only sort of thaws. The soil isn't very thick or nutrient dense, and it washes away during early spring when the snow melts. It's only a few inches deep, and beneath are the rocks left behind by moving glaciers. Even if you find a good patch of dirt the odds are you space is limited by forest, mountains, lakes, or rivers. On the whole, it's not a great place for farming.
Plenty of plants will grow in Alaska, but you grow different things and you tend to grow things differently. Raised beds are more of a necessity than a preference for a lot of crops. You can house more dirt in them and the dirt doesn't get washed away, so root systems have a better chance of taking hold. Compost is a necessity for any backyard garden, and fish waste is the one and only fertilizer readily available. Fish heads, internal organs, skeletons, and even the skin can be broken down and used to make fertilizer. The easiest method is to mince and mash the waste, then mix it with soil or compost. You treat it like compost for a week or two, then mix it in with the soil you're planning to plant. The better method is to jar up the waste and ferment it. After it's done processing you have liquid fish fertilizer that can be sprayed on the plants, which is a lot easier than spreading out solid fertilizer.
You have to take the frozen soil, mild summers, and poor soil into account when deciding what to plant in Alaska. Leafy green vegetables are what grow best. Lettuce, cabbage, kale, broccoli, and rhubarb thrive in Alaska. Gourds also tend to do well. It's possible to grow root vegetables, but your best us to grow the kind that have been bred for the environment. Carrots grow short and squat, while the potatoes tend to be blue, purple, red, or gold. You can grow corn and sunflowers, but they'll only grow to half the height of the southern brethren. Traditional berries can grow with a little love and care, but salmon berries will take over your yard if you let them. Fruit trees will grow too, but like most tall plants they tend to be a bit short and stunted.
Grains
Grains and grasses are particularly difficult to grow in Alaska. The growing season is too short for most wheat varieties, and the thaw comes too late for most winter wheat varieties. Grass hay grows pretty well during the growing season, assuming there aren't any late freezes, but with the season being short it's impossible to grow enough to feed livestock through the winter. Alfalfa hay would be a better 'hot' feed, with more nutrients to help the animals keep on weight, but the frozen ground prevents the grasses from taking root. Grass is necessary for livestock, and grains stretch food stores exponentially. They're a valuable source of calories and energy, which are especially essential when winter hits and sources of protein and produce start to become scarce. There are really only three resources available in Alaska to make up the shortage; oats, barley, and corn. Corn grows short in Alaska, but it grows short and sweet. If properly staggered and rotated with the right varieties you can get a couple harvests in a season. It can be eaten whole, dried, or canned. Ground whole into a powder you get corn flour. Corn flour can be used just like wheat flour, though it tends to be sweeter and a little heavier. Corn can also be used in a lot of livestock feeds, and tends to help put weight on animals like cattle and chickens. Oats are usually grown with peas as silage. You've got fair odds on getting oats to completely ripen, but a single early frost will decimate a crop. It's better to harvest early when it's green and use it with the peas for your livestock. It's a good 'hot' feed that will keep weight on the animals. It stores well and is loved by all livestock animals as a treat. Barley is traditionally used primarily for silage, but because it's a grain that can be planted and fully ripen during a single growing season it's more useful as a food crop. Barley can be added to soups, used in pasta, risotto, made into oat meal or porridge, and milled into flour. Barley flour and yeast don't get along, but makes for excellent quick breads and flat breads.Preservation and Storage
Most fruits and vegetables can be canned. Vegetables have to be be canned in a pressure canner due to the lack of acid, while fruits can be canned in a water bath. Fruits are juiced, jellied, turned into preserves, made into syrup, made into sauce, or canned plain. Both fruits and vegetables can be dried or dehydrated, typically as a snack to be eaten whole but also to be used in other dishes. Dried produce is unlikely to go bad but it's still vulnerable to the pilfering of rodents. Grains are much more difficult to store safely. Heat, air, and moisture will destroy a grain crop in storage almost as quickly as wildlife will steal it away. It's best stored in airtight conditions, and even then, grains won't keep for more than six months without being frozen. Alaska being frozen half the year is helpful but only if you can keep air and moisture out. Glass and plastic are the easiest ways to create airtight tight storage, with vacuum storage coming in third place. It's important to store the grain whole, as that can double it's life span. Processed grain still needs to be stored the same way but it needs to be used more quickly.Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
Comments