Snow is still melting in some areas of the state, but now is a good time to plan for the garden season. Planting a veggie garden is good for your health because it provides healthy fresh foods and physical activity for the gardener.
If you are thinking about growing your own transplants this year, the Alaska Cooperative Extension Service has great publications and tips. Their Seed Starting and Transplanting publication offers tips and a schedule of seed planting dates, based on the number of weeks from the average last spring frost date in your area.
You also can get great tips from various Master Gardener clubs in your region. Did you know carrots grow well in a bed prepared with lots of sand? That thinning lettuce to a minimum of 12 inches apart really does make a difference? And that turnip, peas, beets, lettuce and cabbage seed can be planted outside as soon as you can walk on the ground?
Alaska Cooperative Extension’s resources are listed below:
The Interior village food systems web pages cover the importance of subsistence foods in the Interior’s rural communities and the popularity of small village gardens.