Sunday, July 14, 2013

Fire, Fireweed and Jam

It has been a very eventful week. Since last Sunday's evacuation, sleep has been lacking and I have been super busy trying to catch up. I am happy to say that, after spending only one night at my sister-in-law's house, the evacuation was lifted Monday evening. It was very eerie driving back in. We were some of the first back and it was so empty. Lots of fire vehicles around. It had just started to rain and the smoke still covered a large area. We left the chickens with family when Sammy, the dogs and I came back. Just in case.

Tuesday it really started to rain and by Wednesday, it began to pour. It felt great! The chickens came home and the garden exploded over night. We will most likely still get smoke, but hopefully, the firebreak constructed around this edge of the fire will hold. This weekend is giving it a test. It is 85 degrees out and getting very dry again.

Life is beginning to return to normal. We are harvesting the fireweed and the first rhubarb. I'll be making the first batch of Fireweed Jelly this week. I am freezing and using this batch of rhubarb. Thanks to my friend Dominique, I have enough for several crisps and breads as well as a Blueberry Rhubarb Jam and my favorite, Touch of Spring Rhubarb, Strawberry, Pinapple Conserve.

Time to enjoy the bounties of summer.

 

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Evacuation Complete

At about 1:30 pm this afternoon, the community of Two Rivers received the evacuation order. The Stuart Creek 2 Forest Fire that has been lurking in our area made a run towards the town. I believe three cabins have been claimed so far.

My son, sister-in-law and I headed out with all our belongings, two dogs and 4 chickens. My husband is a wildland firefighter and is working on the fire with many of our friends and neighbors, also firefighters.

We will see how it goes for the next few hours and days.

 

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Wildfires in Alaska

Fires in Alaska are integral parts of growth and vegetation. It is natures way of maintaining a balance. That being said, they also create havoc in the lands and communities that they effect. This is true where ever wildfires occur. In Alaska, where life is already challenging, it can get very interesting. Our road system, or lack of one, isolates effected areas and makes deploying firefighters and support vehicles very difficult. Often, the single road to communities become impassable for a time, limiting evacuation and minimizing available aid. Helicopters and airplanes are used to position most fire crews into the areas they are needed.

Helicopter with Bucket
During the summer, Interior Alaska can get very warm and it is always dry. This summer, we have been experiencing a heat wave and have had very little rain. It is not surprising that the wildfires have flared in mass. In the passes two weeks, our small community of Two Rivers has been threatened twice. The first fire, the Kanuti Fire, eat at an area between two sections of homes. With the speedy response of State Forestry and the Alaska Fire Service, the fire was put out with minimal losses. Helicopters, Air Retardant Tankers and specially designed Fire Airplanes called "scoopers" pounded the fire from the air. The helicopters pulling buckets of water from a nearby lake were making 5 minute turn arounds and the scoopers picking up water from a larger lake a bit further away were making about 10 minute turn arounds. They were joined by ground forces as Initial Attack Engines, Hotshot Crews and Smoke Jumpers arrived on the scene. The fire was stopped at an estimated 120 acres.
 
Scooper Amphibious Fire Airplane
Alaska Smoke Jumper
Yesterday, the wind, heat and humidity created the perfect fire environment and the Stuart River 2 Fire exploded. This morning they were estimating a 45,000 acre fire area with a leading edge about 6 miles from Two Rivers. Hot ash and burning debris was falling in the Two Rivers community. Winds shifted and the fire moved further to the East, currently away from the community, but it has been reported to have jumped the Chena River. An Evacuation Warning has been issued for the Two Rivers area, though no Evacuation Orders have been given.

The midday skies have been darkened with intense smoke from this fire.

This morning, there were 90 firefighters battling the blaze with helicopter and scooper support. A Type 2 Management Team is currently in charge of the fire, but a Type 1 (a bigger, usually more experienced) team is on route to the area as are more hotshot crews and other resourses.

We are preparing for the fire. We have a pile of important items and documents to bring if we need to leave. Food for the dogs ans chickens and crates to move them. A stockpile of water, 30 gallons of potable and 110 gallons of garden. We have outfitted our F350 with a water tank and pump. My husband is a Wildland Firefighter as are many of our neighbors. Two Rivers is Interior Alaska's Dog Mushing "capital". Many mushers have evacuated their dogs from the area.

Ray working on Pump Truck

Now it's a waiting game. What will tomorrow bring?

 

Thursday, June 27, 2013

What's in my soil?

Yesterday, I was trying to figure out a question for my Master Gardener class. I must say I got a bit frustrated! Then, I figured it out and it was SO cool. The problem's solution included going to the Natural Resourses Conservation Service site and completing a Web Soil Survey. (http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/HomePage.htm)

As it turns out, after I got a good night's sleep, it's pretty easy to use and has all types of interesting facts about your property if it has been surveyed. All you have to do is press the big green button that says "Start WSS". I suggest you read the directions first though.

What type of information can be found there? With very little knowledge, I was able to discover a lot about our property. For example, our land is divided into two types of soil. The front third is made up of soil type 101 - Bohica Silt Loam. Bohica Silt Loam is classified as a Local Farm Land. It has a PH 6.5. That is slightly acidic but 7 is nuetral. Many garden plants like a PH of 5.5 to 7. The frost threat, which in Alaska is always a factor, is only moderate. On top of all these positives, as the name suggests, the soil is a silt loam. A loam is where all three components, sand, silt and clay are present in fairly equal amounts. A silt loam has more silt, but the other two are still present in good quantity. The sand promotes good drainage. The silt and clay provide water storage for the plants' use. A good balance.

By trail and error, this is where my garden is located. If I had this information when I first started gardening, I would have know this would have been the better choice of location.

The back two-thirds of our property is soil type 115 - Goldstream Peat. It's soil is more acidic at 4.9 and is NOT classified for Farmland use. The Frost factor is high, which explains why I lost the potatoes I planted back there to frost in August a few years ago. As I discovered the hard way, this area is not as suitable for gardening. I do, however, have wild blueberries and raspberries that thrive there.

The information at this site could be very useful, especially when developing a new garden or farming area. It has access to Soil Surveys from all over the United States.

 

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Garden In Full Swing

With the high temperatures and nearly 22 hours of sunlight, our garden is beginning to thrive. Tomatoes, peppers, corn and some herbs are in the greenhouse. Lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash, broccoli, pumpkin, herbs, peas and beans are in the big beds. Potatoes and onions are in separate barrels. With very little rain this month and the temperatures close to 90 degrees, I have been watering morning and night. Had our first cucumber and lots of salad makings this week.

 

 

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

It's All About Dirt!

We are on to soil this week. We are starting with this fun coloring book called Sammy Soil. It's a little look at what happens with soil. Here is the link to the coloring book:





Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Gnome Garden Takes Shape

Sammy worked very hard today on his Gnome Herb Garden. They will have a basil and rosemary forest, camomile bushes and a huge sunflower tree. The hardest part was keeping the lab from eating the starts!





Tuesday, May 28, 2013

One Step Off Normal Junior Gardener Starts Today

Sammy and I are starting out Gardening Adventure today. My Alaska Master Gardener class starts and so does Sammy's "Kinder Gardener" Class. We have been working in the yard preparing our garden beds and greenhouse for planting. We have repotted our starts and planted. Over the last few days we have been reading from our gardening book.



LESSON #1: How plants grow?  Here are some handouts and a mini-quiz we will be working with for this lesson. http://www.craftjr.com/plant-life/ 

Join us on our summer gardening adventure. You can follow along and use the same handouts if you have a child who would enjoy this!  I'm calling it the Kinder Gardener Program because Sammy will be starting Kindergarden in the fall. Junior Gardener is also a great name.

Join us on our summer gardening adventure. You can follow along and use the same handouts if you have a child who would enjoy this!  I'm calling it the Kinder Gardener Program because Sammy will be starting Kindergarden in the fall. Junior Gardener is also a great name.