July 2024 Outlook
From Director Jodie Anderson:
Next week, we will showcase the work of our agricultural researchers at not one but two field days – the first at the Fairbanks farm on July 30 and the second at the Palmer farm on Aug. 1. Our institute hasn’t had the capacity to host these important events until recently, and last year we hosted just one field day in Palmer. Field days are a tradition in many research stations and are often just one researcher showcasing their work for farmers. Our two field days reflect the growth of the work we are accomplishing for our institute and stakeholders by multiple researchers, and I’m excited to see all of the featured research presentations.
These events are also an important opportunity for us to bring producers and growers together with our researchers to share our efforts and discoveries and build relationships that will influence how we support agriculture in our state. This kind of work is the core of our mission as an institute.
I hope all of you have found ways to rest, recharge and refill your freezers as summer has progressed, and that you can join one of our field days and help support our researchers. And, I expect I’ll see many of you at the fairs!
Be well,
Jodie
Research Field Days are coming up fast in Fairbanks and Palmer. Details and schedules are on the AFES website.
Wine and Peonies
The Georgeson Botanical Garden Friends held their annual wine and peonies fundraiser on July 17, 2024. More than 115 people attended the annual event, which included music, wine, appetizers, and tours of the Georgeson Botanical Garden. At the end of the event, attendees were given a bouquet of peonies to take home.
The weather made for a perfect evening for garden supporters. Many thanks to the Georgeson Botanical Garden Friends board, garden volunteers, and garden staff for their hard work to make this important event possible.
Celebrate 100 years of the Tanana Valley State Fair
2024 is a milestone for the Tanana Valley State Fair, which was launched a century ago through the efforts of George Gasser, agronomist for the Fairbanks Experiment Station. The first fair was held in September 1924.
Look for the ºÚÁϺÚÀúÊ· Cooperative Extension Service booth in the Borealis Pavilion, which will have dozens of publications, giveaways and more. Throughout the fairgrounds, 4-H members will have flowers, vegetables, photography, crafts and other projects on display, as well as livestock in the Largen and Delta barns and other facilities.
The fair runs from Friday, July 26-Sunday, Aug. 4 starting at noon.
Location: Tanana Fairgrounds, 1800 College Road, Fairbanks
For more information about the fair, visit
For more information about 4-H, contact Marla Lowder, mklowder@alaska.edu
SNAP-Ed update
— Reina Hasting
Alaska SNAP-Ed ended the year with program activities in Anchorage, Bethel, Fairbanks,
Mat-Su and Nome and is looking forward to the new fiscal year.
The SNAP-Ed FY2025 Award is $775,000. The award will support services within Alaska. Offices will be based in Anchorage, Bethel, Dillingham, Fairbanks, Mat-Su and Nome.
Reina Hasting, Dana Davis and Leif Albertson, traveled to Nome to set up the SNAP-Ed office and participate in the Nome Berry Festival at the Nome Recreation Center.
The green Rock the Bike smoothie bike was the last purchase under the 4-H Healthy Habits Walmart Foundation grant. It’s the eighth bike set up across the state for youth and adults to enjoy. Smoothie bikes are located in Anchorage, Bethel, Dillingham, Fairbanks, Kodiak, Nome, Mat-Su and Sitka.
Anchorage Outreach Center update
Summer is in full swing, and AOC is buzzing with excitement. We are thrilled to share that we have a new 4-H coordinator, Allison Bruchhaus, and we are very happy to welcome her to the team. Her first event with us was the Mud Day at Alaska Botanical Garden. Allison, Alex and DeShana hosted a modified edible soil activity.
We are continuing our farmers market tour. We love meeting people at the markets who took a class decades ago and still use the skills they learned from us. July is filled with webinars and classes.
A yardwork series began on July 10 with Gino Graziano, who highlighted herbicide and weed management. Then Paul Marmora, past Wildflower Garden Club Co-president, spoke about turning your lawn into a natural environment.
Darren McAvoy, associate Extension professor at Utah State University and our own Caley Gasch will discuss soil management, biochar, and the Western SARE sabbatical grant project they are collaborating on on Wednesday, July 24 at 6 p.m. Stephen Brown will talk about lawn maintenance at noon on Aug. 31.
On July 15, we dove into Alaska’s seaweed with Melissa Good from Alaska Mariculture Research and Training Center. She talked about seaweed’s culinary and nutritional possibilities and other uses. We hope this will be the first in a series of continued partnerships and educational outreach with SeaGrant colleagues. On July 22, Kathy Liska, the Alaska State Fair superintendent for crops and flowers, discussed how to enter the fair’s competitive exhibits, offering tips, tricks and advice on creating winning submissions.
Georgeson Botanical Garden update
— Lacey Higham
The gardens are in full bloom and looking fabulous! Peonies came on early this season
but were as beautiful and bountiful as ever. With over 100 different peony cultivars,
the gardens burst with big, beautiful blooms just in time for our annual Wine & Peonies fundraiser on July 17, which welcomed more than 115 garden enthusiasts.
Our perennial display garden is also bursting with colors, shapes, and textures. Delphiniums, phlomis, valerian, and Maltese X are all in bloom, and we are so thankful for the rains. Also on display are corn varieties from the vegetable variety trials and the OS cross giant cabbages.
The entry kiosk remodel is complete and temporary signage for this season is up. We also installed a new gate at the back entrance to the garden designed and crafted by local metalsmith Thomas Hart to welcome visitors from upper campus into the garden space. Signs are coming soon.
The Alaska Harvest Collaborative has been working hard and the students are harvesting and donating lots of amazing vegetables from the Reindeer Garden.
So much is happening at the GBG with Music in the Garden every Thursday, and the upcoming Fairbanks Experiment Farm Field Day on July 30. Come on down and see all the wonderful things happening at the garden this season.
Biochar is another tool for soil management
By Laura Weingartner
Burning wood can create more than smoky summers and cozy winters by the stove. Roasted
trees, shrubs and other plants can also be used to amend soils, store carbon and reduce
hazardous fuels in forests through a product called biochar.
This summer, two professors are teaching farmers in Alaska how to make and use biochar and how it might affect soil health.
USDA NextGen scholarship applications are available
Students who want to shape the future of food and agriculture can find scholarships through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's NextGen Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Upcoming events
- Sarah Lewis is nearly midway through her 2024 Maritime Extension cruise in Southeast Alaska. More information is available at .
- Webinar series focuses on creating, reimagining and maintaining yards: Learn how to manage weeds, turn your yard into a meadow, manage soil, and create and maintain a beautiful lawn in a series of free, online workshops hosted by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service. The series is available statewide.
- In-person food preservation series planned in Palmer: Learn to preserve meat, fish, fruits and vegetables by canning using a pressure canner, pickling and drying in a series of in-person workshops in Palmer. More information is available online.
- Jackie Hrabok is teaching a face-to-face 1-credit ºÚÁϺÚÀúÊ· Northwest Campus class in Nome about making fully cured leather from fish skins, from July 11 - Aug. 6.
- Dr. Rachael Christensen, research animal scientist with the Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory, USDA Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) will lead two free workshops on livestock animal nutrition with an emphasis on ruminant species. The first will be at the Georgeson Botanical Garden Pavillion from 1-2 p.m. on Tuesday, July 30. The second will be from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Wednesday, July 31at the Delta Career Advancement Center, 1696 N. Clearwater Ave., Delta Junction. .
- Leif Albertson has two Perfectly Preserved workshops scheduled for August. will be from 5:30-9 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 20. The cost is $45. is scheduled for Aug. 27 from 6-8 p.m. The cost is $35.
- Mycologist Gary Laursen will lead two three-day mushroom workshops in conjunction with ºÚÁϺÚÀúÊ· Cooperative Extension. The first will be in Delta Junction from Aug. 16-18. The second will be in Palmer from Aug. 30-Sept. 1. For more information, visit .
In the News
- Heidi Rader's gardening column in the July 21 News-Miner:
- The Wrangell Sentinel .
- KTVF covered Gino Graziano's webinar on .
- The News-Miner published Glenna Gannon's July 14 Community Perspective column:
- Reina Hasting's July 14 column in the News-Miner: .
- Art Nash's June 30 column in the News-Miner: .
- Adrian Kohrt's June 16 column in the News-Miner: .
(Note, if you don't subscribe to the News-Miner, you can read Extension columns on the )