Homer Grown

This season on Homer Grown, with the assistance of the Alaska Center for Excellence in Journalism, we are exploring rural agriculture throughout the state. For this episode we travel to Nome.

In this episode we visit Rob Heimbach at his farm to talk about root vegetables, salvaging materials from the dump, and why he is waiting for a president of the United States to say the word "root cellar."

In this episode we visit the Native village of Tyonek, and talk to Tonya Kaloa, programs coordinator for Tyonek Tribal Conservation District.Support for Homer Grown comes from Wagon Wheel Garden and Pet and Woda Botanicals.

Everything under your feet is connected with a near-infinite mycelial web. What’s the connection between microbes, chemical warfare and synthetic fertilizer, you ask?“In nature we never see anything isolated, but everything in connection with something else which is before it, beside it, under it and over it.” ~ Goethe

The topic is flowers. Rachel Lord of Alaska Stems discusses the business of cut flowers. We also visit Teena Garay’s garden off of West Hill. Teena has collected seed from other countries with a similar climate to Homer and propagates rare perennial flowers and shrubs.

Every year Homer Grown produces an episode about Soils. In anticipation of a trip to Kotzebue to conduct interviews with Arctic gardeners, we thought it was important to understand what is happening below the surface in Northern climates. Our guests are Glenna Gannon, Assistant Professor of Sustainable Food Systems at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Extension. She is also part of Permafrost Grown, a 5 year study on permafrost's relation to farming. And we talk with Monica Kopp the Ag Program Coordinator for Homer Soil and Water Conservation District about ice formations unique to Arctic environments.

For this episode, host Desiree Hagen travels to Kotzebue to interview the author, Seth Kantner. He is the author of five books focused primarily on the Northwest Arctic. He also runs the Maniilaq Gardening project which serves seven villages along the Kobuk River. He has been gardening in the Arctic for about five decades.

In case you weren’t aware— gardening is for everyone, no matter your age or physical limitations. This episode focuses on programs that support inclusivity.

With much of Alaska on high alert for a fire, forestry is a hot topic. For the latest episode of Homer Grown, host Desiree Hagen interviewed Mitch Michaud about forest ecology and a new reforestation project in the Soldotna Area. John Winters, newly retired forester from the Division of Forestry, is the other guest. He talked about forest stewardship, creating defensible space around your home, and things you thought you knew- but somehow missed, about spruce bark beetles.

Spring is finally here! If you are like most people you are probably gearing up for the upcoming gardening season, which means you will most likely visit your local greenhouse for plant starts or potting soil. But have you ever wondered where these items come from?