Nancy Tarnai
907-474-5042
2/2/12

Years ago when Jennifer Ansley encountered goats at the Tanana Valley State Fair she was so smitten that she declared to her husband, “That’s what I want; they are so beautiful.”

Even though her husband, Gregory Kahoe, failed to see the beauty, Ansley achieved her dream and now has 11 goats and a thriving goat milk bath product business, Far Above Rubies.

By reading books and doing research, Ansley taught herself to milk goats (“It didn’t work like the book said,” she commented.), make cheese and create a product line. She couldn’t have predicted this lifestyle growing up outside of Philadelphia. Ansley earned a B.S. in environmental science and English at the College of William and Mary. While working as seasonal rangers in Denali National Park Ansley and Kahoe met and then settled in Fairbanks in 1996.

Photo by Nancy Tarnai
Ansley's goats enjoy life in Ester.

A teacher at West Valley High School, Kahoe has been extremely supportive of his wife’s farming endeavors, building barns, mucking them out and coming up with great ideas. “I couldn’t do it without him,” Ansley said..

Her goats are Toggenburgs, one of the oldest and purest breeds from the Swiss Alps and the first breed to be registered in the U.S. Some are crossed with Saanen but all are Swiss breeds. The large goats do very well in the cold and are good milk producers, Ansley said. “I love my goats; they are very personable and have lots of character. They are very intelligent.”

The goats follow her to the school bus stop when it’s time to meet her children. “They keep me in sight and stay right with me,” she said. “They don’t like cars.”

Showing off the goats in their barn, Ansley fairly gushes, “Aren’t they cute?” Indeed they are, but a lot of work too. They must be milked twice a day and fed. Their feet have to trimmed and sometimes they need help giving birth. Going against their reputation for eating old shoes and such, they are picky eaters, munching on hay, dairy grain ration and a salt mineral mix. “They stay healthy if they are fed properly,” Ansley said.

Ansley learned to milk by trial and error. The first book she bought, “Cheesemaking Made Easy” was not helpful. “We joked it should be called ‘Cheesemaking made Practically Impossible,’ “ she said.

When she found “Goats Produce Too!” she hit the jackpot. The recipes are specific to goat milk, not cow milk. Goat milk has smaller fat globules that make the milk easily digestible, Ansley said.

For her family’s consumption Ansley makes chevre, feta, ricotta, colby and cheddar cheese. She pasteurizes the milk herself and firmly believes it doesn’t compromise the nutritional value. “All you need is a pot and a thermometer,” she said.

Ansley even wrote to Cornell University about how goat milk changes when pasteurized and the answer was that the only thing affected is Vitamin C. “Pasteurization alters the protein so the body can utilize the proteins,” she said.

Her secret to tasty goat milk is to pasteurize it immediately after milking or the fat turns quickly to a goaty flavor. That is often what turns people off to goat milk, she said. They pay dearly for it in a shop and are disappointed by the nasty taste. That is not the case with the rich, creamy milk at Ansley’s house.

Photo by Nancy Tarnai
Far Above Rubies soap comes in many "flavors."

If people argue with her that raw milk is better Ansley is prepared to debate. “No matter how careful you are you can’t keep bacteria from milk,” she said. “It’s not worth it because you can get really sick.” People sometimes call her wanting to buy raw milk. “First of all, it’s illegal,” she said. “Some people listen and some say they know all about it.”

Some goat producers offer shares so they can legally sell the milk but Ansley isn’t interested in doing that. “I use up all my milk with the business,” she said. Her regret about the goat milk situation is that 4-H Club members miss out on dairy opportunities with goats. “I would like to see a legal way to share milk with neighbors but I don’t think that is going to happen.”

For nine years Ansley has been selling an array of soap and lotions at the Tanana Valley Farmers’ Market. She learned the basics and then created her own recipes, finding that her scientific background came in handy for figuring out the exact concentrations of ingredients. “It’s a lot of work but it’s a lot of fun,” she said. “I wouldn’t have thought I’d be making soap but it’s a great business.”

The products are sold online and at Alaska Feed, Cold Spot Feed, Arctic Travelers, the Alaska Bowl Co., Chena Hot Springs Resort and the Ornamentary and the Bag Ladies shop in Pioneer Park seasonally.

The keys to Ansley’s success are good luck and hard work, she said.

Contact info:

www.alaskagoatmilk.com
(907) 457-3890
[email protected]

This column is provided as a service by the UAF School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences and the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.

By Nancy Tarnai

January 11, 2011

A historic moment occurred Dec. 7 in a tucked away barn at a Delta Junction farm. No bells, fireworks or champagne marked the occasion, but it was a joyous moment for Bryce Wrigley and his family when they ground barley to make flour.

Bryce Wrigley prepares his flour mill for production on Dec. 1, 2011. The mill is now producing flour which is sold in Fairbanks and Anchorage. Photo by Nikki Withington.

The news of the first time in decades a commercial flour mill has operated in Alaska has been met with enthusiasm. Not long after Wrigley set up his Alaska Flour Co. Facebook page he attracted nearly 500 fans and had calls from as far away as Nome, Dillingham, Cordova and Valdez requesting flour. “We won’t be extending that far this first year,” Wrigley said.

Asked why he chose to invest in such an expensive operation, Wrigley said he and his wife Jan wanted to do something to provide food for Alaskans. They started their journey by visiting flour mills around the Lower 48 when they were on vacation last year.

This fall he ordered equipment for the mill from Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Michigan and has been working hard ever since to get the business up and running.

“The food security stuff really kicked it off,” Wrigley said. “Since Hurricane Katrina, it’s been on my mind.” He said when looking at the food pyramid, Alaska can grow something in every category. “Why can’t we get to the point of raising enough food in the state for three months?” he asked. In the event of a pandemic, Wrigley said the government has addressed masks and rubber gloves but not food. “It takes 90 days for a pandemic to run its course,” he said. “We have a one-week supply of food in state so all we need is two months and three weeks.”

He has high hopes that the state and university can continue agricultural research. “We are the most vulnerable state,” he said. “We have to take care of ourselves, otherwise the time will come when we can’t.”

Wrigley, who is a grain farmer and president of the Alaska Farm Bureau, said he tried to get other folks interested in starting a mill. “In June I decided it was going to happen and I should look into what it would take.” His research included all the details of not only grinding grain, but packaging and marketing flour.

The impressive electric-powered mill can produce a 20, 40 or 100-mesh grain (the higher the number the finer the grain) and Wrigley is working with Ingal wheat and Sunshine hulless barley to produce flour. He grows both on his own farm and is hoping to convince neighbors to join the endeavor. “It will change the crops we raise,” Wrigley said. He plans to plant 200 acres of barley and 300 acres of wheat this year.

The mill capacity is 700 to 1,000 pounds of flour per hour. “My goal is to do 100 tons the first year then 900 the next year and 1,500 in five years. We’re going to ramp up production as fast as we can sell it. If I can’t keep up with store demand I’ll be tickled.”

Pricing will be similar to other specialty flours, Wrigley said. “I’m not trying to complete with Gold Medal.”

Through UAF Cooperative Extension Service studies, it has been found that mixing half barley flour with half wheat flour produces the best results. It’s better to mix the two because barley holds moisture. For barley flour recipes, including cornbread, brownies, banana bread, pancakes, carrot cake, cookies, crackers, muffins, noodles and pie crust, visit the Extension publications website.

For the future, Wrigley is considering the production of brownie, cake and pancake mixes. “We want to try different things,” he said. The flour is sold in Fairbanks at Alaska Feed and Homegrown Market and in Anchorage at the Natural Pantry.

One huge bonus to opening the mill has been that while the Wrigley farm hadn’t been making enough money to keep the adult children employed and they had all moved Outside, the eldest son Dallen has moved home from Idaho with his wife and four children to help with mill operations. “I’m excited to pass this farm to subsequent generations,” Wrigley beamed.

Contact information:

www.alaskaflourcompany.com

907-895-4033

[email protected]

and on Facebook

This column is provided as a service by the UAF School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences and the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. Nancy Tarnai is the school and station’s public information officer. She can be reached at [email protected].

Nancy Tarnai
907-474-5042
12/20/11

For Two Rivers farmer Darren Demattio, building proper infrastructure is imperative for a successful agricultural venture.

Six years ago, he started clearing the virgin forest on his 319-acre farm. The progress he and his wife Cristina have made since then is amazing. The couple’s Copper Kettle Farm, 25 mile Chena Hot Springs Road, features fields and fencing, two greenhouses and shelter for rabbits and chickens.

“We’re trying to get things running smoothly and get the bumps and wiggles figured out,” Demattio said. “Things are going well; God has blessed us.”

Photo by Nancy Tarnai
Fuzzy the reindeer appeared in the movie "Elf."

Growing up in eastern Ohio, Demattio, 45, was so infatuated with farming that he spent every spare minute doodling pictures of what his future farm would look like. He served in the Army for three years and then became a surveyor in Nevada. He came to Fairbanks to help set up Fort Knox, where he was a surveyor for 13 years. “Farming has always been my dream,” he said. “Now it’s come to fruition.”

He is one of the few reindeer producers in the Interior, with 10 beautiful animals. Three years ago, Demattio and a friend went to Canada to buy reindeer because in Alaska only Natives are allowed by law to own Alaska reindeer. “My biggest challenge is growing the reindeer herd and I’m not going back to Canada,” Demattio said. He bought five reindeer there.

Reindeer, Demattio declares, are the perfect animal for Alaska because they are so suited to the environment. “They live on willow and birch,” he said. Their diet also includes barley, a pellet mix, wheatgrass, bluegrass and Timothy.

Originally, Demattio intended to raise Galloway cattle and he may yet add some to the farm, but it was the resistance to disease that pulled him to the reindeer. He has learned to be patient with the animals, for they have a sensitive side. Each reindeer has its own special personality. Some sidle up to him for attention when he enters their enclosure, others prefer to keep their distance. “Each one has a different attitude,” Demattio said. “I just accept them.” One even has a “movie star” career behind her, having been in the movie “Elf.”

One of his goals is to train one of the deer to pull a sled just like a dog team does.

A surprise for Demattio has been that half of what he had read about reindeer was erroneous. He advises others interested in raising reindeer to build their infrastructure first and not to jump the gun and run to Canada. “The paperwork is astounding,” he said of the process to import the animals to Alaska.

But farming in general is something he encourages others to try. “Don’t let people who’ve been farming a while tell you it can’t work,” he said. Count on calluses and sore muscles too. “If you’re going to do something like this you’re going to have to be ready to work,” he said. Lamenting that Americans are too hung up on leisure time, Demattio said the work on a farm can be daunting, “but you kick through it.” He praised his wife, a DOT engineer, for her work ethic and said he couldn’t make the farm successful without her. “We have a common goal,” he said.

Photo by Nancy Tarnai
Darren Demattio enjoys raising rabbits as much as reindeer. He said they are an excellent homesteader animal.

It’s obvious in the corral with Demattio and the reindeer that he is very fond of his herd. He envisions it growing to 100 but has to figure out how to make that happen since there isn’t a diverse stock for breeding.

“They are the winning ticket for Alaska agriculture,” he said. He has been extremely impressed with the health of the animals. “I have had no vet bills in three years,” he said, crediting the natural diet he has them on.

“One of the biggest challenges to Alaska agriculture is people don’t think about sustainable profit versus maximum profit for a short period of time,” he said.

While he grows the reindeer herd, Demattio has found rabbits to be a valuable food source for his family. He praised the merits of the California rabbit and said the children will eat all the rabbit put on their plates. “Rabbits are the perfect homestead animal, bar none,” he said. Chickens are another important part of the farm, as are the vegetables produced in the greenhouses. Demattio grows enough cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, beans, peas and honeydew melons to feed the family and sells the excess to friends and neighbors.

In the end it is his three children Demattio is farming for. “They’re my real crop,” he said. “My long-term goal is to see my kids take over the farm.”

This column is provided as a service by the UAF School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences and the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.

Nancy Tarnai
907-474-5042
12/6/11

Through tenant farming, Jennifer Becker found a way that a young person can launch an agricultural business without the ominous debt load typically associated with starting a farm.

In her second year of business, the ever-resourceful Becker supplied multiple families at Eielson Air Force Base and North Pole with a summer’s worth of locally-grown vegetables via her Pioneer Produce CSA (community supported agriculture) business.

Growing up in Rhode Island, Becker couldn’t have predicted a future in Alaska agriculture. While at the University of Maine earning a bachelor of science degree in forestry and parks and recreation, Becker’s interest in the outdoors piqued. Then she read “The Good Life: Helen and Scott Nearing’s Sixty Years of Self-Sufficient Living.”

Photos couresty of Pioneer Produce
Jennifer Becker uses a precision seeder at her farm in North Pole.

“Before reading that book it hadn’t hit me that you could live like that,” Becker said. “I realized it was something doable.”

At the age of 21, Becker came to Alaska to work on a Forest Service field crew in Juneau. Later she signed on with the Coastal Management Program, where she learned that an office setting was not to her liking. All the while she worked as a deckhand on a fishing boat and for KTOO public TV in Juneau, Becker had farming in the back of her mind.

In Juneau, the goal seemed insurmountable. “There was not a lot of community support for it,” Becker said. “People thought I was totally crazy and asked me why I would pick a life like that. Fairbanks is more supportive; it’s been proven time and again to be true.”

So Becker headed north and worked two seasons for Mike Emers at Rosie Creek Farm. She loved farming so much she became even more determined to start her own place. A fortuitous visit to Craigslist eventually connected Becker with North Pole hay farmers who were willing to lease some land. She first went to look at the property in March 2010. “It didn’t look like much,” Becker recalled. Adjacent to the Richardson Highway, it simply was not the dream Becker had envisioned but she decided to forge ahead. “It was a huge leap of faith,” she said.

After reading up on tenant farming, Becker settled into a wall tent on the land and got to work. She raises beets, carrots, turnips, rutabagas, potatoes, onions, lettuce, kale, chard, broccoli, cabbage and winter squash, which she sells to customers in North Pole and 38 CSA members at Eielson Air Force Base.

Photo courtesy of Pioneer Produce
Jennifer Becker pulls an early season radish from the ground at her farm.

Since she doesn’t have a greenhouse, she worked with Dart A&M Farms in Manley Hot Springs to get her plant starts.

She farms on a little more than two acres and has found fencing to be a major expense. Obtaining farm supplies has been a big challenge but she has gotten a lot of help from the land owners, who loan her their tractor and other equipment. Another obstacle can be the weather. “It’s not bugs or pests,” she said. “It’s that the weather can be too hot or too cold.” She lost a lot of transplants last year due to the extreme heat on planting day.

Other challenges include labor and weeds, but Becker finds farming rewarding because it allows her to be outside all day. She injured her back in the spring and had to learn not to lift large loads. “It solidified my idea that sustainable agriculture needs to be sustainable on your body,” she said.

Her goals are to continue the CSA at Eielson and expand in North Pole, get more land in production and improve the soil as much as she can with cover crops and manure application. Someday she’d like to raise chickens but is now making herself tackle one thing at a time. “I’ll concentrate on the veggies for now.”

A bonus from farming is that Becker can always count on having good food to eat. “My fridge is literally filled with vegetables.” She would like to encourage others in her age bracket to farm. “People are knocking down my door for vegetables,” she said. “It can seem daunting for somebody so young to get started but just ask around and make it happen. There’s a way.”

When she isn’t farming Becker enjoys live bluegrass music, dancing, reading, being with friends and traveling. “By a lot of people’s standards I’m not a success,” Becker said, “but I’m really proud of what I do. I work really hard and I’m not afraid to ask for help when I need it.

“I want to say I lucked out but it’s been a lot of planning and hard work,” Becker said.

Contact: Jennifer Becker

This column is provided as a service by the UAF School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences and the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.

UAF photo by Nancy Tarnai
UAF Chancellor Brian Rogers and Dean Carol Lewis cut the ribbon at a dedication ceremony for the new greenhouse.

With the quick snip of an enormous pair of scissors across a royal blue ribbon, University of Alaska Fairbanks officials opened the new $5.325 million School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences/Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Greenhouse.

“Twenty-eight weeks ago we put the shovel in the ground,” said Jim Mitchell, Ghemm Co. project manager, during a Nov. 22 dedication ceremony. “It’s been a team effort and a really interesting project. It was unique and it had its challenges.”

The week prior to the dedication ceremony, Fairbanks temperatures held at -40 degrees for days and the greenhouse maintained 75 degrees throughout the bitter cold.

“It was a good test run,” Mitchell said.

“This is an exciting day for the School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences and for UAF,” said UAF Chancellor Brian Rogers. “This has been a fast-track project.”

Calling the greenhouse a critical component of SNRAS’s horticulture program, Rogers said the new facility increases the teaching and research space from what was available in the old greenhouse, removed in the spring to make room for the Life Sciences Building.

While some people questioned the cost of the facility, Rogers assured the doubters that this is not just a simple greenhouse; it is equipped with a state-of-the-art climate control system.

“We’ll be able to reach out to communities, help in the drive for food security, extend the growing season and create new economic opportunities,” Rogers said.

He recognized the school’s partners, Pike’s Landing and Chena Hot Springs Resort, and thanked Ghemm Co. and Design Alaska.

Murray Richmond, legislative aide for Sen. Joe Thomas, read remarks sent by the senator. “Alaska agriculture sounds like an oxymoron to some people,” he said. “But they don’t know Alaska. We are the only people who would dedicate a greenhouse when it is 18 below zero.

“The work you do here is important. You are coming up with solutions. This project is true to the spirit of Alaska. We will find a way.”

Carol Lewis, dean of SNRAS and director of the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, said controlled environments are the future of agriculture in Alaska. The new greenhouse will present many wonderful opportunities, she said. “It’s going to be innovative and great fun.”

She lauded Ghemm Co. “You made it happen,” she said. The company employed 189 workers, and no accidents occurred throughout the construction; 32 sub-contractors were also hired.

The downstairs portion of the complex, containing three greenhouse modules, remains to be finished, and Rogers said he is committed to completing the project as soon as possible. He has set aside about half of the $500,000 it will take to do the job.

UAF photo by Nancy Tarnai
UAF will dedicate its new greenhouse on Tuesday.

A new state-of-the-art horticulture greenhouse will be dedicated on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus Nov. 22 at 4 p.m. The university will host a ceremony at the greenhouse, near the Arctic Health Research Building on the West Ridge.

The $4.5 million teaching and research facility replaces the 40-year-old West Ridge greenhouse that was removed earlier this year to make space for the construction of the Life Sciences building.

The 4,500-square-foot greenhouse includes space-efficient teaching and research areas equipped with state-of-the-art environmental control and innovative plant production systems. The finished upper level has two greenhouse sections of 750 square feet and two sections of 375 square feet. The lower level has three sections of 750 square feet each and houses a 900-square-foot growth chamber area. The greenhouse extends along the south side of the Arctic Health Research Building.

“We are very excited about the research, teaching and outreach opportunities the greenhouse will provide for our faculty and students,” said Carol Lewis, dean of the UAF School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences and director of the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.

A computerized control system monitors and regulates environmental variables such as temperature, humidity and light intensity in each greenhouse compartment, providing optimal conditions for plant growth. “This will provide excellent opportunities for students to prepare for careers in the modern greenhouse industry,” Lewis said.

The greenhouse currently features a finished upper level and a partially complete lower level. The greenhouse complex also includes 1,100 square feet of classroom space, a laboratory, two offices, a clean room, storage and an area for handling plant materials, fertilizers and potting media.

The public is invited to the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Contact Marilyn Childress, 907-474-7083 or [email protected], to RSVP.

Nancy Tarnai
907-474-5042
11/11/11

In celebration of Geography Awareness Week, the University of Alaska Fairbanks will host a free public event Saturday, Nov. 19 at the UAF Wood Center. GeoFest, which runs from 1 to 4 p.m., will feature hands-on activities presented by community organizations, all based on the theme “Geography: the Adventure in Your Community.”

CONTACT: Katie Kennedy, UA Geography Program education and outreach coordinator, 907-474-6121, [email protected]

Nancy Tarnai
907-474-5042
11/9/11

After 11 years of gardening in the same raised bed, tree roots started emerging from underneath, making the garden produce less with a lot more effort required. This spring my husband said, “Let’s move the garden to a new spot.” I said, “Let’s not.”

Since I am surrounded by talk of agriculture at my university job, I had become familiar with the community supported agriculture concept and decided the time was right to let my garden rest and join Community-supported agriculture.

Photo by Nancy Tarnai
Eric Mayo goes over the list of vegetables with a CSA customer, June 2, 2011.

For the uninitiated, a CSA is simply a model where the customer pays for the season in advance and receives a share each week. While most CSAs offer produce, there are others that sell shares of milk, cheese, honey, eggs, meat, etc.

I kept my greenhouse in production (got to have those cucumbers, herbs and tomatoes!) and called Susan Kerndt of Wild Rose Farm. I knew Susan from interviewing her for this column and was wildly impressed with her dedication to sustainable farming and with the fact that she and husband Eric Mayo entice teenagers to help with the farm chores. (How do they do that?) Plus, the farm is only minutes away from the university.

Yes, they had room for me, she said. I filled out a simple form and mailed a check for $350 for 16 weeks, a half share.

I marked my calendar for every Thursday evening to make the short trek to the farm. I was so excited about my first visit but it couldn’t have come at a busier time. On June 2 I had an evening photography class, a photo assignment for my job in the woods near campus and a farewell dinner for a friend who was moving out of state the next day. Somehow I sandwiched in the CSA pickup. As I approachd the farm I began wondering, “What am I doing?” I didn’t even know if I had to take my own sacks so I asked another person parked near me. The answer of course was yes.

I walked toward the farm and instantly forgot the stress of the day. The view of the fields and horses was spectacular. I whipped out my new camera and started shooting the scenery for class. The fresh air was invigorating.

Photo by Nancy Tarnai
The view of the fields from Wild Rose Farm was always beautiful.

I found my way to the sign-in sheet and Mayo pointed me to the half-share table and told me to take one of each bunch. Assuming the first visit so early in the season would only yield lettuce I was amazed at the array of that initial share: Bok Choy, salad mix, Yukina Savoy, tender green onions, Asian greens and lambs’ quarters. “Wow,” I told Mayo. “I wasn’t expecting this much.” He asked if I’d be able to eat it all and I assured him it wouldn’t go to waste.

The problem was I had never eaten or cooked Bok Choy! Each pickup day the CSA provided a newsletter chock full of recipes so that was helpful. “Saute” proved the magic word for me. I ate so much sautéed Bok Choy this past summer but I never tired of its vibrant green color and unique taste. I simply washed it, chopped it up, mixed it with other veggies and moved it around in a pan with a little olive oil and herbs. Served over rice or couscous, it proved a filling and delicious dinner. It became my summer staple.

Truthfully, it never got easier to fit in the Thursday evening trip to the farm and I missed a few times when I was out of town, however, I asked a friend to take my place so someone could enjoy the bounty. Inevitably, once I pulled into the parking field near the farm, I slowed down, breathed in deeply and looked forward to seeing what would be laid out for me to take home.

Mayo and Kerndt were always weeding, watering, harvesting when I showed up so I’d check in with them about how their week had gone, and what was new in the garden or in their children’s lives. Usually at least one or two of the couple’s four children would be there too. The youngest, Else, often set up a lemonade stand at the farm, posting a sign near the parking area to alert visitors. Many times I turned back to my car for a quarter so I could purchase a beverage.

Each week the variety was incredible and the amounts grew and grew until by the end I was bringing several sacks, once even a garbage bag for my haul. As spring turned to summer the greens, from beet greens to chard to kale continued to appear but were supplemented with radishes, cabbage, turnips, onions. I had never tasted such juicy, flavorful onions.

Photo by Nancy Tarnai
The gate was a welcome sight each Thursday. It was the entryway to the magical gardens of Wild Rose Farm.

Each interlude at Wild Rose offered respite from daily life and a feeling of belonging to something meaningful. Here was a hardworking family making a living off the land and I had a tiny part in it and I was eating healthier than ever to boot.

A bonus at Wild Rose was the spectacular beauty of the flowers. Everywhere you look there are stunning assortments of colorful flowers. There is even a CSA share for flowers but I didn’t subscribe to that. Eme Mayo creates impressive bouquets for the flower customers. Kerndt told me I could pick a few for myself so I was able to maintain a vase of lovely blossoms on my table all summer.

Occasionally there were educational workshops at the farm and even tasting sessions. I was going to bypass the fermentation table but decided to be brave and try the samples; I discovered they were not just edible but very tasty.

Soon enough I was getting broccoli, zucchini, kohlrabi, cauliflower, beets, potatoes and the crunchiest, sweetest carrots I’ve ever had. There were times when my husband was out of town that I had to share the wealth with friends, but that felt good too, to pass the fresh food along and offer suggestions on how to cook it. Other times I froze the extras for later consumption. Won’t that zucchini taste great in a winter stew or chocolate cake?

Then it all ended. Sept. 15 was the final pickup day. I experienced a twinge of sadness that the summer had passed so quickly. It was unbelievable how quickly those Thursdays rolled around.

On the last day Mayo and Kerndt went all out with food samples, fresh veggies and dips and homemade rolls baked in their outdoor oven. As I hiked back to the car, bags in tow, the smell of the hot bread hanging in the cool damp air I gave a final glance back at Wild Rose and said a silent farewell.

Interior CSA list:

Arctic Roots Farm
Basically Basil
Calypso Farm and Ecology Center

Cripple Creek Organics
Dart A&M Farm
DogWood Gardens
Feedback Farm
Rosie Creek Farm
Spinach Creek Farm
20 Mile Farm
Wild Rose Farm

This column is provided as a service by the UAF School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences and the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. Nancy Tarnai is the school and station’s public information officer.

Nancy Tarnai
907-474-5042

Oct. 24 attracted a huge crowd to the UAF Wood Center for a taste of Food Day.

“It’s all about healthy eating and supporting local, sustainable agriculture,” said Nancy Tarnai of the event planning team. “We couldn’t be more pleased with the interest and excitement.”

Photo by Nancy Tarnai
Carol Lewis displays the reindeer loin she cooked upstairs in the Wood Center kitchen. The meat, high in protein and low in fat, is raised at the Fairbanks Experiment Farm.

The morning kicked off with the “Iron Chef” Surf vs. Turf Cookoff Challenge, highlighting the culinary talents of Carol Lewis, dean of the School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences, and Michael Castellini, dean of the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. Lewis was assisted by professional chef, Michael Roddey of the Community and Technical College culinary school, and Castellini by professional chef, Dave Sikorski of NANA Management Services.

Judges Shelley McCool, Sarah McConnell and Tyler Skrivanek had the tough job of deciding which chef would get to take home the Iron Chef birch spatula. Based on appearance, taste, presentation, timeliness and nutritional quality, the judges chose Castellini and his shrimp dish by a very narrow margin. It was a close call between the shrimp and Lewis’s reindeer. Judges’ comments included: “Yum. This reindeer is tender and tasty,” (McConnell); “It’s all fantastic,” (McCool); “It’s all delicious,” (Skrivanek).

“It’s a kaleidoscope of tastes,” McConnell summed up.

Emcee Jerry Evans of KUAC hosted the cookoff. Special thanks to the farmers who donated food for the event, including the scrumptions microgreens brought in that morning by Bill Johnson of Johnson Family Farms.

The Food Jeopardy game was a heated competition between academics Andrea Bersamin and Bret Luick and farmers Mike Emers and Jeff Johnson. The competitors answered questions about food, nutrition and Alaska agriculture, with post-doctoral fellow Thomas Grant playing the role of game show host. In the end Luick took home a gorgeous basket of produce from ChenaFresh.

Photo by Nancy Tarnai
All smiles after winning the Iron Chef cookoff, Dean Michael Castellini, at right, accepts the award from KUAC's Jerry Evans. In the center is NANA Chef Dave Sikorski.

Over 20 exhibitors from the Alaska Community Agriculture Association to Homegrown Market to UAF Cooperative Extension Service displayed information and talked to attendees. The Anthropology Society hosted lectures and films.

Perhaps the most popular segment was the Taste of Alaska, a feast of Alaska Grown food donated by farmers and prepared by UAF Dining Services/NANA Management Services. Taking grass-fed beef from the Matanuska Experiment Farm, cold-smoked salmon from Alex Oliveira in Kodiak, honey from Charlie Knight, lettuce and tomatoes from Chena Fresh, apples and potatoes from the Fairbanks Experiment Farm, rutabagas from Grey Owl Garden, beets, cabbage, carrots, Napa cabbage from Spinach Creek Farm and cabbage, carrots, onions and beets from Wild Rose Farm, the chefs prepared appetizers, soups, stews, roasted vegetables and vegetable medleys.

There was much buzz about the food and great interest in the fact that it was all grown in Alaska.

As Food Day will be celebrated on Oct. 24 from now on, please mark your calendars now for future years!

Around the nation, Food Day reported a massive celebration in Times Square, a conference on food deserts in San Francisco, the serving of healthy breakfasts in Omaha, a food-safety wheel in Chicago, the building of raised bed gardens in Little Rock and much more.

For more photos visit the School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences Blog.

Nancy Tarnai
907-474-5042
10/25/2011

Since Charlie Knight (aka “Mr. Agriculture”) has retired he could just sit back in his recliner, wrapped in his John Deere fleece blanket and take it easy.

But that would be so un-Charlie. “I’ve got too many hobbies,” Knight said. “That’s the reason I retired.” His latest retirement was from the post of northern region manager for the state Division of Agriculture.

Along with fishing and hunting, Knight, 64, is a gardener and beekeeper. His passion is cultivating wild berries, particularly lingonberries and blueberries. “There has been very little research on Alaska berries,” Knight said. “My goal is to domesticate them and find the best wild berries in Alaska and move them to my land gradually where they can be mechanically harvested.”

Photo by Nancy Tarnai
Knight enjoys retirement, but stays busy.

It’s a fairly daunting proposal. “There are 30 things to be done and I’ll never live long enough to do them,” Knight mused. He visits sites all around the Interior to determine where the best berries are. He judges how high off the ground the berries are and how many berries are in each cluster. “There are 31 different characteristics to look for in blueberries,” he said.

At Knight’s three acre farm near Eielson Air Force Base he has already accumulated 56 different varieties of berries and fruits, including gooseberries, red and black currants, sea berries, Saskatoon berries, cherries, high bush cranberries, chokecherries and rhubarb. In spite of all the work he has done to get to this point the moose seem to think the farm is for their dining enjoyment.

Raised on a 280-acre farm in Kansas and in the little town of Beeler, Knight was immersed in agriculture. He headed off to Kansas State University with a goal of learning how to be a farm manager. “Everyone was saying back then that by the year 2000 the world would be overpopulated and there would not be enough food,” Knight said. “I thought that the person who knew how to grow food would always get to eat.”

Knight earned a bachelor’s degree in agronomy and then a master’s, researching nitrate pollution of ground water from fertilizers. The day he finished his degree his advisor told him a former professor of Knight’s that he’d traveled all over Kansas with gathering corn samples was in Alaska and needed a technician.

Knight arrived at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1971 after marrying his college sweetheart, Becky. A couple of years later Knight was enticed back to Kansas because university salaries had not kept pace with inflation caused by the pipeline construction, but when the Delta Agricultural Project needed an agronomist, Knight said he “loaded up the trailer and came back.”

With 60,000 acres of farmland to develop, the project was a huge endeavor for the state and university. “It was an interesting time,” Knight said. “The pipeline was flowing full. There were all kinds of grant money.”

With some of those funds Knight helped start a university experiment farm in Delta Junction and managed research plots in Delta, Palmer and Fairbanks. He also began working on a doctorate studying the fate of urea fertilizer in sub-Arctic agricultural soils.

After earning his Ph.D., Knight began teaching and continued researching fertilizer rates, minimum tillage and evaluations of alternative crops for Alaska.

In 2001 he retired from UAF and joined the Division of Agriculture, helping farmers plan how to export products such as potatoes, peonies and willows, and working with the pest program.

Over the years, Knight noticed a trend toward smaller farms that grow high dollar niche crops. “We’re moving away from the large scale,” he said.

One of the most difficult challenges is simply defining agriculture, Knight said. “The borough, the state, the U.S.D.A. all have different definitions. Most say it’s the production of food and fiber.”

“But Alaska has a lot of screwy laws.”

Fairbanks will remain home for the Knights, who plan to travel a bit in the winter to visit their children Doug and Amy. “In the summertime I will play with my berries and swat the moose away from them,” Knight said.

This column is provided as a service by the UAF School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences and the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.