OneTree Alaska hosts holiday sale of birch products

OneTree Alaska is hosting a holiday sale of birch sap products from noon-6 p.m., through Dec. 21.

Birch straws can be edible
ornaments or stocking stuffers.

It is selling caramels, birch sticks and syrup made in its production kitchen in the Lola Tilly Commons. A 4-ounce bag of caramels sells for $15, but the price is discounted for three or more bags. Decorated birch sticks are $1 each, and syrup ranges from $12 to $36, depending on the amount. It is sold in 4-, 8- and 12-ounce jars.

Individuals may place an order on this form and pay by credit card, cash or check. Orders may be picked up at the garage door on the west side of Lola Tilly Commons, the side facing the Patty Center. COVID-19 safety precautions are being followed.

The birch products are made from sap collected in the Fairbanks area. Proceeds support the OneTree program, which is affiliated with the UAF Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. The program engages learners of all ages in boreal forest education, citizen science, and forest product development. It also works with individuals interested in small-scale production of birch syrup or birch sap products. OneTree coordinator Jan Dawe is inspired by maple research facilities at Cornell University and in Vermont that support their research through sales of maple syrup products. For more information, contact Dawe at jcdawe@alaska.edu or 907-474-5517.

OneTree birch syrup is available in three sizes.

 

 

 

Matanuska Experiment Farm contributes to food security

The Matanuska Experiment Farm and Extension Center contributes to the food security of Mat-Su area through several initiatives.

 Young potato pickers show off their treasures during the
the Matanuska Experiment Farm's Community Potato Harvest.

In addition to its vegetable and grain variety trials, the farm partners with Alaska Pacific University and Alaska Tilth, a nonprofit dedicated to improving food security and feeding those in need.

APU’s Spring Creek Farm uses the farm’s greenhouses to raise fresh produce for Alaska Tilth. Donations to Alaska Tilth also included 1,000 pounds of vegetables grown as part of the variety trials research, along with produce purchased from six area farmers, through a grant received by APU.

Each week during the summer, Adair Harman, a nutrition educator with the UAF Cooperative Extension Service’s SNAP-Ed program, organizes all the produce into donations. Recipients include area food banks, the Wasilla WIC (Women, Infants and Children) program and Kids Kupboard, a program that provides meals to kids 18 and under at 31 valley locations.

Produce donated and sorted at the Matanuska
Experiment Farm is bagged and donated to the
  WIC program and food banks.

This past summer, donations and food purchases to Alaska Tilth totaled 10,632 pounds, and more than 1,400 bags of produce with vegetable fact sheets, nutrition information and Extension recipes were donated to WIC and to food bank clients through the Alaska Tilth program. Altogether, Tilth vegetables were used in 70,000 meals distributed by Kids Kupboard.

The farm also provides space for 36 community gardens and staff planted 135 varieties of extra seed potatoes donated by the Alaska Plant Materials Center. Families were assigned harvest plots and, in early October, harvested 2,000 pounds of potatoes during the COVID-safe Community Potato Harvest. Representatives from Kids Kupboard and Frontline Mission harvested 400 more pounds.

Volunteers help with long-running boreal forest study

The 33rd annual measurement of all white spruce trees in the Reserve West hectare reference stand near Fairbanks took place Aug. 13-Sept. 29.

Volunteers helped Glenn Juday measure more than
2,000 trees this fall in the Bonanza Creek Experimental
Forest.

Project leader Glenn Juday said monitoring at Reserve West appears to be the longest continuous annual study of boreal forest growth in Alaska. The Reserve West stand is one of six reference stands in the Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest, which was established in the mid-1980s to measure trends and document events in the Alaska boreal forest. The Reserve West stand was burned by the 1983 Rosie Creek fire and every white spruce tree in the hectare (2.47 acres) has been mapped and measured annually since 1988.

About half the field effort came from high school and college volunteers working with Juday, a professor emeritus of forest ecology. Mark Winterstein from the Bonanza Creek LTER also contributed three work days.

 

The 2020 field effort measured the height, height growth and diameter of 2,176 trees. The top condition, canopy status, insect damage and other indicators on each tree were also carefully documented. Measurements were completed in 20 field days.

 

Rain and wet conditions slowed the work, Juday said. By August, the total precipitation at Fairbanks Airport for the previous 12-month period was the highest in the 116-year record in the Fairbanks area. The abundant soil moisture over the past year and the absence of extreme warmth in the summer daily temperatures provided optimum conditions for spruce growth. For the first time in the monitoring series,  several trees grew more than 100 centimeters in height, and the tallest tree was 14.5 meters, he said. Over the previous year, 17 trees died, primarily from lack of light under the increasingly dense forest canopy.

 

The following two photos were taken from the same permanent photo station, in 1989, six years after the Rosie Creek fire, and this fall, 31 years later.

 

This photo was taken in 1989, six years after the
Rosie Creek fire.

This photo was taken in 2020 in the same location.

 

 

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As gardening booms, UAF gives well-researched advice

Interest in growing and preserving local foods has been increasing in Alaska for several years, but the coronavirus pandemic has touched off a new wave.

The following story about the university's research and outreach efforts to support food security appeared in fall 2020 issue of Aurora, the UAF e-magazine that is distributed to alumni and university friends.

Botanical society plans drive-through peony fundraiser

It’s peony season, and the Georgeson Botanical Garden Society will sell the showy flowers again this year. Because of COVID-19, members will host  a drive-through fundraiser to support garden operations.

Peonies are blooming at the Georgeson Botanical Garden. This
photo was taken earlier this week. Kate DiCristina photos

For $50, individuals will receive two dozen short-stemmed peonies. So that they can enjoy these blooms for a longer time, they will receive one dozen on Tuesday, July 14, and one dozen on July 28.

This event can’t be at the garden itself, so volunteers will be at the Artisans Courtyard parking lot from 5-8 p.m. on both days. Just drive up to their “peony station” and remain in your car while volunteers give you the blooms. Artisans Courtyard is located at 1755 Westwood Way, off College Road.

If you’d like or order ahead, go to https://squareup.com/store/georgeson-bot-gdn-soc and pay online. They will also accept cash or checks. Don’t forget to visit the garden and the peonies. Hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Please remember social distancing and to wear masks.

More peonies at the garden.

Georgeson Botanical Garden blooms, welcomes visitors

The Georgeson Botanical Garden is blooming and welcomes visitors.

Although the lilacs have peaked since this photo was taken recently, many
flowers are blooming at the Georgeson. Katie DiCristina photo

Garden hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Visitors are invited to enjoy the garden’s flowers, herbs and landscaped space. Because of coronavirus concerns, no public events or organized tours will be scheduled at the University of Alaska Fairbanks garden this year.

Visitors are asked to respect social distancing guidelines and keep six feet of distance from others. They are also asked to not bring groups of more than 10 people. Masks are recommended.

Garden manager Katie DiCristina said many flowers are blooming, including peonies, one of the garden highlights. The garden hosts more than 160 varieties of peonies in many colors, including white, pink, yellow and red. Most were planted as part of research and variety trials undertaken at the garden, beginning in 2001.

Flowers currently blooming at Georgeson include geraniums,
day lilies and peonies. Photo by Katie DiCristina

Garden operations are largely supported by the community. There is no set admission fee, but donations are welcomed, either on-site or at this website.

The garden's popular Music in the Garden series is a virtual experience this year. Concerts are recorded at the garden and air on KUAC-TV, Channel 9.4. (GCI Channel 6) Thursday nights at 7 p.m., except for July 2. Videos are also posted on YouTube and at this site.

UAF Summer Sessions coordinates the series, which is sponsored by 529 Alaska, Design Alaska and Toyquest.

The garden is part of the Fairbanks Experiment Farm and is located at 2180 West Tanana Drive. For more information, call DiCristina at kmdicristina@alaska.edu or 907-474-6921.

Spring planting at the Fairbanks Experiment Farm

Alan Tonne, Kieran Gleason and Erin Carr plant spring wheat at the Fairbanks
Experiment Farm.

Spring planting is underway at the Fairbanks Experiment Farm. Crews planted vegetables and grains for ongoing variety trials.

Heidi Rader and Nicole Carter plant winter
squashes as part of the vegetable variety trials.

The farm crew planted spring wheat as part of the grain trials to further test varieties that could be suitable for Alaska. Malting and feed barley varieties collected from around the world are also being evaluated for their adaptability to Alaska. UAF agronomist Mingchu Zhang, who is coordinating the grain trials, said that most of the malting barley, which is often used to make beer, is imported from the Lower 48.

Eighty varieties of vegetables are being planted in the experiment farm fields at UAF. Recent variety trials have been conducted at the Georgeson Botanical Garden, so the trials are moving across Yukon Drive. Crops include corn, carrots, beets, beans, fennel, winter squash and spinach. Demonstration plots will be planted in the botanical garden to provide outreach and education opportunities for the public. All trials except corn are being replicated at the Matanuska Experiment Farm and Extension Center. Results from the last three years of trials are available here.

For questions about the vegetable trials, contact Glenna Gannon at gmgannon@alaska.edu or project director Heidi Rader at hbrader@alaska.edu.

A COVID-19 story from a rugged UAF researcher

By Ned Rozell
After the final steps of a long run in early March, Greg Finstad took his pulse rate. His heart was at 38 beats per minute. Perfect. The reindeer biologist and marathon runner was in top shape to run this year’s Boston Marathon.

From there, things did not follow the plan for Finstad, head of the Reindeer Research Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. After reaching his peak of fitness, not long after he was alone in his bedroom, gasping for what he thought might be his last breath.

Greg Finstad

Finstad was infected with the COVID-19 virus. It knocked him down and almost took him out.

Finstad is not a typical 65-year-old: The sturdy researcher has wrestled reindeer with the Alaska Natives of the Seward Peninsula and St. Lawrence Island for more than a quarter century. He was shooting for a 3-hour, 30-minute performance this year at the Boston Marathon.

“I considered myself a tough guy — I can tough it out; that virus isn’t tougher than me,” he said recently in a phone interview. “Well, it is tougher than me.”

Finstad, who is now home in Fairbanks recovering with achy joints but the ability to ride his bike with his granddaughters, was one of the first confirmed cases of the disease in Fairbanks.

His story of the damage wrought by a particle one-thousandth the width of an eyelash began in late February 2020.

Back then, Finstad was on St. Lawrence Island doing reindeer work. One day, he received a text from his wife, Bev. His father, 91 and living in Vancouver, Washington, had passed away.

Finstad caught a flight to Nome, then flew to Seattle, on to Portland and drove to Vancouver. He made it in time to attend his dad’s memorial service.

While in Washington state, then emerging as a hotspot for the virus that causes COVID-19, Finstad helped his mother get settled in an assisted-living facility. To relieve some stress and keep on with his training program, he mapped out a route and ran for 18 miles one day.

Greg Finstad runs a race at Birch Hill

Finstad then flew to Buffalo, New York, via Seattle and Chicago. He is on the board of directors for the Reindeer Owners and Breeders Association, and spoke at the organization’s annual meeting there.

From Buffalo, he traveled back to Alaska on March 8, 2020. He remembers extreme congestion within the corridors of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

“It was spring break when I was coming back,” he said. At Sea-Tac, “there were rivers of people in every terminal. If anyone sneezed, that virus could have infected a dozen people.”

Back in Alaska, Finstad briefly visited his office in a UAF building that was almost empty during spring break. He felt fine, but his visit soon after led to that building being one of the first structures on campus closed to visitors.

Home from his journey to bury his father, move his mother to an unfamiliar place and give the keynote speech at a conference, Finstad and his family drove down to their cabin in the Alaska Range. His three granddaughters were off from school for their own spring break. Time at the cabin with them is a family tradition.

There in the one-room structure, Finstad began to feel fatigued.

“I got aches all over, and then my senses of taste and smell disappeared,” he said. “This was not like the flu. My body’s response to this was very different.”

By chance, he had a medical thermometer at the cabin. He took his temperature and found he had a fever. He tried to stay as far away from his family as he could. They decided he needed to return home.

Greg Finstad demonstrates a technique during a 2017 animal husbandry
workshop.

In Fairbanks, doctors dressed in protective gear met him at Tanana Valley Clinic. First, they gave him a flu test.

“It was the first time I ever hoped I had the flu,” he said.

The next day, a doctor from the clinic called to tell him he tested positive for COVID-19.

“My stomach just fell,” he said.

Soon, he had more than just mental anguish.

Isolated in his bedroom later that night, he could feel the virus reach his lungs. He went from breathing normally to struggling to suck in a single breath.

“It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest,” he said.

He also likened the feeling to having a plastic bag duct-taped around his neck.

“It’s like mile 22 of a marathon — you’re hurting, taking one step at a time. For me, it was one breath at a time.”

At the lowest moment of his experience, his wife Bev came up and started crying when she saw him through the glass door of the bedroom.

“I started crying, too: I thought, ‘Man, this is it.’”

But the end was not to be. Mornings came. Finstad breathed a little easier, but nights were when the “monster reared its head.”

Finally, after 13 days of isolation in his bedroom, the details of which he hardly remembers, Finstad breathed easier and felt a bit better. To his biologist mind, his immune system had battled like hell, and barely won.

He credits the workers at the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services for calling him right away, interrogating him as to whom he had been with and where he had been, and checking in with him several times each day. They gave him advice and told him several times they didn’t know an answer to some of his questions, which he also appreciated.

Now, he has gradually recovered. He is trying to run again, maybe to toe the line in the postponed Boston Marathon in September or, more likely, his favorite Equinox Marathon that same month in Fairbanks. But he knows he is not the same as he was in early February.

“I don’t know if my lung capacity will ever come back,” he said. “But you know what? I don’t care. I appreciate every breath I take now. Life is good.”

Along with his newfound appreciation of living (which to this observer always seemed to be high), he wants to be a living cautionary tale as to the danger of the virus that causes COVID-19.

“We’ve thrown all the world’s resources at this, and it’s still killing people left and right. That’s what impresses me and scares me.

“Having recovered from this, there’s a certain amount of immunity,” he said of himself. “I still wear a mask and my hands are raw (from washing them).

“I want to tell people who take their mask off (in tight spaces): You know, I’ll bet I was tougher than you, and it just about killed me."
Since the late 1970s, the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute has provided this column free in cooperation with the UAF research community. Ned Rozell is a science writer for the Geophysical Institute.

Alan Tonne recognized for 35 years at UAF

Alan Tonne stands in the  Fairbanks Experiment Farm weather
station. He records weather data daily. UAF photo by J.R. Ancheta

Alan Tonne grew up working on the family wheat and cattle farm near Fort Benton, Montana, and the Missouri River. Chores included feeding livestock and driving farm trucks from the age of 12 or 13.

Tonne headed to Alaska in the spring of 1982, planning to work as a carpenter or in construction. “My goal was not to be involved in agriculture,” he said.

Despite this determination, he accepted a job for the state’s Agriculture Action Council, measuring and assessing farmland in Delta Junction. Then he was recruited in 1984 to work as a field technician for the Delta Research Site, which is operated by the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station (AFES).

One thing led to another and UAF recognized Alan Tonne last week for having worked for AFES for 35 years.

 “It’s one of those things that just kind of happened,” he said.

Tonne became the farm manager for the Fairbanks Experiment Farm in 2006. He is the contact person for scientists hoping to conduct research there and he oversees the farm’s operations with a small crew. He handles a variety of other duties, including snow plowing, vehicle and equipment maintenance, harvesting hay, etc. He also records daily weather data that has been collected at the farm since 1911, including maximum and minimum temperatures, evaporation, precipitation, snow depth and wind volume.

This spring, because of pandemic restrictions, he will plant crops grown in the grain variety trials and grasses grown for cover crops research.

Over the years, work evolved, depending on the animals at the farm and the research. One winter, he fabricated aluminum frames that were part of an experiment to evaluate the effect of global warming on crops. Researchers pumped carbon dioxide into the covered frames to see what effect that had on the crops.

Milan Shipka, the director of the AFES, said, “Alan is a good problem solver. He looks at things and even when there is a problem, he works to find solutions to try to benefit everyone. Being farm manager has meant that he was always in the forefront, not always an easy place to be, but he has been great to work with.”

After living in the farmhouse at the experiment farm for 14 years, Tonne moved out this spring, the first step toward retirement, which is still probably a couple of years off.

He imagines that his retirement will involve more hunting and fishing, and no farming.

“I would really be difficult for me to leave Alaska,” he says.

Tonne was one of three UAF employees recently recognized for 35 years of service. The others were Debbie Davis Ice of the Geophysical Institute and Kari Marks at the Rasmuson Library. Another library worker, Marie Johnson, was recognized for 40 years.

Web tool forecasts climate effects on Alaska agriculture

By Michael Delue
A new web tool from University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists makes data for agricultural planning in Alaska more accessible.

Maps by UAF Scenarios Network for Alaska
and Arctic Planning. These maps show how
plant hardiness zones in Alaska likely will
change in coming decades.

The Alaska Garden Helper demonstrates for growers the on-the-ground effects of future shifts in climate. 
The easy-to-use tool allows individuals to investigate their specific communities, from Ketchikan to Utqiaġvik. They can see projected changes in growing season length, annual minimum temperature and hardiness zones.
The tool also provides graphs of the expected change in growing-degree days, a measure of cumulative heat energy available for the growing season and a critical variable for some crops.

A team led by Nancy Fresco, network coordinator at UAF’s Scenarios Network for Alaska and Arctic Planning, developed the Alaska Garden Helper.

SNAP created the tool in collaboration with the Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Fresco also worked with researchers from UAF’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the Alaska Peony Growers Association, farmers in the Fairbanks area and skilled climate modelers.

The goal wasn’t solely to produce a practical tool for gardeners, Fresco said. 

“None of us are under the impression that agriculturalists in Alaska are currently planning their planting seasons as far out as 2099,” she said. “We also wanted to put the effects of climate change into a practical context for people, and to empower people with the full dataset that our scientists work with.”

Climate change will likely affect each crop differently. Earlier planting seasons, earlier and greater accumulations of growing-degree days, and fewer cold-limiting temperatures are expected.

The tool’s data comes from a coarse climate model updated with local topographic and climate information to make it usable at finer scales. This process, referred to as dynamical downscaling, is a focus of the Alaska CASC. The technique was used by UAF’s Rick Lader, John Walsh, Uma Bhatt and Peter Bienieck, as well as others, to develop the daily climate data, the tool’s backbone. Computer programmer Alec Bennett and other team members then developed the web-accessible tool.

“Everything has been collaborative in this project,” Fresco said.

Peonies bloom in midsummer at Far North Flowers in the Fairbanks area.
A new web tool from UAF scientists helps show how climate change
likely will affect Alaska crops such as peonies. Photo by Krista Heeringa

The team anticipates the tool will have other applications and open new avenues for research. There is interest in expanding it to include native flora. While seasonally cultivated crops are usually not limited by winter cold temperatures, native plants may be affected by changing temperature minimums differently. 

Warmer temperatures also may increase the likelihood of crop pests traditionally held at bay by Alaska’s formidable winters. Shifts in growing season timing also will affect other parts of the complex agricultural economy. One example is the growing Alaska peony market, where the unique midsummer bloom drives sales. 

While the tool highlights some negative impacts, it presents a largely positive look at the opportunities Alaskans can find in a changing climate. Fresco and the SNAP team hope the tool will help people not only grow food locally but also understand the changing climate’s impact on agriculture and gardening in their communities. 

“Not every community has a garden now,” Fresco said, “but every community could consider one for their future food security.”
Michael DeLue is a science communicator with Scenarios Network for Alaska and Arctic Planning and the Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center.
ADDITIONAL CONTACT: Nancy Fresco, nlfresco@alaska.edu, 907-474-2405

OneTree and ACEP provide birch-tapping supplies

Barb Sivin, an education specialist with the school district's home school
association, loads some OneTree birch sap kits into her car to share with students.

Because of the coronavirus restrictions, OneTree Alaska can’t do its usual sap collecting and processing at UAF this year. Instead, it has been working with the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District and home schools to provide birch sap collecting kits for youth K-12.

Birch sap kits with buckets, tap, drill bit and instructions await
pickup at the OneTree STEAM studio at Lola Tilly Commons.

OneTree Director Jan Dawe said 135 kits have been ordered. Kits include a sap bucket and lid, spile (tap), a drill bit and comprehensive instructions, including a how-to video. The Alaska Center for Energy and Power provided funds to cosponsor the project. Families that usually participate in the Fairbanks birch sap cooperative and have students will also receive the free kits.

One of the cooperative’s members has volunteered to put all the household locations on a Google map, so they will be able to get citizen science information and track different sap season markers, such as the first day of sap flow, peak sap, sap turns cloudy, green-up, etc.

Dawe said, “So the pandemic is forcing us to take the leap into doing what we have hoped to do for years: scale up from individual classroom work to crowd-sourced community science and long-term monitoring.”

In the Interior, the sap season is expected to begin this weekend with green-up forecast for the week of May 5-11.

Alaska's farmers markets to stay open this summer

Alaska’s farmers markets, like grocery stores and supermarkets, are considered “essential businesses” and will remain open this summer.

Maria Bender of Bender Mountain Farm poses with her
potatoes at the 2019 Tanana Valley Farmers Market.
 Photo courtesy of Tanana Valley Farmers Market

A representative from the Department of Environmental Conservation announced that welcome bit of news during the Alaska Farmers Market Association’s virtual annual meeting last Friday. The markets will operate differently however, because of coronavirus concerns.

Working with the association, DEC has posted guidance and market measures on its website. The measures require that markets be redesigned to limit contact, increasing the space between vendors to 10 feet, with no more than two customers at each booth. If possible, vendors should place another table in front of the products to keep customers 6 feet away. Additionally, vendors must wear gloves and provide no samples. Prepared food is carry-out only. See additional information on the DEC site.

Concern about the status of farmers markets was underscored by better-than-average attendance for the conference. Association director Robbi Mixon said 262 people registered, but attendance varied greatly by session.

Squash for sale at the Tanana Valley
Farmers Market.

Members heard from market managers from Washington, California and Minnesota. Colleen Donovan, the executive director of the Washington State Farmers Market Association, said “The challenge has been to convince the local jurisdictions that they can operate safely.”

Some of the markets in Washington state have been cancelled and others have delayed opening, Donovan said. Washington has 110 markets in 80 communities that generate $55 million in sales, she said.

In a keynote address, she said that farmers markets are important because they help people eat healthy, cultivate community, energize neighborhoods and incubate businesses. She encouraged markets to work together cooperatively with shared training and tools.

Other sessions focused on educating the public on why farmers markets are a good thing to support. Catt Fields White, who manages a large farmers market in San Diego, said in addition to providing nutrient dense, fresh foods, markets support farmers. Farmers receive an average of nine cents for every dollar spent on their produce sold through a grocery store, White said.

With a farmers market, she said, “The farmer puts the whole dollar in his pocket.”

Brad St. Pierre, the manager of the Tanana Valley Farmers Market, and Homer Farmers Market director Robbi Mixon gave a joint presentation. They said that a lot of farmers are trying to get established in the state and many of their farms are small — nine acres or less. The last Census of Agriculture, in 2017, showed that 46 percent of Alaska’s farmers have farmed 10 years or less.

More vendors selling at the 2019 market in Fairbanks.

The importance of markets is reflected in the growth of Alaska farmers markets, they said. The number increased from 13 in 2005 to more than 50 markets in 2019. The growth is also reflected in sales. According to the 2017 census, the value of food sold directly to consumers, was $4.5 million, more than double the amount reported in the previous census, in 2012. At the same time, the market association, has become revitalized and members are working together on issues.

In a wrap-up session, Jodie Anderson said making the farmers markets safe and getting the word out about that is critical. “We are inventive," she said. “We are going to figure this out together.”

Anderson is the director of the Matanuska Experiment Farm and Extension Center. She noted how important farmers markets are to Alaska’s food system. “What happens when the boats don’t come in or the trucks don’t come,” she asked.

Mixon said recordings of conference presentations will be available soon on the association’s website. The association will host a joint webinar with DEC April 24 on markets and COVID-19. See details here.

What varieties grew well in the summer of 2019?

Glenna Gannon, left, and Nicole Carter prepare to transplant 2-plus-month-old
celery as part of the 2019 variety trials. Heidi Rader photo

In the summer of 2019, we tested different vegetable varieties at the Georgeson Botanical Garden. In replicated trials, we trialed beets, snap beans carrots, celery, and corn. Brussels sprouts were trialed in unreplicated or preliminary trials.

Replicated trials mean the vegetables were grown in three different plots. Preliminary trials were done mainly to decide which crops and varieties warranted further testing.

The goal of these trials is to help Interior Alaska gardeners and farmers like you decide whether or not to stick with your tried-and-true varieties or try something new. Sometimes we’re forced to try new varieties when old favorites are “improved” or discontinued.

We’re also focusing on crops that have been considered borderline in the past either because of the number of days to maturity or because of their heat requirements. It’s possible that climate change could expand the number of crops and varieties we can grow in Interior Alaska. The Alaska Garden Helper app could help gardeners and farmers understand the influence more. You can find it at www.snap.uaf.edu/tools/gardenhelper/.

For example, most varieties of Brussels sprouts need 100 days to mature and some even require upwards of 200 days. Even though there are more and more short day corn varieties, corn still loves the heat. Heat is not so important for celery, but it does require most of the summer to mature. I should mention too that these are not the best crops to grow if you have a small space and want to maximize your production. I talk about the crops where you can get the biggest bang for your buck in this article: bit.ly/2Twb7mf.

You can find the 2019 vegetable variety report and variety trial reports from past years by going to http://afesresearch.uaf.edu/publications/ and selecting “variety trials” from the drop-down menu.

If you don’t get a chance to read the full report, here are some highlights. Surprisingly, in snap bean trials, Provider was the lowest-performing variety. This is surprising because Provider has long been the standard for cold hardiness. I welcome this development as Provider has a tough, leathery texture and has never been a favorite of mine. As the name would imply, Jumbo is a large bean, and it tied Rocdor for the highest yield and also scored highest in taste tests. Larger beans could be an advantage for a busy farmer or gardener because it’s faster to pick larger beans. Rocdor, a yellow bean, scored second highest on taste and highest for texture.

Subeto and Zeppo were the top two yielding beets, and in some cases, produced beets almost half a pound in size.

Bolero was the highest yielding carrot variety, followed by Napoli, followed by Napoli. Nelson, an old favorite that is no longer widely available, was the lowest yielding variety, but we think that’s because it was old seed. Bolero also received the highest taste and texture scores, but because taste tests were done a month or so after they were harvested, this is more an indication of storability.

Corn varieties Legend, Café and Espresso (I’m not sure what the coffee connection is) were the top producers, but other varieties were close behind. Early Sunglow and Earlivee produced smaller ears and weren’t as tasty but they were early as the name advertises. Sugar Pearl was a standout in terms of taste and texture, while Sugar Buns, Sweetness and Espresso followed close behind.

Some of varieties produced truly behemoth heads of celery — Nero and Tall Utah 52-70 Improved produced heads that averaged close to 5 pounds a head. Some of the Tall Utah stalks were hollow, though. Merengo was the best tasting variety and also was the highest yielding variety.

We had problems with loose Brussels sprouts in several varieties, but in our preliminary trials, Dagan was the top yielding variety. Gustus was the lowest yielding but had the best flavor and texture.

In addition to weighing each crop and variety, we also rated each variety in terms of plant vigor, bolting sensitivity (or susceptibility to bolt), uniformity, pest resistance, disease resistance and taste.

You can look forward to more vegetable trials in the summer of 2020. While we, unfortunately, are not able to test as many crops and varieties as we would like to, you can consult the “Recommended Variety List for Interior Alaska” for additional suggestions on what you might want to grow this year, at http://bit.ly/2U6Ptn9.

Heidi Rader is a tribes Extension educator for the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service and the Tanana Chiefs Conference. She can be reached at hbrader@alaska.edu.

Things to consider before starting a peony farm

By Heidi Rader

Many have seen the news about the growing peony industry in Alaska and been captivated by the flowers and thought, “I should start a peony farm!”

A peony farm is a beautiful place to work and enjoy at the end
of the day. Maggi Rader photo

But it’s more complicated than a lot of people think. Carolyn Chapin started one of the first peony farms in Alaska (and in Fairbanks) in 2003 with Jan Hanscom. She explained, "There’s all these complex moving pieces, it’s like a jet engine. . . . but people are looking at it like it’s a bicycle.”

Naomi Brodersen (1,400 roots) had a romantic notion of peony farming. Although parts of it are like that, she said there were a lot of hard aspects, particularly the business side of things (including marketing) that she hadn’t considered.

Before you take the plunge, make sure you know what you’re getting into. Lease or work at a peony farm. Go behind the scenes to appreciate the time commitment, physical demands, stress, frequency and toxicity of commonly-used pesticides (this was a deal-breaker for some of the farmers I talked to), start-up and annual costs, post-harvest requirements, the marketing rigmarole, and, of course, the joys, too. For some, working outside in a field of flowers and making people smile is reward enough.

Brodersen said would-be peony farmers should think about their goals — is it going to be a hobby or sole occupation? “And then I would really try to get across how much work it was,” she said. “It’s a product people expect to be perfect. Just having a product that’s perishable and delicate, there’s a lot that goes into it.”

“There’s a checklist — the stem has to be straight, the side buds have to be removed,” she said. “Flower management — getting them in the chiller quick enough. A little bit of mold can grow while they’re in the chiller. All the things that factor into dealing with something perishable that people are paying a high price for. I didn’t consider those things. Making sure people understand that and the hours and hours of work that go into it. You kind of need to have all the skills. You need to be a solid farmer, a business person, and (do the) shipping and boxing, and marketing.”

David Russell, a Fairbanks peony farmer and president of the Alaska Peony Growers Association, reminds people that you have to wait at least five years for your plants to mature, then after that, “You are going gangbusters all summer every summer. Unless you go into this with a long-term business mindset, you will begin to resent the long summer hours spent in the field and not dip-netting, fishing in Valdez or hiking in the mountains — all the other reasons people live in Alaska. This is not an endeavor that allows you to take a summer off. On the other hand, there is nothing more special than watching your, and your family's, hard work turn into a thriving, blossoming business.”

Writing a realistic business plan and pinning down your break-even price per stem is an essential first step. RightRisk (alaska.erightrisk.com/) developed the Enterprise Risk Analyzer Tool to help you identify your break-even price.

Kelvin Brodersen grades peonies. Naomi Brodersen photo

Ko Klaver, the president of Botanical Trading Company and advisor for the cut flower industry, thinks Alaska farmers’ break-even price averages around $2.22 per stem and most would be happy to be paid $2.75-$3.25 or more, wholesale. Klaver thought the break-even price for European farmers was about 55 cents a stem and said, “they would be tickled pink to get more than a euro a stem (USD $1.11)”. In a translated article from the Royal Flower Holland Auction, Klaver noted that in July 2019 (July is when availability overlaps with Interior Alaska), the average price was 46 cents per stem.

Chapin, who used to teach the growers school for the Alaska Peony Growers Association, said you should figure on getting $2 a stem. Hanscom said you should plan on only $1 per stem if you don’t do everything yourself. Brodersen thought that they would be happy with $3 per stem, if they could’ve just dropped the stems off at the co-op (and not done the boxing and shipping). You also need to factor in that you won’t sell 100% of your stems, a co-op or packhouse could take a 20-60% cut and wholesalers sometimes require you to pay shipping. In Alaska, peonies do sell for higher prices than elsewhere.

The Census of Agriculture reports detailed data on peony farms with sales of $100,000 or more, and in 2018 there was one in Alaska. Half of its stems (25,000) were sold at an average wholesale price of $3.25 per stem. Gross sales for this farm were calculated to be $163,000. This seems like a good indication that this farm is not only profiting but prospering. This stem price was more than twice as high as any other state. Colorado saw the lowest wholesale price at 64 cents per stem while California had the highest at $1.61 per stem. Statewide, in 2017, total cut flower and cut florist greens sales from 100 farms (probably mostly peony farms) was $940,683.

David Russell wouldn’t discourage new peony farmers. He said, “For new farmers, there is a tremendous opportunity in peonies. You have to look at it realistically. What level do I need to get into it? What level do I want to invest? If you want to have 500 plants and you have a couple boutiques in New York that will give you $6 a stem, that's perfect.”

But it’s not uncommon for buyers to back out, even at the last minute. Ron Illingworth who was president of Arctic Alaska Peonies co-op,  said he anticipated a big sale to grocery stores.  "Well he (the buyer) changed his mind in late June and we'd already purchased everything we needed and were harvesting at the time, and we ended up not being able to sell about 10,000 stems.” This figured into why the co-op dissolved this fall.

Klaver said that ideally, you want to lock in 80% of your sales contracts before the season starts. But he said when supply is high, buyers tend to be looser on their contracts and it can be hard to lock them in. Klaver showed that from 2014 to 2018, the number of stems produced in Holland more than doubled from 70 to 166 million—a massive supply increase. If availability overlaps, like it does in July, then there is direct competition with the Dutch-grown peonies in Alaska.

Marketing is a challenge for many. Brodersen said, “The marketing is the big hard one. Just putting yourself out there and talking to hundreds of florists and trying to sell yourself. That’s not something that comes naturally to me.”

Coral Charms demand the highest peony prices but can't be grown in colder
microclimates in the Interior.  Heidi Rader photo

In “The Lean Farm,” Ben Hartman encourages growers to test the market thoroughly and not to push a product on customers. He says “the customer alone defines value” and that, just because a farmer wants to produce something, doesn’t mean the customer wants to buy it. Klaver said high quality standards must be maintained and to remember, “You are only as good as your last delivery.”

Hanscom thinks that this statewide problem needs a statewide solution. "What Alaska needs is a brokerage that will sell every single stem we have,” she said. “And we don't have that.”

Kim Herning (5,000 roots), who helped market for the now dissolved Arctic Alaska Peony co-op, thinks there needs to be a statewide marketing effort comparable to the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. She doubts that will happen with the current budget pressures.

Adding peonies to an existing farm also could be a great strategy. It provides diversification and the initial investment is lower if you already own arable land. This worked well for Mary Ver Hoef, who added peonies to her diversified (mostly organic but not certified) farm.

She took advantage of the less stringent demands of the farmers market to sell short-stemmed peonies, which she can harvest more of without sacrificing the future vigor and productivity of her plants. Other markets require straight, 24-inch stems, which take a bigger toll on plants. She also sells at the Co-op Market Grocery & Deli, provides flowers for local weddings and offers a subscription service.

Ver Hoef sees peonies as a wonderful opportunity and just wishes that she had started younger. At one point Ver Hoef had as many as 500 plants.  Now she’s down to 84 peonies after selling quite a few plants at the farmers market for a profit. Even so, she’d like to spend less time farming and more time on her family’s boat and enjoying Alaska summers. She’s looking for someone who might be interested in leasing her field.

In addition to selling the stems, there are lots of side hustles to consider. You could offer agritourism and workshops, provide a wedding and event venue or conduct research on your farm. Floret Flower Farm in Washington does many of these things well and there are also great examples in Alaska. But these activities are an additional time commitment during the busy summer season.

Kim Herning has been thinking about doing workshops and events, “But then I think I'm already so busy in the summer and I'm exhausted, how am I going to have the energy to develop other things? Do I really want to overextend myself?”

Peony farmers in Interior Alaska have had a spectrum of experiences and the reasons for starting and stopping are numerous. Many farms are still new and have yet to realize their full potential. If you do start a peony farm, you stand to benefit tremendously from the substantial amount of research done and lessons learned by those who took the plunge first.

This is a continuation of an article I wrote earlier about peony farming in Interior Alaska (https://bit.ly/2RS60NA and in the News-Miner: https://bit.ly/37TDxfH). Both of these articles are Interior-centric as I only interviewed peony farmers from the Fairbanks area. Other regions have some of the same, but also very different challenges and opportunities.
Heidi Rader is a tribes Extension educator for the UAF Cooperative Extension Service and the Tanana Chiefs Conference. She also directs the vegetable variety trials at the Georgeson Botanical Garden. She can be reached at 907-474-6620 or hbrader@alaska.edu.

Sustainable agriculture conference set for Anchorage

Broccoli grows in raised beds inside a high tunnel operated
by Kodiak Village Farms in Port Lions. Robbie Vennel
will present information about the project during the
Alaska Sustainable Agriculture Conference.
Casey Matney photo

The Alaska Sustainable Agriculture Conference will take place Feb. 20-22 at the BP Energy Center in Anchorage.

The 15th annual conference will feature about 60 speakers on a wide range of agricultural topics, including recent research, food businesses, Rhodiola rosea production, rural farming, business planning and livestock management.
Conference coordinator Casey Matney, a Cooperative Extension agent from Soldotna, said the conference is for “anyone who is already involved in agriculture and anyone who is interested in it.”

The conference will begin with updates from agricultural agencies, followed by concurrent sessions. Research topics include cover crops in peonies, vegetable variety trials, the nutritional value of locally grown produce and parasite management in livestock.

Individuals who are not able to attend the conference in person may participate in a three-hour webinar Feb. 20 with several presentations about sustainable agriculture in rural and off-road Alaska.

Several longer trainings take place during the conference. An all-day workshop on Friday, Feb. 21, is for farmers and businesses that would like to develop value-added food processing or a food business. The training requires online coursework to be completed prior to the training and a separate registration fee. Trainings on mental health first aid and produce safety will be offered on Saturday, Feb. 22. The produce training is geared to commercial fruit and vegetable growers, farmers market venders and all others interested in learning about it. Both of these workshops are free but registration is requested beforehand.

A full day of presentations Feb. 21 will focus on rhodiola production. They will feature growers from Colorado and Alaska, representatives from Alberta and Alaska rhodiola cooperatives, and researchers. Palmer Extension agent Steve Brown, who coordinated the sessions, said the rhodiola focus was due to tremendous interest shown at the last conference. Rhodiola is a high-value herb whose roots are used for medicinal purposes.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service hosts the conference, which is sponsored by Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education. Registration and other conference information is located at http://bit.ly/AKsareconf.

The registration fee to attend Feb. 20-21 is $100 and $50 for students. Those who plan to only attend Saturday workshops should register for the appropriate workshop, but do not need to pay. An RSVP is requested for the rural webinar. For more information, contact Matney at camatney@alaska.edu or 907-262-5824.

Peony industry honors researcher with Growers Cup

The Alaska Peony Growers Association awarded its Growers Cup to longtime University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher Bob Van Veldhuizen.

Bob Van Veldhuizen

Members of the statewide association honored Van Veldhuizen during its winter conference, which ended Saturday in Fairbanks. The award recognizes individuals who provide key support to the peony industry.

Tom Simpson, a peony grower from the North Pole area, said he nominated Van Veldhuizen because he has helped peony growers around the state interpret soil results and recognize plant tissue deficiencies. He has also given soils workshops and presentations at many peony conferences. Simpson’s nomination notes, “He’s had a contributing presence at virtually every peony gathering in the state.”

Van Veldhuizen also helped Simpson improve the soils at his farm off the Eielson Farm Road. Soil tests showed a high pH and high levels of calcium in part of his field. Simpson said Van Veldhuizen identified the problem and prescribed aluminum sulfate.

“Between Mingchu and Bob, they’ve been the best resources,” said Simpson.

He is referring to UAF Professor Mingchu Zhang, who received the Growers Cup in 2017. Simpson said although Van Veldhuizen officially retired from the university, he continues to advise growers.

Van Veldhuizen worked as a researcher for the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station for 35 years before retiring in December of 2015. He continues to work part-time from May to October on peony and grains research with Zhang.

Van Veldhuizen, who now lives in Wasilla, said he got into peony soils research through the variety trials at the Georgeson Botanical Garden about 10 years ago. Since then, he and Zhang have tested different soil fertility treatments, including fish waste and compost, so they could advise growers on the best soil enhancement.

Van Veldhuizen is honored by the award. “It was nice of them to do that,” he said.

Peony farming: Smaller reward than many imagined

Krista Heeringa harvests buds that are ready at Far North
Flowers. Photo by Nate Heeringa

By Heidi Rader
In the last decade, peony farms in Alaska have increased tenfold. According to the latest Census of Agriculture, there were 100 peony farms in the state.

The growth has been propelled by headlines like these: “Alaska’s peonies are the state’s new cash crop,” “‘The industry’s about to explode’: Peony market flourishes in Alaska,” “Alaskan peony farmers aim to grow industry,” “How Alaska became a center of peony cultivation,” and “For late-summer weddings, the peonies can only come from one place.”

Credit for the boom also goes to UAF Professor Pat Holloway who, 20 years ago, made it known that, because Alaska peonies bloomed at a time when they weren’t available anywhere else in the world — during the height of the wedding season — they could garner premium prices.

Notwithstanding the ebullient headlines, are Alaska’s peony farmers flourishing? Are they making money? That’s what I wanted to find out when I interviewed over a dozen farmers in Interior Alaska.

David Russell likens peony farming to a video game. The first level is growing marketable peonies, the second, chilling and post-harvest handling, and the third, marketing. Each level presents new challenges and unknowns. If you successfully reach the third level, you must continue juggling all of the challenges of the first and second levels as well.

Three farmers I interviewed did not make it past the first level — growing marketable peonies. Mike Quinn, a small peony grower (300 roots) ran into problems with the variety he planted. He explained that there are very strict parameters of what the industry will buy and sell. “I bought a variety that grew well but it didn't produce a thick enough stem, and it didn't grow the bomb flower. ... The only place I can sell them is the farmers market.”

Heidi Rader plants peony roots at Far North Farm, with Nate Heeringa,
who owns the farm with her sister, Krista. Krista Heeringa photo

Quinn said he would have continued to expand if he could have gotten $2 or $3 a stem. On the other hand, he said even if it was paying some money, he’s not sure it’s how he wants to spend his retirement. The peonies needed to be harvested at the same time he likes to fish for king salmon.

Kathy Frizzera (300 roots) had no delusions about how hard peony farming would be, owing to the fact that her grandparents were large farmers in Kansas. Her original goal was to plant 5,000 roots, but she is bowing out due to her age and health, family dynamics, insufficient capital and lack of fertile soil. She has enough energy to do her day job, but not to grow peonies on top of that.

After investing about $5,000 and six years of work, she sold one bucket of peonies. For Kathy, the silver lining was that she has met some truly wonderful people. “The cooperation has enabled the industry to get as far as it has today. Whether or not it fails or succeeds, I hope that cooperation will remain in spite of competitiveness." She said she would do it again if she was in her 40s but on a small piece of land detached from her house so that the herbicides and pesticides wouldn’t impact the health of her family, pets or future homeowners.

Another farmer who asked not to be identified, planted 900 roots and invested five years of work only to have to relocate due to a job change before selling any stems. She did not think the peony roots resulted in any additional revenue when she sold her house.

The Brodersen family plant peonies at Sunrise Farm.
Naomi Brodersen photo

Russell, with the help of extended family, has played all three levels of peony game, but not without some unpleasant surprises. He had been told to expect 10 marketable stems per plant after three to five years. Perhaps his soils were too cold or his pH is too acidic, but after six years he only harvested an average of seven stems per plant. This means a smaller and more delayed return on investment, which in his case is significant at 17,000 roots.

Even those who, due to a combination of luck and fastidiousness, create optimal growing conditions for the plants, still have no control over when the peonies bloom. Fairbanks growers are finding the late summer niche unreliable. In fact, in 2019, it disappeared.

Ron Illingworth (13,000 roots), one of the first peony farmers in the state and a champion for the industry, said farmers in Fairbanks finished harvesting by July 2 this year. This was before the upper Midwest stopped harvesting. It’s news to no one that the vagaries of weather make farming difficult, but in The Atlantic, UAF Assistant Professor Nancy Fresco explained that warming trends might make the niche a thing of the past (bit.ly/2tYggL1).

The second level of the metaphorical peony farming videogame is post-harvest handling and chilling. While the Dutch may not be harvesting peonies in mid- or late summer they’ve mastered the techniques of chilling them longer, allowing them to tap into Alaska’s so-called exclusive niche. Plus, their farms are paragons of efficiency (bit.ly/3aNa9K4) so they can sell their stems profitably at prices far below Alaska farmers.

It can take a village to harvest peonies at just the right time. The 2019 harvest
period was compressed due to the record heat. Maggi Rader photo

Carolyn Chapin, one of the first peony farmers in Alaska, explained that originally the late summer niche was there. “We were selling to high-end markets to meet summer demands. When we first started shipping in 2004, the Dutch were done right after Mother’s Day. ... With a very strong summer demand, the Dutch are pushing further into it by storing their stems much longer than previously, and they are expanding peony production. Even though Alaska peonies are months fresher during summer, buyers are looking at a price point and are waiting until they can’t get the cheaper imported stems anymore. So now ours have stored to wait out the Dutch availability and so are also 4-6 weeks old, or older when sold. The niche markets are still there but they’re harder to come by.” Even though their flowers may not be as fresh, big, or even open if businesses or brides are looking at the bottom line, they often opt for the cheaper option.

The third level and, by most accounts, the least fun part of the difficult game of peony farming is selling the peonies. The farmers I talked to did not go into peony farming because they liked marketing and sales, but because they wanted to be outside growing flowers. Naomi Brodersen, who has farmed with her family since 2014 (1,400 roots), describes what’s involved. From January to May or June until they started harvesting, her sister and her boyfriend contacted 300-400 florists.

“It’s time-consuming," she said ... “They googled wedding destinations and picked a city and contacted florists. Then they had a template they’d send to florists, then people would come back with questions."

The Arctic Alaska Peony Cooperative in Fairbanks was supposed to relieve farmers of this chore, but this fall it disbanded. For a couple years, Chapin, marketed for 14 peony farms (this is called a packhouse) in Fairbanks but cut back to three farms because she wasn’t making enough money for the amount of work involved. If growers are lucky enough to have a packhouse or co-op to work with, they must fork over 20 to 60% of gross sales — more if they’re paying for cold storage and marketing, less if they’re just paying for marketing.

Working with a packhouse or co-op can add inconvenience to the process as well. Ideally, stems should be chilled right after they’re cut. For small growers like Quinn it was also inconvenient. Ideally, stems should be chilled right after being harvested, but since the nearest chiller was 30 miles, it was very time-consuming to transport the stems during the harvest—the busiest time of year for growers.

And it’s not just selling all of the stems, it’s selling them at a profitable price. There’s an often- repeated story about a buyer in London who wanted to buy 100,000 peonies every week of the summer from the UAF Georgeson Botanical Garden, which at the time, only produced a handful of stems. What isn’t always mentioned is that the buyer only wanted to pay 50 cents per stem. By conflating high, wholesale demand with high retail prices ($4, $5, $6 or more), it’s been easy to imagine making bank as a peony farmer!

Markets change quickly and vary with supply, bloom time and quality. One seller might get a better price than another seller due to their product quality, number of stems and varieties available, reliability, connections, marketing prowess and their hutzpah. An Interior peony grower and packhouse owner, who asked not to be identified, described prices, size and special requirements of various markets in 2019 (see the table below). Although anecdotal, it’s valuable because it is current.

Market Type	Price range per stem	Size of Order (No. of stems)	Other Notes
Direct sales to brides	$4-6	25-50	Highest prices but not repeat buyers and very time consuming
Direct sales to florists	$4-6	·       25-200	High prices but small and inconsistent orders
Wholesalers	$3-$3.75 $2.60 - $3	500-1,000 1,000 – 3,000	Small weekly orders Large weekly  orders
Bouquet makers	$2.60-$3.25	1,000-3,000
Mass market	$1.75 - $2	2,000-4,000	·       Grocery stores. Large weekly orders. They often require bundles of 3 and bar-coded sleeves. Most Alaskans are not set up for bar-coding. Not many Alaskans sell in mass markets
Mass market – sub premium stems	$1 - $1.5		Small buds and short stems

Older research papers described markets in 2008, 2009 and 2012. Current prices topped out at $6 a stem compared with a high of $10 in 2012. Wholesale prices dropped from $4-4.50 in 2012 to $2.60-$3.75 in 2019, depending on the size of the order.

With an unreliable niche and no co-op, can Fairbanks peony growers make money? None of the farmers I talked to were, even those who’d been at it more than a decade. Most were covering their annual costs (including hired labor but not their own time). Quinn weighed in, "I think a good percentage of people are continuing to get into this business thinking there is money to be made. It's possible, but the question is, is it likely? If you'd gotten into this business 10 years ago it might have been likely, but I don't think it is today. The whole area has stuck their neck out, the big buyers know that everybody here is over a barrel. And they've either got to deal with a low price [at the coop] or do their own marketing.”

Chapin, who used to teach the growers school for the Annual Alaska Peony Conference said, “Jan and I have always said plan on $2 a stem. Some people are planning around $5 a stem. Some don’t care so they’re selling for $2.10. Once wholesalers get it at that price, then they won’t pay more.”

That’s where the coop came in. They were supposed to ensure everyone got a fair, high price, while maintaining quality and accessing some of the larger export markets. The final payout from the Arctic Alaska Peony Cooperative was less than a dollar a stem.

Kim Herning (5,000 roots), helped market for the Arctic Alaska Peony Cooperative  and also served on its board. She said, “I've always felt my hands were tied because I was associated with AAPC and coming down from the president, everything had to be positive. But that's not realistic. That's not really a good gauge of how the industry is doing. If you are putting everything in a positive light, that's not really fair to people jumping into it.” Herning said, “Had we known those things, we would have done things differently or maybe we wouldn't have done it at all. It's not fair to new farmers. If someone is really seriously thinking about starting a farm. They need as much information as they can get.”

Peony trials began in Alaska at Georgeson Botanical Garden. The flowers
continue to delight visitors. Photo by Heidi Rader

Looking back, Brodersen said, "I wish we would have had a more realistic picture of what the peony industry would be. Everyone had an idealistic view of what the prices would be and how many stems per plant you would get. ... We thought all we would have to do was the growing. We thought we would bring our stems to the co-op and they would cut us a check and we wouldn’t have to do all the boxing and shipping. ... Overall it’s turned out to be a whole lot more work than what we expected and having to do all the different aspects and the prices are much lower than what we hoped for.”

Although the peony industry has grown and continues to grow thanks to the efforts of passionate, hard-working individuals and state and federal money, it does not portend to the success of individual growers. In the absence of a cooperative marketing or selling entity, the growth could be its detriment. A larger industry means more competition, especially at a local level. Those dabbling in peony growing pose a risk to the reputation of Alaska-grown peonies if they sell substandard buds or undercut other growers. As an aside, the support industry (suppliers, service providers, researchers, and educators) has benefited from the growth of the industry, particularly through grant funding.

I wish it wasn’t so, but as with any type of farming, it’s hard for small-farmers to compete with agriculture juggernauts. Lacking a solid niche, that’s what small Alaska peony farmers are doing. More discussion and research should be done on what kind of peony farm is most likely to be profitable in Alaska—including size, location, and marketing strategy. The come one, come all mentality has afforded the industry a welcoming and cooperative vibe, but it may be time to acknowledge that growing peonies in Alaska is a serious undertaking which may not be profitable on a small or even medium scale.

Pros and cons of a larger industry aside, potential growers should not be seduced into starting a peony farm for the good of the whole by sugarcoating the risk-reward ratio. As Kim Herning puts it, they should have full access to the “good, bad, and the ugly.”

In a follow-up article, I’ll talk about important considerations for those who are considering starting a peony farm.
Heidi Rader is a tribes Extension educator for the UAF Cooperative Extension Service and the Tanana Chiefs Conference. She also directs the vegetable variety trials at the Georgeson Botanical Garden.