Hello from Alaska

my 13 yr old son and I are seriously thinking about starting SFG. Are there any Alaskans with experience in SFG? Thanks for any input.

G'day pam&dillon,

Welcome. I'm not from Alaska, I'm from Australia.

There is a ton of information on Square Foot Gardening through the forums and a bunch of nice people as well.

The biggest thing that helped me when I started was to get myself a copy of Mel's book 'All New Square Foot Gardening'.
It's well worth the dollars and besides that Mel tells you how to do it all simple and straight forward.

I encourage you to give it a go!

Cheers, Peter.

Hi Pam & Dillon
I wanted to welcome you to the SFG forum. I am 15 and look forward to meeting someone close to my age who likes to sfg, and it would be great to learn from someone who gardens in Alaska! I am from Illinois.
E-mail me or send a PM anytime!

I know we've got some Pacific Northwesterners and Canadians in here. Check the regional forums out as they'll be a good resource for gardening with SFG in your area.

to echo SirTravers post I followed a Canadian sfger's blog last year. I was amazed at the amount and variety of produce he was able to harvest with such a short growing season.

My sister lives in Fairbanks and gardens like crazy. She already has tomato sprouts and many of her other veggies started indoors with her grow light. She sends us her canned food for great Christmas presents. If you like I can get a list of what she has grown with success.

Thanks Amy for your reply, and thanks to everyone also for replying and for the much needed support. A list would be awesome, since we are very new to gardening in Alaska. Much different than gardening in Nebraska!

Called my sister, she was more than happy to give me a list. She has rhubarb and horseradish that come back every year. So, things my sister starts indoors last week in March:tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, and her herbs, thyme, cilantro, taragon, fennel, sage, oregano, dill, chives, parsley and marjoram. In the garden end of May first of June she plants: kohl rabi, swiss chard, cabbage, spinach, lettuce, carrots, beans, peas, radishes, squash and zucchini. She said the growing season is too short for most squash and zucchini but they have early harvest kinds. She also said beets and cucumbers don't do have enough time to mature. She grows a few potatoes but usually only gets a few pounds. Look for seeds labeled cold resistant, arctic, frost, or other cold names. She said most nurseries can tell you what grows really well. If where you are is anything like Fairbanks, they should have a farmers market with people selling thier produce, its a good place to get advice. Hope this helps.

Awesome!! thanks Amy for the great and helpful info. I've been reading the new SFG book and my son and I are getting excited to get started. Got to get the boxes built in the next week or 2. Thanks to you and your sister for the info