Bearfoot Talks About Feast Or Famine When You Grow Vegetable Gardens In Rural Alaska

Gigantic zucchini from Palmer on display at
Sheep Mountain Lodge on the Glenn Highway. 

Some Alaskans Grow Huge Vegetables. Others Have A Very Difficult Time, Due To The State's Cold Summers

Huge vegetables are the byword of Alaska agriculture. And it's true -- especially in Palmer, Alaska's agricultural banana belt, that farmers carefully tend gigantic turnips, zucchini and cabbages, among other plants.

But, there's the flip side. In many parts of the state, growing any kind of vegetable, of any size, is considered a major achievement. In the Copper Valley, for example, where the average temperature, year-round, is 29 degrees above zero, growing vegetables can be a serious challenge, requiring major gardening skills.

Which most Alaskans do not have, no matter how long they live here.