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Yesterday, with the sun warming my back I dug through the dead leaves in my flower bed and found the first tender shoots of the Blue Poppy!  After all these years, I am still in awe of the miracle of spring.  I spent a delightful morning discovering the coming to life of my Iris bulbs, and a couple of Asiatic Lilies.  It looks like all my Blue Poppies will return, Hallelujah!  In three weeks we can plant annuals and vegetables.  I’ll be putting some seeds before that, those that can withstand a light frost.  We should be frost free by Memorial Day.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska wildflower artist

This very grainy photo taken in the early morning darkness caught the trio of culprits red-handed who have been munching the plants in my yard! I’ve observed their footprints in the snow every day but finally saw them this morning. I’m sure it is the same cow with calves that were here last fall.  I don’t mind them visiting they are really fun to watch as long as they stay clear of my treasured perennials.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Artist of Alaska

At 8:00 this morning Bob is busy rearranging our first big snow of the season.  The rest of South Central Alaska has been buried in snow for weeks, but for some reason the storms would miss us.  Two days ago our lawn was completely exposed.  This snow is just what we need.  I can’t wait to see everything in the daylight.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist

Unfortunately, as soon as we put Christmas lights on 12 trees in the yard, the wind began to blow with gusts up to 80mph. After three days of non-stop wind the lights look like they’ve been in a blender and are a tangled mess. At the moment aside from our scrambled tree lights, one of our tall birch trees snapped and is dangling across the fence into the neighbors yard, and a snow machine trailer blew across the thin lake ice and is temporarily held hostage by bushes on the island.

Please let it snow, let it snow, let it snow soon!

Gail Niebrugge, wind-blown Alaska artist

We decorated a total of 12 trees in the yard. Now, all we need is a big snow.

Gail Niebrugge, Artist of Alaska

Bob, dressed like a true Alaska sourdough, stringing extension cords for outdoor tree lights. We had several weeks of unseasonal warm temperatures, and all of the snow melted. We are hoping that a big snow will come soon, it will make the trees will look like a winter wonderland. And, it will hide a maze of extension cords.

Gail stringing lights on the tiny spruce trees in the yard.

More tomorrow,

Alaska Artist, Gail Niebrugge

I have harvested and cleared out most of the vegetable garden raised beds this week, then a good frost signaled time to finally harvest the brussels sprouts. Next I plan to amend the soil, it definitely needs lime and I’m not sure what else. This year our vegetables were tender and tasty, but small. Now that I know what to expect from this new garden site, I’m going to experiment until I get a bumper crop! But first it must rest and wait out the winter.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

The yard is maturing, the baby trees are growing, the roses blooming, and summer is nearly over. I will remember this day in January when it is dark and cold in Alaska.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Art

Bob spreading white cod fish bone meal fertilizer made by a local farmer Alaska Sea Ag. Just a little boost for the lawn before the winter frosts begin.

Gail Niebrugge, Art of Alaska

Sunshine, warm temperatures, finger potatoes and flowers highlighted Saturday for me at the Alaska State Fair.  I took a few minutes away from our booth at the Raven Hall to enjoy the gorgeous flower gardens.  The head gardener, Becky, is a genius at cultivating annuals and perennials that bloom in late August and the gardens are spectacular this year.  Be sure to check out the vegetables by the main office at the Red Gate.

Yesterday traffic was a challenge, one customer reported that it took two hours from Wasilla to the fairgrounds in the afternoon.  Another report had traffic backed up solid from Three Bears Market on the Palmer/Wasilla Highway all the way through downtown Palmer and the side street Chugach.  Here is a tip; traffic was minimal in the morning, so come early.  Today is another gorgeous sunny day and the crowds will be heavy.  If you are coming from Wasilla later in the day, consider the longer route via Trunk Rd. to Palmer Fishook, to the Glenn Hwy and take the back roads through downtown Palmer.  Avoid the Glenn Hwy. and the Palmer/Wasilla Hwy.  Good luck.  I’ve got to get going, our booth opens at 10:00AM.  See you there!

Gail Niebrugge, Art of Alaska

Four kinds of potatoes are growing in our raised bed vegetable garden, Red, Fingerling, Yukon Gold and German Butterball. We are anxious to dig them out of the ground, but it is best to wait until after the first frosts. I’ll let you know in September how well they grew.

Gail Niebrugge, Art of Alaska

I really haven’t had much experience with Hostas, initially I thought they died over the winter because nothing showed in the ground until mid June. But, slowly they have grown, ever so slowly, and now blooms are beginning to appear. The plant in the photo is the Plantain Lily “Minuteman”. The jury is still out on wheather or not Hostas are going to survive in my perinneal garden. We shall see what they do next year.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Art

I just discovered that the Fireweed blossoms have reached the top! The legend says that when Fireweed tops out it is six weeks until snowfall. Yikes, that would make it around the first week of October. I’m not ready for winter, we haven’t had fall yet. The seasons pass so fast in Alaska, we just start to enjoy one and another is on the way.  They change so quickly it is hard to grow weary of the tasks associated with each season, except winter.
Gail Niebrugge, Art of Alaska

The new raised beds in the vegetable garden are working quite well, weeding is made easy by simply sitting on the ledge, no back breaking bending over or knee pads needed. The carrots should be ready to harvest in a few weeks. So far our vegetables, picked fresh from the garden, are tender and sweet. Nothing beats fresh veggies, I’m going to miss them this winter.

Gail Niebrugge, Artist of Alaska

This is my favorite rose in the garden. I planted two last year and only one returned. I’m hoping it will be hearty enough to stay in the rose garden for many years. I have quite a few Hansa Rugosa that are extremely hearty, but the Fireglow is much prettier. It has been blooming since late June and is full of buds now, more than ever! The secret to keeping roses blooming is to clip off the spent blooms before they go to seed. Oops! I see a weed in the photo, gotta get out there and get them pulled. Catch you later.
Gail Niebrugge, Art of Alaska

I peeked under the big leaves of the Brussels Sprout plant and found the vegetable growing quite nicely. We won’t harvest these until after the first frost, sometime after Labor Day. So far most of the vegetables in my first year garden have done well, the bush beans are a flop but everything else did fine. I won’t know about the potatoes until mid-September when we dig them out. That is always fun, sort of like searching for Easter eggs.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Art

It is time to share some of my garden favorites since I spend time in the yard almost every day.  Puttering around in the garden seems to recharge my energy, soothes my soul, and connects me to nature. There is something satisfying about digging dirt with your hands, deadheading flowers, pulling weeds, adjusting the wood chips to cover bare spots, and watching small buds bloom into beautiful flowers or tasty vegetables. Last year I planted five Himalayan Blue Poppy perennials, sadly this year only three came back and just two of the plants bloomed. They are gorgeous.  Some say these plants are easy to grow but they seem sort of temperamental to me.  I hope all three return to bloom next year.

Gail Niebrugge, Artist of Alaska

The cauliflower in the garden is reaching maturity. I covered the heads with leaves, but they outgrew the cover and started getting sunburned and turning pink along the exposed edges. I picked larger leaves and tucked them in to keep the head pure white. By the way, we already ate this one and it was tender, and tasty!

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

I talked to Patrick, the owner of Applied Organics, about the growing population of ducks dining on the corn gluten weed seed killer that he spread on our lawn last month. He was mortified, ours was the first lake property he has serviced and has never had this problem before. The corn gluten came in small pellets, just perfect for waterfowl to nibble. On his next visit Patrick assured me he would reapply new gluten, and this time use the powdered version. Meanwhile, I’m spending a lot of time cleaning poop off of the dock.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

I was excited to see Ed Baker arrive with his trailer load of spruce trees. With the aid of his helper they carefully unloaded the trees with roots balled in burlap and gave us detailed directions on how to plant. If all goes well in ten years or so, our yard will be a forest again. I love trees!

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist