We’re getting there, the snow slowly is melting off the raised beds alongside the driveway.  Then the ground has to thaw.  The lake is still frozen.  This might be a very late planting season.  The weather has been awesome, in the 60′s during the day, the problem is that it is 28 degrees at night.  [...]

It is hard to imagine in less than six weeks we are usually planting seeds in the vegetable garden raised beds, right now they are buried under huge piles of snow from the driveway plowing, it might take a little longer this year.  With sunny skies and above freezing temperatures things are melting fast. Our [...]

Dusk arrives at 4:30PM, we are gaining more daylight every day.  Yesterday at sunset a cow moose and her two calves strolled through the yard browsing on willows and alders, the cow found my treasured China Rose bushes and managed to prune them into little stubs. After feasting in my garden they moved into the [...]

Thanks to cold weather and continual snow, my office is getting a long overdue organization.  Occasionally I stop, stretch, look out the windows and look at the beauty of colored lights buried on snow laden trees.  A joyous sight, it brings a smile.  During the inclement weather I’ve cleaned-up the website, organizing the “Original Paintings” [...]

The weather at my Alaska art studio continues to be cold and calm.   This morning the thermometer registered -14 degrees and no wind, a gorgeous layer of snow gently covers trees and plants providing insulation from the deep freeze.  Here is my rose garden with snow covered rocks creating a beautiful winter landscape in [...]

What a contrast this week has been, from desert sage brush decorated with tinsel and upside down plastic cups, to our snowy front yard with spruce trees laden with tiny lights covered in new fallen snow.  Barring another warm front, Christmas will definitely be a white one this year.  Bob has been shoveling walkways and [...]

I love a fresh snowfall, everything is transposed.  I wish the landscape could stay this way, but the inevitable wind, sunshine, and activity will diminish the fluffy white shapes of new snow.  Meanwhile on my daily walk I enjoy finding snow flowers and other fun creations. Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist

Beautiful, fluffy snow accumulated over several days, our yard is a winter wonderland.  Fresh snow coated the thin ice crusted lake where a Super Cub on skis took off yesterday.  I’m thinking the surface is much too thin for this, certainly no one should walk out there yet.  At 4 degrees farenheit it won’t be [...]

  I met Fritz early one morning to pick out boulders for the planter, soon he arrived with the big rocks and the back hoe to place them exactly where I wanted them.  The bucket on the back hoe is like an extension of his hand, he made short work of the rock placement. The [...]

Wow, the side yard is very formalized with this very sturdy planter and the addition of gravel all around.  Now I need to add a few boulders and plant the perennial shrubs so that everything will be ready to grow and bloom in the spring. I’m going to love this new addition to the side [...]

I’ve been working on ideas and plans for the north sloping bank beyond the frame shop just west of the vegetable garden for quite some time.  Many ideas have been considered.  After consulting my favorite landscape guy, Fritz Hoffman of Rock Ridge Services, a plan was developed.  Since the slope faces north and is shaded [...]

Our warm September ended yesterday morning with a frosty 28 degree farenheit reading on the outdoor thermometer.  I left footprints in the fuzzy coated grass as I walked toward the lake, the white carpeted dock was ice crystal slick.  This will be the end of the Nasturtium blooms, one of the few flowers still showing [...]

The new vacuum sealer arrived by UPS truck today just in time to help preserve the last plants from the garden.  All evening we blanched and packaged big, juicy Brussel Sprouts for the freezer.  Love the new sealer, it is a hefty-solid unit and can be used outdoors.  This will come in very handy next [...]

We’ve had several stunning, sunny, warm fall days nicer than last summer, perfect conditions for harvesting the garden.  Bob and I dug a bounty crop of sweet, ripe potatoes.  Here I’m shown digging the Yellow Fingerlings, they were stacked inside the dirt mounds like cords of firewood.  We also harvested Reds, and my favorite, Yukon [...]

I’ve put off this chore for way too long, mostly because I didn’t know how to go about dividing my perennial iris plants.  They were so huge this year that they virtually smothered other plants, and I resorted to chopping back some of the long green foliage so that the other plants could get a [...]

The stray bird feeder seed finally bloomed!  Sunflowers grace the empty broccoli bed.  Won’t be long before the first frost, it will sweeten the brussel sprouts, carrots and potatoes all waiting to be picked yet.  Our season is nearing the end, the fall color will soon dominate.  Meanwhile I can enjoy Sunflowers, and during winter [...]

Sunflowers sprouting in the vegetable garden planted by nature from flyaway bird feeder seed are beginning to open.  More yellow petals are revealed daily.  A couple more days to full bloom.  Meanwhile we have been busy shucking peas, baking beets, roasting early potatoes and savoring the sweet tender taste of home grown Alaska vegetables.  I [...]

Various colored lilies make my garden a joy in August.  Bearded Iris bloom in June, Himalayan Poppies in July and now lilies add bursts of color to enhance the perennial bed.  First the more traditional orange and yellow bloomed, now these deep red, a soft pink and an interesting peach colored variety are showing off.  [...]