Agriculture

On this week’s episode of Talk of the Rock, host Jared Griffin talks gardening, slugs, rats, composting, and all things dirt and soil with Kodiak gardening expert, Marion Owen. You can read Marion’s weekly column in the Kodiak Daily Mirror, and visit with her at KMXT’s Plant Sale on May 4th. Listen here:

The cost of food production in rural Alaska continues to be challenging, but farmers, ranchers and growers of all kinds in Kodiak are adapting. As KMXT’s Davis Hovey reports, a new federally funded position on the island is hoping to help ease the growing pains. It’s a sunny afternoon in late-February, and a few inches of snow cover the ground …

Alaska’s senators brought Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas to Kodiak this week. Boozman is the ranking member of the Senate’s Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry committee and is on a tour to see what farming looks like around the country.  One of their first stops was the Kodiak Harvest Foods Co-op. They asked staff and volunteers some questions about how the …

On this week’s Talk of the Rock, join host Jared Griffin as he talks with Stephanie Mason and Rob Stauffer of the Kodiak Harvest Food Co-op about supporting locally-grown and farmed food in Kodiak. The Co-op store is located at 1410 Selig St, and is open T-F 3-7pm, and Saturday 12-3pm. Listen here:

By Tegan Hanlon, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage –May 25, 2021 Don Dyer stood among boxes full of tiny, fluffy chicks on a recent weekday afternoon in Anchorage as he read off customer Rachel Varela’s order. “One Dominant Copper. One Rhode Island Red. One Blue Sapphire. Two Barred Rocks,” the poultry farmer called over a chorus of high-pitched chirps. “That’s …

The first ever Shellfish and Seaweed Festival is kicking off on Zoom this evening, hosted by Alaska Seagrant. Presenter and Kodiak’s own resident mariculture expert Lexa Meyer can’t wait to spread the word about seaweed and kelp farming. “In response to COVID-19, you know, we saw a sharp decrease in sales of bivalves, especially of oysters in Alaska, because that …

Photo by Marion Owen Master Gardener Marion Owen joins us for a conversation on when and how to divide perennials, what vegies grow well in Kodiak, and more.  

Erin McKinstry, KCAW | Mar 17, 2021 For years, Bret Bradford has lived the seasonal rhythm of a commercial fisherman. He spends summers gillnetting salmon out of Cordova, and in the winter, he looks for odd jobs around town. When a friend asked if wanted to spend the winters growing kelp instead, he saw an opportunity for stable, year-round work. “I …

While crops aren’t catching COVID-19, that doesn’t mean that the business of farming hasn’t changed on Kodiak. Just ask Siene Allen and Gideon Saunders of BrightBox Farms. “You know, there’s a demand for locally grown produce supply chains with the pandemic were interrupted, trucking was maxed out. They were moving product as fast as they could, across the country… there …

Eight little Kodiak piggies went “Wee. Wee. Wee,” all the way home, back to their farm in Bell’s Flat, but not without generating some excitement on the Friends of Kodiak Facebook page. Footage of eight black and brown piglets trotting down Salmon Berry Drive, which had first glance looked like a team of unharnessed sled dogs, had people asking, “Who …