This January marks the sixth year anniversary of when I started working for the Alaska Farmland Trust, the local Alaska land trust dedicated to protecting Alaska’s agricultural land. I was 23, full of ideals, and passionate about agriculture. I also, arguably, understood very little about what it takes to run a successful farm in Alaska. For the three years I was with the Alaska Farmland Trust, I had the unique opportunity of engaging with farmers, ranchers and homesteaders across the great state of Alaska. These folks became my teachers, and through their gentle education, I began to understand Alaska’s unique agriculture.
The opportunity for innovation is boundless in the north country where soil temperatures are the greatest limiting factor in the growing season in Alaska. I was continually impressed by the mechanisms and systems that farmers and ranchers across the state developed to overcome this limitation, or in some instances, work with this limitation. You will never, and I mean never, taste a carrot as sweet as an Alaskan Grown carrot, and the ability to get fresh spring greens through the whole summer, both benefits of colder soil temperatures, give Alaskan agriculture its unique identity…and that’s even before we start talking about how big some vegetables can get because of the long midnight sun of Alaska’s summer.
My time spent with the Alaska Farmland Trust made me fall head over heals in love with Alaska agriculture. This love gave me the idea to start the Alaska Farm Tours company that focuses on educating tourists to Alaska about the great opportunities, innovation, and unique history for Alaska’s agriculture. I want to tell the stories of my friends, the farmers of Alaska; tell of their struggles, their triumphs, and celebrate their successes. I also want Alaska to become known for its northern agriculture, because I truly believe that the innovation seen in Alaska can have far reaching positive implications for helping to feed northern populations. Perhaps these aims are to far reaching, but we need to start somewhere, and that somewhere is with each and every person who comes to visit our great state.
We can’t wait to have you on our tours.
-Margaret Adsit, Owner, Alaska Farm Tours