Unalakleet greenhouse's first harvest is planned for elder lunches

A greenhouse's first harvest is going to elders

The first harvest from Unalakleet's new greenhouse is going to elders. Volunteer manager Cassandra Johnson plans to donate pickles made with fresh dill, along with tomatoes and potatoes, to the Elder Lunch Program run by the Native Village of Unalakleet.

This is the village's first growing season in the structure. Johnson started plants from seed in March and kept them in the Unalakleet Covenant Church auditorium. The greenhouse went up this spring, once the snow melted. Cucumbers are climbing trellises now. Basil, dill, lemon balm, brussels sprouts, tomatoes and potatoes are all in the soil.

"I feel like us Natives appreciate food more when it comes from the land, especially having fresh produce and knowing where it came from," Johnson said.

Johnson said she wants to build community interest in farming, especially among young people. She noted that Unalakleet was once the region's largest farming hub. For now she is offering community members free seeds and fertilizer so they can garden at home. She also hopes to upgrade the greenhouse flooring to reduce mold and improve durability, get a dehydrator to preserve produce through the winter, and start a plant-starter program that would distribute juvenile plants to community members.

Part of a regional food security push

The greenhouse came from Kawerak's Environmental Program, which is distributing 12-by-20-foot winterized kits designed with Grizzly Building Supply in Nome. Seven villages in the Bering Strait region have received one. Unalakleet got its kit last year.

"The intention of the project is to allow communities to develop food security on a local level, producing fresh foods for people in our villages, especially where fresh produce is rare," Kawerak Environmental Director Anahma Shannon said.

The program still has kits available for Bering Strait region communities on request. Communities interested in coordinating one can contact Shannon at [email protected].

Why fresh produce is rare here

Rural costs are steep. Earlier reporting on rural fuel prices documented villages paying $6.63 a gallon, and US Sen. Lisa Murkowski warned in June that barge-delivered fuel locks winter costs in place.

The growing window is short. A Last Frontier Magazine account of gardening in Unalakleet described zone 2a conditions and a season so compressed that a greenhouse not ready until early June forced a late start.

Students from the school planted the potatoes this spring and gave each one a name. They will pick the ones they named in the fall.