Roll up your sleeves, it’s time to get planting! Our hands-on gardening workshop will focus on special aspects of cold weather-high altitude gardening. Topics will include: finding and creating microclimates, selecting varieties, locally-based fertility, composting, and watering strategies. Course participants will come away from this interactive and field-oriented workshop full of knowledge about how to maximize garden growth and efficiency.
Instructor: Robin Underwood grew up on a small farm in Fairbanks, AK. She has been gardening at Kenny Lake for 14 years and currently runs a small market garden. Robin is also a fiber artist specializing in handmade felt and handspun dog fur; and she works as a computer technician for Prince William Sound Community College.
When: May 30 (9:30am-4:30pm); bring your lunch.
Cost: $40 (10% discount to current Wrangell Mountains Center Members)
Register: To register for this workshop, please mail in our registration form (.DOC or .PDF). Email info@wrangells.org or call (907) 244-7717 if you have questions or would like more information.
Location and Venue
This course is a Wrangell Mountains Center (WMC) program. The WMC is a private nonprofit institute which fosters understanding, appreciation, and stewardship of wildlands and mountain culture in Alaska through scientific and artistic inquiry in the Wrangell Mountains. The workshop is based at the WMC's headquarters in the Old Hardware Store in McCarthy, Alaska. The town of McCarthy is set in the heart of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, the largest national park in the U.S. Over 23% larger than Switzerland, Wrangell-St. Elias is world renowned for its wild landscapes, high peaks, massive glaciers and rivers, healthy ecosystems, dramatic scenery, and unique cultural history.
McCarthy is approximately a seven hour drive from either Anchorage or Fairbanks (plus time for sightseeing) by way of Copper Center, Chitina, and the famed McCarthy Road (significantly improved by Alaska DOT in the last few years). It's also possible to fly or arrange shuttles from Anchorage to McCarthy.
McCarthy and neighboring Kennecott, a national historic landmark, are situated within the Kennicott Valley (note the different spellings between the natural features and historical features.) McCarthy and Kennecott serve locals and travelers alike as a gateway to world-class backcountry opportunities and amazing frontcountry hikes and walks (including access to the Root Glacier); the Kennicott Valley also provides a window into some of the most unique chapters in Alaska's history and an authentic, lively contemporary community.
The course is based in the WMC's headquarters, the Old Hardware Store, and our garden. Built in 1911 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Hardware Store serves as a cozy, atmospheric place to learn and share, and is located just a half mile from the toe of the twenty-five-mile-long Kennicott Glacier.
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