Alaska » Jen Funk Weber

Reality Check: April in Alaska

Posted by Jen Alaska

Apr 172013

I’ve still got another ten days or so to add to the Italy journal, but we’ve been home for two weeks now and are finally heading out to Kenai Fjords Glacier Lodge for some spring caretaking. We’ve been in a holding pattern for over a week, waiting for the perfect non-storm of schedules and weather to coordinate, allowing for a fun and safe boat trip.

Here at the homestead it’s springtime in Alaska.

Looking out on the Matanuska Glacier and Chugach Mountains

Springtime in Alaska: Long sunny days, April snow, gradual warming and melting.

The welcoming committee was waiting for us.

Welcome home! I’m not eating the raspberries…much.

Since I won’t be here to start the garden when I normally would—we don’t ask the caretakers to tend the garden—Mike shoveled snow off the beds, and I put warming plastic down. This extra-early start is an attempt to compensate for what will ultimately be a late start.

Laying out black plastic on snowy garden beds.

April gardening. Crazy? Um…kind of.

To help me stay in the Italy frame of mind as I continue to process and write about the trip, I’m perfecting my crusty-bread baking technique. By George, I think I’ve got it!

Crusty and chewy on the outside, soft and airy on the inside. I love my Dutch oven.

We’re off to the lodge and back to Italy.

Blue Food

Posted by Jen Alaska, Gardening

Oct 262012

If you ask me, there isn’t enough blue food.

That’s a line from the Bridget Jones’s Diary movie. I agree: there isn’t enough blue food, especially if you discount fake-blue raspberry products, which I do.

Blue cabbage with broccoli and snow peas

Our purple cabbage is a lovely turquoise blue!

We are currently enjoying some gorgeous blue food. I know this vegetable as “purple cabbage,” but I see on the Web that some people call it “red cabbage.” So far, I’ve not seen it referred to as “blue cabbage,” though that seems most appropriate.

I grew this cabbage, sauteed it just a smidge, and froze it. Now I thaw it, cook it, and eat it. Some of this cabbage is more purple, but a lot is blue like this, and we’re finding it tremendous fun to work with and eat. It’s beautiful! I want to make blue egg rolls. I want to see if it will turn the whole solyanka blue.

In general, I’m not much of a cabbage fan. I grow it because Alaska is famous for giant cabbages, and I think it’s required in all Alaska gardens; there’s a law or something. I don’t like it raw, and I don’t like sauerkraut. But I do like it prepared a few ways, and blue is definitely one of them!

I wonder if, like hydrangeas, soil pH influences the color of cabbage. After an especially poor garden year, I had my soil tested. For years, I’ve been told by neighbors and Alaksa garden books that my soil is most likely very acidic. I was surprised to discover it’s actually pretty neutral, just slightly on the alkaline side. Or maybe it’s a nutrient issue: I’ve got tons of potassium and very little nitrogen. Anyone have experience with or ideas about this?

Time will tell as I alter the balance of nutrients in the garden, but in the meantime, I’m loving my blue food!

Lunar Eclipse

Posted by Jen Alaska

Dec 212010

There was not a cloud in the sky last night during the lunar eclipse, and we had a great view through our front windows. The last lunar eclipse to occur on the Winter Solstice was in 1638.

Mike Weber, photographer, lunar eclipse beginning Entering earth’s shadow.

Mike Weber, photographer, lunar eclipse, near total Nearing totality.

Mike Weber, photographer, total lunar eclipse Total lunar eclipse.

Mike Weber, photographer, total lunar eclipse with Orion Total eclipse and Orion. See Betelgeuse?

Mike Weber, photographer, total lunar eclipse with stars Total eclipse.

Mike Weber, photographer, lunar eclipse, emerging from shadow Emerging from the shadow. See how much brighter the moon is here compared to the last image?

Brilliant night–even when it was dark.

Voting in AK

Posted by Jen Alaska

Nov 022010

Once again, we had to make arrangements to vote outside the normal time and place. I applied to have mail-in absentee ballots sent to a location on our current journey. Mike got his ballot last week.

When mine still didn’t arrive today, I called the election office in AK. Whoopsie! They never sent mine.

Do I have access to a fax? No.

Well, too bad, so sad then. Bye-bye.

Hrmph.

And then I get a phone call from Carol at the election office. Do I have a computer and printer? Yes…I think so…maybe. Carol emails me a “Sample Ballot” posing as a “By-Mail Replacement Ballot” which she tells me will be turned into an “Official Ballot” upon receipt in Fairbanks. There may be toads, newts, and a large black iron vessel involved in that transformation. I’m not sure.

After downloading an appropriate printer driver, I am, indeed, able to print my ballot and get it in the mail several hours before the deadline.

So, did I get special treatment, or is this the way things work all over?

After the Hurricane

Posted by Jen Alaska

Oct 052010

A little wind, a lot of rain, and spotty Internet access, that’s what we got. Now, however, we have this:

The weather forecast for today was rain, too. The only rain around here is spruce cones being hurled to the ground by industrious red squirrels. They clang on the metal roofs and thunk on the ground. Watch your head.

Hurricane a-Comin’

Posted by Jen Alaska

Sep 302010

We are again at the Kenai Fjords Glacier Lodge for a couple of weeks doing some post-season work and post-season play. Even here, the sun’s been shining most of this month–and this is a rainforest. But no more.

It’s been raining for two days, and this is the marine forecast for the weekend (the highlighting is mine).

…HURRICANE FORCE WIND WARNING FRIDAY…

.TODAY…SE WIND 30 KT EXCEPT E 40 KT NEAR THE COAST E OF MONTAGUE ISLAND. SEAS 13 FT. SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS.
.TONIGHT…E WIND 30 KT EXCEPT E 45 KT NEAR THE COAST E OF MONTAGUE ISLAND. SEAS 17 FT. RAIN.
.FRI…E WIND 50 KT INCREASING TO 65 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. SEAS 20 FT. RAIN.
.FRI NIGHT…E WIND 65 KT BECOMING SE 45 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. SEAS 27 FT.
.SAT…S WIND 40 KT. SEAS 22 FT.
.SUN…S WIND 15 KT. SEAS 14 FT.
.MON…SE WIND 20 KT. SEAS 11 FT.

The lodge is well protected, but we may see some dramatic weather tomorrow. I love the drama of this place, even the blustery wet kind. We’ve got a cozy cabin, lots of wood, some books, and stitching supplies. We’ll weather the weather just fine.

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