In the Chilkat Valley where mold, slugs and unpredictable weather challenge gardeners each year, an upcoming gardening conference offers support and solutions.
The three-day conference, set for March at the Haines School, is designed to be a gathering place for Southeast Alaska’s green thumbs to share advice, learn from experts and address local food security, said organizer Mardell Gunn.
The Chilkat Valley Gardening Conference debuted as a small-scale event in 2016, followed by a larger Southeast Alaska Garden Conference in 2018. While the conference was put on pause during the pandemic, organizer Mardell Gunn said people kept asking when it would return.
“I had a whole bunch of people ask me through the years, ‘Are we going to do another garden conference?’” Gunn said. “Everybody was so excited, so I said, ‘Okay, I’m willing if I can have a group of people to help me.’”
That team of six has organized workshops, expert speakers, and discussions on sustainable gardening practices in the region.
This year’s conference features two standout guest speakers:
Marion Owen (Kodiak) – A practical, down-to-earth gardener with hands-on experience tackling mold and slug issues, she hosts Alaska’s “Upbeet Gardener” video series. Gunn said Owen will help people assess gardening information they find online and navigate conflicting advice.
“You can type anything in, and you’ll get 25 answers,” Gunn said.
Casey Matney (Soldotna, Cooperative Extension) – specializing in soil health and pest management also will speak. Gunn said he’ll talk about Alaska-specific pest management strategies, customized for the slugs, maggots, and other challenges Chilkat Valley gardeners face.
“He’s bringing a bunch of very practical information on soil testing,” Gunn said.
Additional workshops and presentations include:
- Mushroom growing – With sessions led by Tommy Thompson (local expert) and Far North Fungi from Anchorage
- Growing strawberries and potatoes with Scott Hansen of Sunnyside Farm in Haines
- Creating, Building and Maintaining Soil with Juneau’s Ed Buyarski
- Fruit tree cultivation – Presented by Blythe Carter.
- Saving seeds and crops that grow in Haines – Leah Wagner of Foundroot
- Growing for eating and pollination – Sabine Churchill of Gomi’s Garden
Gunn said she and Rebecca Brewer, who successfully lived off local food for a year, will talk about gardening year-round in Southeast Alaska.
“Rebecca and I eat year-round from our gardens, but we do it really differently,” Gunn says. “She keeps it in a root cellar, which I do as well, but she puts very little in the freezer. I have three freezers, and my freezers are full of stuff.”
Gunn said they want to show people that there are multiple ways to garden and store food year-round.
Gardening in Southeast Alaska isn’t just about planting and harvesting – it’s about adapting to an environment unlike most other places.
“Mold and slugs are the two things that are really different, that are huge considerations here, that people just don’t think about elsewhere,” Gunn said. “And … root maggots. I think part of the reason is because brassica is a crop that’s really easy to grow here. So that’s broccoli, cabbage, arugula, turnips, radishes. I mean, it’s a huge family, and root maggots love them.”
Beyond pests and plant diseases, changing federal funding is another challenge. A long-standing USDA soil conservation program that provided financial assistance for greenhouses has quietly disappeared.
While the state Department of Natural Resources’s micro grants are still available, their future remains uncertain. Gunn sees gardening as a critical step in ensuring local resilience.
“I mean, some people think that food security is, you know, how can we bring in food from the barge and they don’t really get that it may go away,” she said. “There was a little bit of inkling of it during COVID and I thought ‘Oh, maybe that’ll change the tide of people’s perceptions of what it means. But, I think humans are humans. They need crisis.”
Despite economic challenges, the organizers are committed to keeping the event accessible. Gunn said they’re aiming for 80-100 people. Grants cover most expenses except food costs, meaning attendees only pay $135 for general admission to the full event. A work-trade option allows those in need to attend for $55 in exchange for volunteering.
“We didn’t want anyone saying, ‘I can’t afford to come,’” Gunn said.
For those interested, registration is available online via Eventbrite.