Fairbanks Community Garden

03/23/2026

Looking forward to gardening!

01/06/2026

Maybe this will kill the slugs and voles?

Fairbanks, Alaska - Since Dec. 1, all of the high temperatures and low temperatures averaged together is -26° This is the coldest past 36 days since 1956.

12/25/2025

Some of our favorite gardeners!

As we approach the Christmas holiday and the giving season, we'd like to do something both fun and beneficial. Specifically, we'd like to recognize the incredible work of our food banks and the importance of their mission. Our mission here at Frosty Garden is closely intertwined with theirs, with our goal being to teach other northerners the skill of providing for themselves so we can ensure we all have enough.

Access to food and nutritional health are closely correlated. Us gardeners completely understand this, most of us grow our own for the nutritional benefit of fresh food. As such, we feel that it's important for us gardeners to recognize that food outcomes are not equal. Some of us have enough, some of us simply do not.

Food banks are the people that are directly trying to fill that gap. Not just on holidays, but every single day of the year. Sometimes the issues are matters of food accessibility. But, especially these days, it's more often in terms of affordability. We're all feeling the pinch of inflation.

When we boil this issue down, it isn't about food. It's about a person, a circumstance, a family or even a child. I don't know about you, but I cannot accept living in a so-called "land of excess" where some go hungry or aren't meeting basic nutritional needs. The circumstances don't matter to me, what matters is that I act upon that information.

We'd like to use this post to encourage you to find and contribute to your local food bank this season. They will certainly accept food donations and often, they provide lists of their most critical food needs. But, a monetary donation can often be far more effective. Food banks have incredible purchasing networks that provide serious bang for the buck, plus they need financial help to accomplish their mission. If you have a little extra, or are looking for a good cause this season, your local food bank is a always great one.

As for how we'll have some fun with this post? Through the end of 2025, for every like or love on this post, we'll donate $1 to the Fairbanks Food Bank. For every comment we receive on this post, we'll donate $5 to the Fairbanks Food Bank. This way, you can support your local food bank directly and we can also support ours. We'd love to hear about your local food bank in a comment, especially if they've touched your life (or someone you love) in some way!

Let's make sure we all have enough through our works. This is at the foundation of why we do what we do. You don't need a "platform" to make a difference, just making the choice to give back is what we really need. If many of us do so, it will make the world a better place for everyone.

P.S. In case you're curious about our festive picture? It comes from what's affectionately known as "Reindeer and Beer" in these parts. It's a super fun collaboration between our friends at Archipelago Farms and Hoodoo Brewing Company, conducted as an annual fundraiser for the Fairbanks Food Bank. We support it every year and have for a long time!

11/04/2025

Highly recommend.

Registration is open for a new Alaska master gardener course, which will be taught over Zoom.

Casey Matney and Darren Snyder, agriculture and horticulture agents with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service, will lead the course. It provides a broad horticultural background and includes Alaska-specific lessons on botany, soils, vegetable production using organic and conventional techniques, integrated pest management, greenhouses, lawns, houseplants, trees and shrubs, flowers and invasive plants.

​​Alaska master gardeners are credentialed by the UAF Cooperative Extension Service and are located in communities throughout the state. The prerequisites for becoming a master gardener include familiarity with Alaska gardening conditions and a commitment to 40 hours of volunteer time.

Classes will be Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3-5 p.m. from Dec. 2 to Feb. 27, 2026, with a break for the holidays. Registrants will receive a recording of each class. Register at https://bit.ly/OnlineMasterGarden.

The cost is $250, which includes a copy of Alaska’s Sustainable Gardening Handbook.

For more information, contact Casey Matney, [email protected] or 907-262-3443, or visit the UAF master gardener webpage, https://www.uaf.edu/ces/garden/mastergardeners/.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Accommodation requests related to a disability should be made five business days in advance to Alda Norris at [email protected] or 907-474-7120. Language access services, such as interpretation or translation of vital information, will be provided free of charge to individuals with limited English proficiency upon request to [email protected].

This work is supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

09/28/2025

I hate gardening in the snow.

09/27/2025

One last bouquet from my garden. It was snowing when I picked these Opopeo Amaranth.

08/31/2025

Calypso Farms snapdragons, from their seed. Still looking magnificent.

08/12/2025

Frost last night at the Garden. I think this has been the shortest growing season I’ve ever experienced.

06/16/2025

A robin with a mouthful of food for fledglings. I did see one fledgling out of a nest the other day so they are probably demanding a lot of food right now as they get ready to be on their own. At the Fairbanks Community Gardens Friday evening.

06/14/2025

Fresh garden veggies! Radish greens, Hakurei turnips and a mystery Hmong green whose name I can’t pronounce. It is amazing to me that one week we can have a frost warning in the next week I can be harvesting.

06/04/2025

Baby redpolls in the garden.