Around Talkeetna #4; The Birch Creek Ranch.

When you live where we do, nothing is “around the corner”. The nearest grocery store is a 30 minute drive away, for example. The one exception perhaps is the Birch Creek Ranch; we’re practically neighbors. The Birch Creek Ranch is a farm which produces vegetables and flowers. It is owned and operated by the enigmatic Brian Kingsbury, who I’m fairly certain is actually a brilliant theoretical physicist who snapped one day and decided to grow vegetables instead of unraveling string theory. He’s quite possibly the only person in this town who is more eccentric than I am. This past Friday I picked up a bunch of vegetable starts and some pretty flowers from the greenhouses at the Birch Creek Ranch.

You Don’t Need Pants for the Victory Dance, But You Do Need Plants for the Victory Garden!

The plant starts from Birch Creek Ranch are always healthy and free of bugs. I’ve purchased some really infested plants from other nurseries before with devastating results. No such worries with plants from Birch Creek! The flowers are always in wonderful shape too. I bought entirely too many flowers this year, as I wanted to make things extra nice for my mother’s visit this year. Alas, COVID got in the way and mom will not be enjoying her flowers after all. The Sky Pandas approve though:

Not all my plants are from Birch Creek Ranch. Rigel, my aspiring geologist with a knack and love for botany, starts seeds in his tiny greenhouse as well.

I also have my Poison Garden with my extra special babies.

As far as my main garden goes, everything that could go wrong did go wrong so far. I have ample space to grow plants, but most of my acreage is forested. The part that is not forested has really crappy soil. Don’t get me wrong, it is entirely possible to grow vegetables in my field, but it takes a lot of work to get the conditions right, and I just did not have the time this year. We’ve also lost an entire pumpkin patch to a family of moose before. It was Rigel’s project and he was absolutely gutted. He had babied those pumpkin plants in his tiny greenhouse, carefully transplanted and cared for them, all season, only for all to be lost in the end. Lastly, the fantastic greenhouse kit I had purchased and paid for was sold out from under me. I did get my money back, but am now left without a decent size greenhouse (again). We already found a big, fresh pile of moose shit in the garden area this morning.

We also have the occasional miniature dinosaur to deal with and an exceptionally stubborn sheep named Emma, who goes where she wants, whenever she wants (really, why do people use the word “sheep” for those who are easily convinced of things?)

So, being in terrible shape to plant a garden this year, but with a load of plant starts pre-ordered, we went full-on ghetto.

There are mismatched containers of every sort, an old bird cage is the trellis for the peas. I even repurposed an old Pack ‘n Play, which works surprisingly well.

It’s an eyesore, but I am nothing if not resourceful!

In no shape or form is this garden enough to actually make a big dent in my food bills, but it brings the children and I so much joy. Thankfully the Birch Creek Ranch also has a CSA which will keep you eating healthy veg until September! I highly recommend their vegetable shares (although I am not sure if they are full up for the year yet, so be sure to inquire sooner rather than later if you are interested).

In short, you should plant a garden, whether you grow vegetables, herbs, or food for the sky pandas, Birch Creek Ranch is the place to go. Their greenhouse retail sales only last a few weeks, so don’t wait too long; the season is short this far north.