Growing Tomatoes in Alaska
 

The golden heart of Alaska, as the interior is affectionately known, has the warmest summers in the state.  With almost twenty-four hours of daylight, plants grow to gargantuan proportions.  The record cabbage at the Tanana Valley Fair is 62 pounds.

The 2000 "Give Peas a Chance" fair winner weighed in at a mere 35 pounds.  Okay, so that's no where near the record holder.  It's still heavier and bigger than most two-year old children who just might say,

"Mom, I don't want to eat my cabbage.  It's bigger than me."

Visitors to Fairbanks gawk at the plethora of flora at local hotels.  In other words, Fairbanks produces the prettiest flower gardens in Alaska.

What about personal gardens?

Even a person without a green thumb can grow a gorgeous garden.  The secret lies in choosing the varieties that grow well in long daylight, cool temperatures, and a short growing season.

The last spring frost might come as late as June 1.  Snow has fallen on June 5 and then melts.  The first frost of autumn might nip the plants in August.  Thus, gardeners have a limited ninety-day growing season.

One year I cleared off a large spot to devote to growing tomatoes.  I chose the variety, Better Boy, because I remembered the juicy tomatoes my parents grew in their garden in Indiana.

In March, I planted the seeds indoors under fluorescent lights.  As they grew, I transplanted them into four-inch pots.  By the end of April, I moved the plants into my attached greenhouse.

After rototilling the soil and covering it with a large sheet of black plastic (visqueen), I planted 100 Better Boy tomato plants.  If each plant gave me one tomato, I would surely have enough to can them.

By August the vines sprawled and were covered with luscious green fruit.  I started pinching all the new blossoms so that the tomatoes would ripen.

On August 30, the weatherman predicted, "Frost tonight."

"It's not unusual to have a hard frost in the last week of August," said weather service meteorologist, Dan Hancock.  "The temperature dips below 32 degrees in August about every other year."

Cold air hits first in low-lying areas around Fairbanks.  I was hoping to be spared because I live at a higher elevation.  As the evening cooled, the temperature dropped.  I watched the thermometer.  I watched my tomato garden.  I watched the thermometer.

"If you can't pick 'em, cover 'em," said Holm, owner of Holm Town Nursery in Fairbanks.

"You've got nothing to lose."

How was I going to cover a 200-foot-square patch of tomato plants?

Finally, I admitted defeat.  I pulled up a dozen plants by the roots, and hung them in my garage.  Then we had fried green tomatoes for a late supper.

The next morning, my tomato patch was a slimy black heap.  Eventually the vines hanging in the garage dehydrated and the green tomatoes shriveled before they could ripen.  I didn't get a single red tomato from all that work.

The moral of the story:  Use plant varieties that have been developed and tested specifically for growing in interior Alaska.