Common Ground Alaska Farmstead

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Common Ground Alaska Farmstead

Welcome to our page where we will talk about farming, gardening, and all things dirt - learning to thrive right where we are. Come join us!
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This is a site to help Alaskans work together to not just survive in Alaska but to thrive. Posting pertinent information for all Alaskans on farming locally, buying local, living frugal, etc.

12/05/2025

Sheesh! You show up to feed breakfast 10 minutes late and you’d think the animals are all on the verge of starvation!

12/03/2025

Okay folks, we seem to be headed into a very cold snap - and we don’t have much snow for insulation. (Some places don’t have any snow - green grass in December?!? That is not good!)

This could be very hard on your perennials and your orchard plants.

So let’s talk about what to do.

First, if you have just a few perennials or orchard plants, find something to use to mulch them nice and deep.

You can use straw, wood shavings, leaves, h**p shavings, etc. Heck, you can even use hay but the grass will grow thick where you do so be sure you don’t use hay in your garden beds. (I did last year in my garlic because it was what I had — and I fought grass all summer.) 😳😕

Something to remember: snow works as insulation but ice doesn’t. If you’ve used snow as mulch and that snow has turned to ice, you might want to get something else on it.

Now, if your area is too big to mulch everything, there isn’t really much you can do except make sure your plants are protected from their other enemies - rodents.

Winters like this are very hard on orchard plants. The last thing they need is to have to recover from rodent damage this spring as well as the winter weather damage.

This is the nature of growing stuff in Alaska. Man. It’s not easy. Especially in years like this.

I don’t have any for-sure answers but we are right there with you - operating on a wing and a prayer.

12/02/2025

The plant presale is up!

https://commongroundalaska.com/product-category/plants-shrubs-trees-bushes/

Answers to some FAQ:

😎 We do not allow exchanges in the bundles - I have no way to keep track of inventory if we have changes - I wish we could but not at this time.

😎 Yes, we do graft apple trees from our trees here and sell them and yes, they are a very good price but we don’t include them in the presale. They will be one-year-old trees in the spring and you can pick the ones you want at the open house. They are pretty limited in number and they do go very fast.

😎 We do not ship the plants. Plant pickup is Mother’s Day Weekend, 2026 here on the farm. We reserve them for you so you are sure youll get what you want. If you cant pick your plants up that weekend but still want to participate in the sale, just send me an email and we can likely work things out. 🙂

😎 Not all of the plants are propagated on the farm quite yet. Many of them are but some are still imported from our supplier in Canada. We are super excited to get that number to 100% but that will take time. 🙂

😎 Bare root plants aren’t from the farm, we ship those in from the east coast. However, this is the same company weve used for years and years and our customers are always pleased with their plants.

😎 We do this presale for a few reasons. It helps us plan for years to come to measure the demand. This is a long game - with lots of planning and thinking ahead. Also, it helps the farm get through the lean months of winter. 🙂

Have more questions? Feel free to ask! We love helping!

https://commongroundalaska.com/product-category/plants-shrubs-trees-bushes/

12/02/2025

It’s seed catalog time! Comment with your favorites so we can all subscribe!

We love getting catalogs from:
🥕 Seed Savers Exchange
🥕 Territorial Seed company,
🥕 Fedco
🥕 Pinetree
🥕 John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds
🥕 Burpees
🥕 Johnnys

We don’t buy from all of these and we purchase from folks who don’t have a catalog, too. But I think a catalog thread would be fun!

12/02/2025

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! We have been awarded a propagation license for our Honeyberries and Bush Cherries so - we are now the ONLY ones in Alaska who can propagate these plants directly from the farm! This means no more importing and no more shipping - just plants straight from our farm to yours.

AND - this will bring costs down as well as making a fully sustainable product. Thank you, University of Sasketchewan, for trusting us and for awarding us this license. No one else is the state is able to do this - we are so honored!

12/01/2025

MONDAYS WITH MABEL:

Hey guys, it's Mabel - and I have so many stories to tell but mama says only one story at a time - so keep watching because we've had some crazy times this last couple of weeks!

Okay, today's story is our Thanksgiving Day story. I don't really understand why they call it Thanksgiving Day is except I know that I was thankful that the barn didn't fall down that day!

Mama fed a little early so Millie and I were chomping our grain and the chickens were all outside pecking up their breakfast when all of a sudden, everything started to shake!

The ground was moving, the barn was making super not-good sounds, and Millie and I had no idea what to do. You see, if mama hadn't fed early, she would have been in there with us and would have been able to help us feel better but she was up at the house already! ((Daddy says that had mama been in the barn, she would NOT have helped calm us down one bit but I'm not sure what he means by that.))

Anyway, Millie and I and the chickens did the only thing we knew to do. We started hollering! I MOOOOOO'd and MOOOOOO'd. Millie said her usual b-a-a-a-a-a-a and the chickens squawked and squawked. The roosters crowed so loud our ears hurt!

And the shaking stopped!

i'm pretty sure we scared it off - whatever it was. So if you felt the shaking and it scared you, too - you're welcome. We stopped it.

We kept up the ruckus for a bit after it was over, to make sure it was good and scared away. Because we did NOT want it to come back!

But here's where the story gets crazy. It was a REALLY good thing we got practice scaring stuff off because it was only a couple of days later when the BIG scary thing happened!

But mama says just one story each time so you'll have to wait until I'm allowed to come back for the rest of the story.

Trust me, it's a doozy!

12/01/2025

Haha! Boy can I relate to these two!

Getting started this morning was rough! How are you doing this morning?

I can hear that the barn is waking up and it’s about feeding time so here we go!

Ready or not, let’s do this!

11/26/2025

Need a last minute fresh turkey?

11/25/2025

I love making the rolls for Thanksgiving - but it's hard to choose a recipe! Here are three of our favorites. One is regular, one is using sourdough, and one is using fresh milled flour. Take your pick!

Be sure to save this post so you can find these recipes when you need them. Also, be sure to share so others can have the recipes, too!

The traditional roll recipe is the one I've used since I was married and I got the recipe from my mom who used it every holiday of my childhood.

The sourdough rolls are our newest favorite. I adapted it from a recipe that I found from Farmhouse on Boone - it's so yummy! You can use AP flour in place of the bread flour but I like to use a whole wheat bread flour for these rolls, myself.

The fresh milled Hawaiian rolls are just the right mix of sweet and tangy. They are fluffy and filling, and so good for you, too!

Enjoy!

11/25/2025

You already have a fridge stuffed with a thawing turkey, a full ham, and now you have to find space for pies, deviled eggs, salad, and ... the list goes on!

You've got this. 🙂 Just keep juggling, moving, and switching things around until it all fits.

Besides, you need the practice because Thursday afternoon you have to fit in all those leftovers!

Address

Big Lake, AK

Telephone

+19073548551

Website

http://www.commongroundalaska.com/

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