Smiles were blooming Saturday morning along with the plants at the Juneau Garden Club’s annual outdoor plant sale in the Safeway grocery store parking lot. Nonprofit groups and commercial vendors offered flower, vegetable, tree and berry plants with the goal of raising money to support various community projects around town.
“We provide beautification and education for projects such as plantings at the Pioneer Home, Arbor Day tree planting, and a ‘barrel’ of flowers downtown,” said Susan Cox, president of the Juneau Garden Club. There are six nonprofit garden organizations that alternate the yearly task of organizing the plant sale. Safeway donates the store parking lot space for the popular springtime event which has been ongoing “for decades,” Cox said.
The all-volunteer organizers offer plants raised and donated from members’ gardens and collect a percentage fee from commercial businesses’ sales.
Thane Community Garden’s Lauren Smoker discusses parsley varieties with valley gardener Kyleen Luhrs while young Della holds her mother’s basket containing a potted rosemary plant. Living near the glacier has not deterred Luhrs’ food growing efforts, although plants are slower to emerge than in warmer Thane. She has six large raised beds for growing greens, zucchini, beets, other edibles and many varieties of berries. Her family converted their lawn to food production as well as perennial flowers. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire)
A new program of the club, in collaboration with the City and Borough of Juneau, is mapping the trees at the Evergreen Cemetery in the hope of making the city-owned cemetery an accredited arboretum.
Valley resident Silver Ligsay tugged his garden wagon laden with young tomato, kale, bok choy and zucchini plants toward his car. This year he is expanding his raised bed vegetable garden and using a small greenhouse for the temperature-sensitive tomatoes. Last year, Ligsay grew his first tomatoes and surprised his 18- and 11-year-old children with the “much better taste” of fresh tomatoes grown in Juneau.
“I like to buy local plants because I know they will grow here,” Ligsay added.
Community gardens — in addition to the well-established Juneau community garden on Montana Creek Road — have sprouted in recent years. The nonprofit Thane Community Garden opened in 2023 with 20 raised gardening beds measuring 4 feet by 20 feet and other facilities.
Aproned, bearded and ball-capped Ed Buyarksi, owner of Ed’s Edible Landscaping, stays busy with shoppers near his truckload of plants and trees at Saturday’s Juneau Garden Club plant sale in the Safeway parking lot. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire)
Tackling garden predators can be a daunting challenge. Slugs thrive in Southeast Alaska’s wet climate to the annoyance of gardeners. Steve Brockmann developed an alternative to the typical unattractive homemade slug bait vessels people often use. He designs and builds slug bait containers using a 3D printer and non-toxic, plant-based plastic made from corn or other renewable materials.
His crab-, turtle- and mushroom-design Slug Getters are a modification of simple dome traps that lure slugs into a cup of beer.
“Instead of the usual empty yogurt cup with holes drilled into it,” Brockmann said, the shapes look more suitable in a garden. He adds a crucial note of advice to buyers.
“Don’t use good beer for slugs,” the retired wildlife biologist said. “Old, stale beer works fine.”
• Contact Laurie Craig at laurie.craig@juneauempire.com.
Silver Ligsay brought his own garden wagon to haul his new vegetables home. He purchased tomatoes, zucchini, bok choy and kale. He is both gardener and cook for his family. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire)
