I was thinking about the effects of longer summer days on such critters as ducks & poultry, not to mention vegetables, and then I thought about Alaska and its crazy "time zone". I have no intention of moving up there, but can somebody up there tell me what effect the endless daylight has on the homestead garden & barn?

-- snoozy (allen@oz.net), June 13, 2000

Answers

Well, I have family up in AK. I was told that the Veggies,, get really big,,compaired to what is grown in the lower 48. Sometimes almost double their normal size. I have never asked them about their animals though.

-- Bergere (Autumnhaus@aol.com), June 14, 2000.

Hi, I grew up in Sweden, which is at the same latitude as Alaska. In the Northern parts of Sweden, above the arctic circle, the sun never sets in the summer. It is true that all veggies grow much faster. However, the growing season that far north is so short that the veggies don't necessarily get any bigger than anywhere else.

-- Helen (bluechicken@wildbearnet.net), June 14, 2000.

Just went to a poultry clinic, and the moderator, a vet who is employed by Purina Mills, told someone there NOT to keep the lights on in their hen house during the night, or it would "burn the hens out, trying to make eggs every day, and they would also eat more". Funny, as when it was really cold this winter, I did keep the light on all day and night, as the temp was just too cold, I thought for only 4 hens. Now, we have 46, so they can keep each other warm with body heat! Of course, this same "Dr." told everyone there that the crop only held water, and nothing else. When we butchered, the crops on our chickens that we hadn't withheld food from the day before, always had ground feed inside. Jan

-- Jan in Colorado (Janice12@aol.com), June 14, 2000.

I cant tell you anything about the barn part of your question, but the here in the Mat-Su borough(county) which is in southcentral Alaska (Anchorage is in the middle of it) the veggies can get huge. I havent had a chance to grow anything on my homestead yet (except stumps) but every year when I go to the county fair in Palmer Im amazed at the monster sized cabbages, lettuce heads, squashes, etc. If I remember right last years winner for a cabbage was a 600 pound cabbage(or maybe 800 pound, I cant remember exactly), I think up north near Fairbanks the growing season is really short due to the brutal cold winters. Down here its not so bad, we're in the "banana belt" of Alaska.

The microclimate in the Mat-Su area thaws out fairly early in late March or early April and the first snow around October. The soil is also very rich and there isnt any permafrost that traps groundwater so the drainage is pretty good too.

-- Dave (AK) (daveh@ecosse.net), June 14, 2000.

Dear Snoozy: Our Master Gardener's class instructor told us that the 24 hours of light increases the sugar starch content and thus the veggies are sweeter. Alaska potatoes are wonderful. We are in the cold interior where it has been hot and a long ways from the -60 degrees of the winter. Our chickens are small and are currently in an enclosed and insulated chicken house with a light for warmth. I don't know the effect on other animals but I do know the wild ones can at least be seen!!!!!! As for the humans, we are always on jet lag whether it is the constant summer light or the long winter dark. I"ve forgotten what it's like to have dark summer nights. Norma Lucas

-- Norma lucas (trooper806@webtv.net), June 15, 2000.

Thanks for the info, folks. Does anyone have experience raising ducks or chickens up there? Does it throw off their laying -- or jump it into high gear?

-- snoozy (allen@oz.net), June 16, 2000.

We had ducks and chickens when we were in Alaska, and I don't think the excessive daylight did anything to their laying. To my surprise, the dark in the winter (we didn't have electricity, so couldn't provide a light) didn't really seem to do a lot either -- we always had eggs, though had to gather them several times a day or they would freeze. Of course, we weren't counting eggs and keeping a chart or anything, so it may be that egg production fluctuated a little more than I remember it doing.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), June 16, 2000.