Meyers farm in Bethel

While poking about Bethel I ran into a farm ..a real working farm of about 1.5 to 2 acres and stopped to check it out. I Hallooed and knocked on doors but no one was there for the 30 minutes or so I was there looking around. It was a very clean set up and had a machine shop, two green houses, a chicken coop with at least a dozen chickens and 2 roosters, a couple of small barns etc. They had a compost operation but I didnt smell any fish so I am not sure what exactly they were using for fertilizer (I dont know if it was organic as there was absolutely no signs anywhere). Surrounding the property at various intervals were square steele black tanks that looked to be used for irrigation and there were 2 wind mills that had tubes going into 55 gallon drums (???). The soil was fine nutrient rich river silt that looked to have had much organic matter added...really rich loamy looking stuff. It was all very compact but very well organized and spotless. Really impressive operation.
You can see the farm is compact.
Not sure what the windmill was pumping into the barrels, water is absolutely everywhere in Bethel.

The vegetables inside the greenhouse and in the rows looked to be in outstanding shape and really healthy.

About 12 hens and 2 roosters.....fryers maybe?

View towards the barn and 2 greenhouses.
If they can grow stuff this good looking in Bethel we should be able to do something productive in Missouri!!

Western Alaska Trip

Spent the last week in Bethel and flying to western Alaska villages to inspect government property. The weather was beautiful, the people as usual were great, and it was absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, while there they had several deaths from drowning and one woman just disappeared at fish camp. There is little employment in the villages and high rates of substance abuse, domestic violence, and sexual assault and it was amazing to see the differences between villages. Some were clean and you could tell the village elders had tight reign on the affairs of the village, others...not so much. Personally, I love to visit but would not want to live there full time. You cannot imagine flying for hours over the tundra or in this case the Yukon/Kuskokwim river delta and seeing almost nothing...a few birds but not much else.


This village is built on permafrost and over a river drainage, roads are wooden planked for ATVs for the most part.

I think this is the air field office
Joshua and Alene

Yes I see the rabbit ears

Whole lotta nuttin

Raise your hand if you want to fly on this rig

Contemplation

2 July 2009 - 11 Months from freedom and the move. Our decision to sell everything, retire early, and move from Alaska to Missouri increasingly comes into focus. Holly and I have been homesteading for a few years now without really knowing it..we have been increasingly interested in gardening, self reliance, and hunting/gathering as a way of life. Coupled with this is a desire for a return to old fashioned values and an enjoyment of old things. We like old stoves, toasters, cars, trucks, tractors, furniture....? The collapse of the economy and the general feeling of unease in the country seems to make our decision clear.

We are approaching 50, all 5 kids are grown, Holly has 11 years of State employment and I have 33 years of service in the Marine Corps and Army, 24 years of which is active duty. Our plan is to retire to the Ozarks, live on a rural property where we will have gardens, some animals, and a decent shop/barn. I need peace..I cant explain it beyond that.

So far we have sold our fishing boat...

Motorcycles....

And some household goods. Right now we are concentrating on getting the house ready to sell and gardening...