Palmer - Day 2

Went to the Visiting Center to gather information.  It turns out that they also have a beautiful garden on premises.

We learned that Palmer has earned many awards in the past, due to growing some the largest vegetables in the country.  The largest Cabbage in 2012 at 138.25 pounds.  The largest Carrot in 1998 at 18.99 pounds.  Watermelon in 2005 at 168.60 pounds.  The Matanuska Valley is known as the land of giants.  Several things account for this.  Many vegetables have adapted to cool temperatures, so they keep growing even as temps dip near freezing.  Also the valley soil is rich in nutrients deposited here by glaciers long ago.  In addition, AK is insulated from many insects, disease and weeds, but their number one cause of growth, is daylight.  The longer days help in growth past midnight. 

We also visited a Musk Ox Farm.  We learned more than we ever dreamed about.   A very interesting and resilient animal.  The Musk Ox is a prehistoric, arctic mammal.  It lived during the time of the Mastodon and Wooly Mammoth.  After the Ice Age, the Musk Ox is still the surviving species.  It is related to sheep and goats.  As such, it has split 2 toes hooves the same as their cousins.  In addition, they are also ruminants like cows.  The experiment to domesticate this animal has been on-going since 1954 in the attempt to supplement the economic Alaskan Communities.  Its long hair shields an underlying fiber that it sheds annually.  This fiber called “qiviut” (ki-ve-oot) is 8x warmer than wool.  It is processed and sold to make scarves, sweaters and many other garments.  It is very soft and anti-itch as well as hypoallergenic.  As a result, it is very expensive.

Female

Male

Mom and babies.  Only one is hers

2 yr old's horn broken in altercation with older adult female 

2 month old

In the afternoon, we went to near-by “Echo Lake” and finally had an opportunity to kayak.  This is a very quiet, peaceful lake with great backdrops as can be seen here

One item we keep forgetting to mention is how Alaskans LOVE their coffee.  There are “Espresso” kiosks in every town and almost every other corner.  These are drive through places where you can purchase espresso coffee in many varieties.  We have been amazed by the quantities of these and the long drive-thru lines seen everywhere.  The espresso is very strong and delicious!

We are so taken by this place that we have extended our stay to 2 additional nights.