September 25, 2005

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - Good honest farm work and recovery from alcohol and drug addictions still go hand in hand at Nugen's Ranch, especially this time of year, when summer's bounty is ready for harvest. On Wednesday, roughly a dozen recovering addicts pulled spuds from the ranch's small potatoes patch along the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. Men and women from all walks of life dug their hands into the soil to harvest the crop.

"Part of therapy and part of recovery is trying to instill a good work ethic in people who have been addicted for many years," said Vern Kjellsen, a foreman and supervisor at the ranch. "I'm a recovering alcoholic. I came here 13 years ago. As you recover from an addiction, you are growing emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. I relate that to the gardens and the animals."

Along with potato rows, ranch residents tend several vegetable gardens, rabbits, and 50 to 60 hogs. The goal is to incorporate recovering addicts into a working ranch, with daily chores and responsibilities.

"You plant the seeds for the gardens and nurture them to grow," Kjellsen explained. "These people get a sense in having had a hand in that - their lives are changing just as the land is changing. Sometimes they realize the correlation there."

The lesson was not lost on Randy, whose last name the ranch keeps confidential. As a burly, tattooed, 49-year-old recovering addict, Randy said the manual labor gives him a sense of meaning and purpose.

"Part of recovery is responsibility and learning to be a team," he said. "Out here, you're in Mother Nature, digging in the ground, getting your hands dirty and seeing that life comes from planting seeds."

Founded in 1981, the nonprofit ranch generally keeps residents for an average of one year before they transition back into society. During their stay, residents spend 10 to 20 percent of their time planting, harvesting and tending crops and animals.

Funding for the ranch comes primarily from state grants. Other funding sources, such as client fees,

a motorcycle raffle, thrift store sales and agriculture sales, help make up the difference.

Much of the agricultural products are consumed at the ranch, but whatever can't be eaten is generally sold at farmers markets.

By Wednesday afternoon, 36-year-old Lucinda had only been at the ranch for seven days, but said she's committed to turning her life around, even if it means digging in the dirt and slopping hogs.

"I enjoy it," she said. "I won't have to eat instant potatoes anymore, and it's helping me sweat the dope out of my body."

Contact Joel Davidson at

352-2266, or joel.davidson@ frontiersman.com.