Palmer farm digs for fall color

While Alaska lacks the bright orange leaves that signal fall in other states, it has a bounty of orange underfoot.

It’s carrot harvest time in the Valley, and the crew at Pam’s Carrots is busy pulling the sweet, crisp veggies from the ground and packaging them for a winter’s worth of enjoyment.

This year, Pam Bue planted eight acres of carrots on the farm she and her husband, Brian, own just outside of Palmer. Bue said they started harvesting Aug. 25 and will continue until all the carrots are pulled or until a freeze traps them in the ground. She said she shoots for 300,000 pounds of carrots each year.

This is Bue’s 22nd year of carrot farming. It’s the only crop she grows commercially. She started when a friend asked her to help grow carrots for a school contract, then grew carrots for Larry DeVilbiss’ label. When DeVilbiss retired his carrot planter, she filled in the void.

“It just happened,” Bue said Friday as she and her crew harvested. “The next thing I was only growing carrots.”

Bue’s carrots are hailed for their sweetness in a state where sweet carrots are the norm, thanks to the long hours of daylight. Bue credits the variety she grows.

The upside is the sweetness; the downside is they are more fragile than common commercial varieties. They must be hand pulled and washed in small loads.

But that’s OK with Bue. She said she doesn’t mind keeping her operation small. Besides, she just loves to look at them.

“Carrots are a great crop because they’re so pretty,” Bue said, admiring a crate full of washed carrots waiting for packing.

Over in the Springer System at VanderWeele Farms, the carrot harvest is about two weeks away, said Michelle Keyes.

In the meantime, they have plenty of other crops to bring in.