Page 21 - Skagway Virtual Guide

GARDEN TO TABLE
Photo by Elise Giordano
The height of the Gold Rush had barely passed when local residents began exercising their green thumbs. One family grew potatoes in 1898, and the following year a visitor gushed that “all sorts of vegetables are grown in the gardens” here. The area’s potential as a farming center grew. Local farms were prominently mentioned in several early Agricultural Department publications, and the town was seriously considered as a site for an agricultural experiment station.
Today, Skagway’s gardening tradition continues. The Historic Skagway Inn hosts an on-site garden. Their Kitchen Science Alaska tour allows you to work with foods common in Alaska and get hands- on experience in smoking (cooking) and tasting fish caught in Alaska, and greens are grown in their Alaskan garden. Vegetables & spices freshly harvested from the garden, along with locally sourced seafood and wild Alaskan game meat, can be sampled at their restaurant, Olivia’s Bistro!
Leading the way on the sustainable front is the Skagway Brewing Company. Processing biodiesel, re-claiming CO2, and aeroponics are a few of the significant endeavours they have taken on.
Known for their Spruce Tip Blonde Ale, brewed with locally handpicked Sitka Spruce tip buds, The Skagway Brewing Company is carrying on Skagway’s gardening tradition in their state-of- the-art aeroponic farm. Their year-round garden has a high production rate in a small space that gives food security to their three restaurants and the community of Skagway. On-premise, they grow 100% of their mixed greens and 80% of their herbs, and they will start peppers, tomatoes and strawberries in the spring. Weekly, they harvest 900 to 1,200 plants.
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