The Southeast Alaska State Fair is underway in Haines. Each year it brings old friends to town, but it often brings new friends as well. When Foundroot came down from Palmer to exhibit at the fair, they came out to visit us on the “homestead.”
Foundroot is a 100% open-pollinated seed and sustainable homestead supply company for challenging climates. The young owners, Leah and Nick, seek to foster a community of seed-savers, gardeners, and homesteaders who work harmoniously with their local ecology. These are our kind of people!
I discovered Foundroot when I checked my Twitter account to see who has been following me (you can follow us too, see the link buttons on this page). I followed them in turn, because their project appeals to me. When I heard that they were coming to Haines, I asked them to look us up. They did, and we invited them out to the “homestead” for dinner and an overnight stay.
We had a classic summer day for their visit. I waited for them in Mud Bay aboard Dave and Anke’s boat, Slacktide (see The “Boat People” Have Arrived) until they arrived at the bay. Nick had a pack raft, so he set that up and paddled out, while Dave and I picked up Leah in the dory. We visited aboard until Michelle paddled up in her kayak. Everyone shuttled ashore and headed overland for the cabin, except Nick and me. We judged conditions to be favorable, so we traveled by water, he in his pack raft and me in my kayak. Harbor porpoises fished around us, flashing in the sunshine as we made our way through the translucent green waters of the fjord.
We toured the garden (of course!) feasted on one of our homestead specialties, bumbleweed pesto (see Am I Working Too Hard? – Bumbleweed Pesto) homemade wines, and a birthday cake we’d made in Aly’s honor the day before. We sat out on the veranda till late, enjoying the view and the parade of tour ships cruising south for Juneau.
Our new friends slept comfortably in our guesthouse, catching up on sleep they’d missed since making the long drive from Palmer. Michelle left for work, but I enjoyed a long, leisurely breakfast chat with our guests before leading them back to the bay.
If you’re in town for the Southeast Alaska State Fair, be sure to look for their booth, adjacent to Payson Pavillion. They have lots of gardenable goodies, gourmet items like rhubarb barbecue sauce, and salves. Plus, they’re really nice, very interesting, very knowledgeable people, well worth getting to know.
We entertain non-family visitors from time to time. These visits have always been special events, creating pleasant memories and new friendships. We rarely mention these visits on the blog, to protect their privacy and ours. This time, because their work is so important to us and others (or should be) we wanted to give them a bit of a plug.