So, a Minnesota farmer was a guest at our house. A guest mind you. And he scoffed at my corn crop. Now here is a man with no imagination. No appreciation for just what latitude 59 can offer.

I say to hell with Minnesota farmers.

I have been introduced to a new term: subsistence gardening. How excellent. Although this is what I have been doing for 33 years, it is sort of nice to have a tidy label to go along with the entire process.

And what a process it is. I have been giving this a great deal of thought. There is a tremendous amount of work that goes into this vegetable plot. And there is a commensurate amount of satisfaction. Not everyone in Alaska is eating corn from their garden twice a day.

But I did not give the Minnesota farmer all of the reasons why my corn does not look like his. Why I chose an early maturing, short season variety so that I would be able to have any edible corn at all. I did not go into my usual tirade: “Do you realize that you are at latitude 59 degrees? That this is the sub-Arctic? That this is the Far North? Hello?”

I must be mellowing in my 56th year. Lucky Minnesota farmer.

The artichokes are so delicious. I am so grateful that I gave these a try several years ago. If you are not growing these magnificent plants and eating the best artichokes in the entire world you are behind the curve.

I know that they are a perennial (a plant that comes back each year) in milder climates. I have a friend that managed to hold hers over one winter but not again. I have yet to get mine to make it through a winter, although this year I have a plan that just may work. But I will still start two plants from seed just in case it does not work, because there is no way that I will be without my artichokes (Green Globe). You need to put these on your list of must-have plants for next year. Just keep in mind that they take about three or four square feet of space per plant.

Hold off on harvesting your onions until the tops have fallen over and, if we are very lucky with the weather, the tops have started to turn brown and dry out. This has never happened to my onions. It usually starts to rain with vengeance just when the onions should be maturing. Last year we went on a trip and I had to harvest the onions before I really wanted to. They rotted. Very disappointing. This year I hope to improvise some kind of a shelter to protect them from the rain. We’ll see.

What about your winter squash? I have two different kinds of acorn squash out there and they are molding before they mature. Why? Who has the answer to this? Are they planted too close together? Methinks that next year I will give them more space. They are both bush varieties that I have put a trellis around so they are growing up instead of out. No luck. It certainly looked like it should work.

What about your green beans? I have put gallons of green beans into the freezer. What a joy. What a delight. The adage “the more you pick the more you get” is an accurate reality. The bush varieties cannot be beat. Every year I plant Provider and then another just to see how it behaves. I have had excellent luck with soaking the seeds for 24 hours and then planting them under a greenhouse umbrella in mid-May. This has proven more successful for me than waiting for the soil to warm (about mid-June) and then planting. Those that were planted a month later without the greenhouse umbrella are just now starting to produce and I am having trouble beating the slugs to them. It is always a great idea to try new planting methods, just be sure you have a backup plan.

You can be harvesting your potatoes if you have not already done so by now. If you plan on storing them you can wait for the tops to die back but if you just want them for dinner, go for it. We have been eating potatoes for more than a month. They are so lovely when fresh from the garden. It makes me reluctant to eat a potato from the store ever again. I planted three different kinds with German Butterball being the new variety. Very excellent. I couldn’t find the peanut (some call them banana) potato seed that we absolutely love. Apparently there was a seed crop failure. I hope this never happens to me again. I haven’t enough room to store potatoes, thus I cannot save any for seed.

The Matanuska-Susitna Valley, where potatoes are grown commercially, is experiencing potato blight. This is just too nasty. The tops of the plant die and then the tuber itself will turn to mush in storage. Nasty. Alaska has been relatively free of this blight. Its appearance can be attributed to imported seed potatoes. I don’t think our warming climate is helping this any. We will be seeing more and more diseases and pests than we have never seen here before. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

My carrots have a tough core. This is something new for me. I have been planting Nantes for years and have never had them behave like this. Not enough water? Too much heat? What is the deal with this?

The broccoli will not quit. There is more broccoli out there than I have ever seen. I just keep harvesting. I am beginning to think there just may be too much. What a concept.

What about your cut and come again lettuce? This is when you cut the main head at the base of the stem and let the root ball remain in place. A new head of lettuce will start growing again. I have cut mine three times this summer and it just keeps coming on. The favorite lettuce for this season is Sangria. It is a beautiful butterhead with purple and pink splashed across the green. But really, you just can’t go wrong with whatever lettuce you plant. Choose one that suits your fancy.

Harvesting has been an ongoing activity this season. There has been something going into the freezer weekly. And, as of today, I have been gardening outdoors for four full months.

Take that, you Minnesota farmer.

Rosemary Fitzpatrick has been gardening with gusto in Homer for 27 years.