Introduction: Hello! I am Sarah Evans, and have been living/working in the Fairbanks area for a little over a decade. Before that, I lived up above the Arctic Circle I am currently an elementary school teacher, and my focus recently has been on English Language Learners, effective/efficient reading instruction, and all things STEAM. Trial and error & group exploration are an important part of my classroom model. Outside of work, I have recently been playing with embroidery and ceramics, and yoga has been a long-time hobby. My dog, Mitsi, and I do agility, though we don’t compete in trials. I love spending time with my family and enjoying Fairbanks’ many events.
My Botanical Journey: Up until this point, I have learned almost nothing about plants. 🙂 I love having plants inside my house, but the bugs & I have disagreements about who is allowed to use which space and when, so outdoor gardening/foraging is tricky for me. That being said, previous to moving to fairbanks, my family and I did a fair amount of berry picking (lowbush cranberry and blueberry), and I still like to get out to harvest my own berries here, as well. I would love to learn more about foraging mushrooms, but since I know I won’t eat them, I haven’t yet.
Favorite Plants: I love growing succulents inside my house (string of pearls is my favorite), and my current focus is a lemon tree (it is not going well). I love all sorts of flowers, as well, but those don’t tend to grow as well inside. I included photos of some Columbine flowers from my mother’s garden. My favorite vegetable to grow is a zucchini, because they’re so satisfying & are easy to save for winter (shredded, in the freezer), so there is little to no waste.
Welcome Sarah,
yes, mosquitoes are a bit of a nuisance for me too. Yesterday I sat on the porch eating lunch, and I got bit 5 times and develop pretty sizable welts from these bites. But it is Alaska… Zucchinis are amazing, I love making zucchini bread. Did you know that zucchinis are a kind of a berry, a pepo, a specialized berry with a hardened rind and parietal placentation. All plants in the Cucurbitaceae (squash family) have pepos. Just as many other cultivated plants, plants in the squash family have a long history of cultivation and the nearest relatives of the English cucumber are small fruited wild plants. See https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1369526618300323
That is so cool!