About three dozen bikes sat abandoned in the New Hope Compassionate Ministries’ parking lot as their riders wandered through one of Anchorage’s unexpected gardens. The Garden of Weeden sits in the corner of a parking lot and could easily be mistaken for just an unkempt shamble of bushes.
However, as soon as you walk through it, stumbling across merrily growing roses, mint, strawberries and rhubarb, it’s easy to recognize it as a freely growing garden composed mostly of plants that volunteered themselves to the space.
The cyclists explored it fully on a recent evening, stopping to pluck off leaves of mint and plop strawberries in their mouths. Their curiosity and excitement is exactly what the latest rendition of the Anchorage Museum bike tours was meant to spark.
The Anchorage Museum, partnering with community leaders and the non-profit organization Bike Anchorage, has been hosting bike tours for over a year now. The two-hour tour on July 11 showcased gardens in downtown Anchorage.
Nick Riordon, co-president of Alaska Master Gardeners Anchorage, led the tour. Riordon was enthusiastic as he talked about building sustainable plant architecture during the group’s first stop at the SEED Lab. There, bikers also gathered around to hear from Leah Moss from the Alaska Food Policy Council. Moss is focused on building a more robust agriculture infrastructure in Alaska.
“Ninety-five percent of our food comes from out of state,” Moss said. “We’d like to change that.”
To do that, the Alaska Food Policy Council’s efforts include hosting information groups, lobbying in Washington, D.C., and leading workshops empowering Alaskans to grow their own food.
The intersection of gardening and community was spotlighted throughout the tour. At stops from the I Street Community Garden and the Centennial Rose Garden, the group heard from garden leaders about the opportunities to get their hands dirty.
At the Centennial Rose Garden, Debbie Hinchey, a leader within the Alaska Rose Society, advertised the group’s pull parties that happen every Thursday in the garden. Volunteers can prune, weed, mulch or contribute in any other way they want to at these weekly gatherings.
Without volunteers, the Centennial Rose Garden would not exist — and Anchorage wouldn’t only lose a green space but a part of history.
The Centennial Rose Garden was built in 1967 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the purchase of Alaska from Russia, Hinchey said. The roses within the garden are a mixture of roses that stem from 1967 or their descendants.
As the tour continued, cyclists shared some of their own goals for agriculture in Alaska, including increased support for farmers and the ability to get more produce from closer to home.
The next bike tour will be on Aug. 8 and will lead riders around public art exhibits throughout Anchorage.
