Delta Junction: Farming Isn't Easy When The Average Temperature is 27 Degrees

Rika's Roadhouse truck garden is just a display. But it probably mirrors the actual thing very well.

Of course, there are summers in Alaska. And things grow. But when you live in a place where the average temperature -- year-round -- is 5º or more below freezing, then you've got a problem trying to rely on agriculture. Worse, it can freeze any month of the year!

This is Rika's Roadhouse, on the Tanana River, in Delta Junction, Alaska. Rika's is a state historical park that was rehabilitated in the 1980's. All of its outbuildings are still in place, and people can go there -- free -- and see the small "townlike" setting that typified the Alaska Roadhouse during its heyday at the end of the 1890's and into the first decades of the 1900's. Rika's Roadhouse is on the Valdez Trail, between Valdez & Fairbanks. Gardens such as this one provided food for locals, the people operating the roadhouse, and for travelers. This demonstration garden is thriving; the summer of 2013 was exceptionally warm in Alaska, with summer extending well into the start of the second half of September. It's not always like that. Nevertheless, Delta Junction is a massive farming community, surrounded by huge farms and agricultural areas.