2018 marks the 51st year of vegetable production for Ben VanderWeele and his family. On this edition of Ag Matters Radio Amy and Ben chat about the changes Ben has seen over that time period and why he supports the Alaska Farmland Trust.
AUTHOR | Kerry Nelson
If you live in Palmer, you most likely already know the name Ben VanderWeele. Maybe you’re lucky enough to be a close friend. Maybe you’ve seen the picture of Ben and his family, hanging proudly above their produce at the grocery store. Or maybe you think you don’t know him – but you do. The food that Ben grows is literally an extension of himself. Chances are that you have bought and eaten a potato or carrot grown on his farm. That means you’re more than halfway there to knowing who Ben VanderWeele is.
A Dutch Couple Walks Into A Small Alaskan Town
Ben and his wife Suus landed in Palmer on July 2, 1967. The town was a far cry from their native Netherlands home, but it did have something that Ben was intimately familiar with; farming. A tenth generation farmer, his family’s long history of growing food is in his blood. Needless to say, the VanderWeele’s started farming almost immediately upon their arrival.
Back then, it was not economically feasible for a young family to farm in the Netherlands. Ben’s parents had lost their farm due to city expansion. Though they were compensated for it, land became so expensive that it didn’t make sense to start new. Ben was determined to make it his life regardless. He’s since reflected on this decision, joking that his siblings are “smarter than me – they didn’t get involved in agriculture.”
After high school, Ben went on to study ag. He spent some of that time as an exchange student in Canada, quickly realizing there was more opportunity for farming in North America than in Europe. His sister was working as a stewardess at the time for Royal Dutch airlines. In the sixties, planes could not fly over Russian airspace. So, Europeans flew over the pole from Amsterdam to Anchorage. Having spent a good amount of time exploring the town and surrounding MatSu Valley, his sister steered Ben towards Palmer to check out its farming potential.
The Family That Farms Together, Stays Together
Palmer was a very different place then. Ben specifically recalls the dust. Gravel roads wove the little town together with its many farms. Most of those farms are long gone, making way for subdivisions and convenience food shipped up from the Lower 48. Ben is still here though. Over fifty years growing in Palmer has turned him into a patriarch of farming in Alaska.
As a father of farming, Ben is lucky to have fathered three children to pass his skills onto. Three children who came back to the farm after leaving the nest. The gene was passed on. You can tell how proud Ben is with this outcome. Each manage their own roles, but they all still pitch in together to seed, transplant and harvest. “They have pretty much taken over,” Ben says, adding “they like to boss their parents around.”
Ben has always maintained a successful farm, but his family’s involvement has really helped to push it to the next level. During the summer, they work long days, seven days a week – a normal life for any farmer. In the winter, they are still working five days a week thanks to their small packaging operation. They are able to offer year-round employment, a rarity for most farmers. Workers pack up the root crops stored all winter for distribution to grocery stores and restaurants.
VanderWeele Farm Is No Small Potatoes Or Carrots
VanderWeele Farm grows a lot more than potatoes and carrots, but they are the real stars of the field. Ben is known for his love of potatoes. In 1968, a year after his arrival in the state, he joined the Alaska Potato Growers Association. He was member number twenty-five. Fifty years and countless potatoes later, it’s safe to say Ben has mastered the art of growing the tasty tubers. You can decide for yourself by picking up a bag at your local grocery store.
Potatoes are easier to store over the winter than carrots are, but that didn’t stop Ben from finding a way to keep them stocked in stores and better than ever. To keep fresh the famous sweet flavor Alaskan produce is known for, Ben and his team built a state of the art storage facility. Carrots are very picky about their weather. They need a particular temperature and humidity level to be happy, resulting in hundreds of gallons of water pumping through the storage each day.
Giving them all that love is worth it. They taste like they were just picked that morning. The last bags of carrots just hit the shelves at local grocery stores, and they’re all gone. They will start harvesting this season’s crop in September. You’ll just have to wait patiently. Or very, very anxiously.
Sweet Hobby Is Leading To Sweet Future
Because farming for Ben is a true passion, he always tinkers with a new crop each year. The latest crop VanderWeele Farm is becoming known for is their strawberries. Already in the greenhouse this year with new leaves and a few flowers, the berries are grown in long gutters a few feet raised off the ground.
In his seventies, Ben really enjoys his new ergonomically friendly hobby, spending a lot of time experimenting with different varieties. He tries something new each year, but the two he loves are Albion and Seascape. Both are everbearing day-neutrals, producing very flavorful red fruits with multiple harvests.
The strawberries you normally find on Alaska store shelves are from California. They are purposely bred for shipment in exchange for flavor and color. If Ben can keep this new strawberry venture going, he’ll make an awful lot of locals happy. He needs to get better at growing them before making the jump to stores, though. In the meantime, you can find the juicy summer treats at the South Anchorage Farmers Market (be forewarned, they usually run out in the first hour), or look out for Palmer parking lot sales posted on social media.
VanderWeele Wheat Making Waves Of Grain
Another new VanderWeele adventure starting to make an appearance is wheat. Historically, Southcentral Alaska has never been able to grow wheat because of its climate. That’s been changing, and in recent years farmers have been able to experiment with grains in the Valley and Delta Junction like never before. The Plant Materials Center in Palmer has been working with Ben to find him good varieties of wheat to try. Though still in the sampling stage growing on two acres, he’s found a variety good for bread, one for cookies, and one for alcohol.
Breweries have taken a real interest in local wheat, barley and rye because it’s so hard to find here. Farmers may be starting to grow it, but there is no malting facility in the state. There may be a remedy to that soon, as Ben’s oldest son has taken an interest in doing some malting of their grain crops. In the meantime, you can find VanderWeele wheat in unmalted AK Farmland Wit beer at 49th State Brewing Co. in Anchorage, and in a new brew out of Palmer’s Bleeding Heart Brewery available April 14th.
If you’re looking for some VanderWeele produce to add to that dinner being washed down with Alaska Grown beer, the wait is getting shorter. Seeding has started on the farm, and crops will be on the shelves as soon as they’re ready. Don’t worry, Palmer doesn’t hog all the goods. You can find Ben’s veggies statewide. Carr’s-Safeway, Fred Meyer’s and Wal-Mart all carry VanderWeele produce, distributed from Fairbanks to Kenai and everywhere in between.
Out Of Crisis, A Farmland Trust Is Born
Ben became a board member of the Alaska Farmland Trust (AFT) a decade ago. He was already a member of the Alaska Rural Rehabilitation Corp. He and the other members of the organization saw the handwriting on the wall in the early 2000’s. Farmland was being lost at an alarming rate to development in the area.
Deciding they needed to do something about it, the group formed AFT in 2005. It didn’t do much at first. They ran into the nightmare of trying to come up with the millions of dollars needed to save these properties. After losing more ground and realizing the threat was even worse than previously thought, the Trust sprang into real action.
Fighting the good fight has started to see some victories. To date, AFT has placed 300 acres into a permanent farmland conservation easement, with 70 more acres in the works. That acreage is expected to double in the next five to seven years, or however long it takes to raise the funds needed. Once in trust, the land will always be protected from development other than farming – saving our precious fertile soils for generations of Alaskans to come.
Happy Hour In The Greenhouse
With so many great organizations doing good work out there, Alaska Farmland Trust has gotten creative in its fundraising approach. Everyone loves a good party, so AFT has responded by becoming one of the main hosts. Drink Beer, Save Farms! events have really taken off, helping to further the Trust’s mission of saving farmland.
Another annual event that has gained popularity is Happy Hour in the Greenhouse, hosted by none other than Ben VanderWeele himself. This year’s event is Saturday, April 14th from 3:30-6pm. Ben’s greenhouse is transformed into a really fun afternoon of sampling Alaska Grown appetizers, beer, cider and wine while listening to live music from the Carhartt Brothers. There’s also a live auction with a ton of great locally donated goodies, and of course, Alaska Farmland Trust schwag will be available for sale. Tickets are $50 and include all appetizers and your fist beverage!
NEW THIS YEAR – VIP Tickets: $75 gets you a special farm tour with Ben before the event! This won’t be just any farm tour, be ready to get your hands in the dirt. You’ll get to fill up a tray with soil and seed it, see plants at different stages, and talk about tips and tricks. Ben is sharing his 50+ years of knowledge – a rare opportunity not to be missed. His first tip: “Don’t wear your church clothes, come put your farm clothes on and fit in with the rest of us!”
Tickets are almost gone, so hop on it and come hang out amongst the strawberries in a warm greenhouse to support a good cause. Hope to see you there!