Depending on where you live, the snow is finally mostly gone. The sun is back, the earth is warming, we’ve had a little rain. The seed starts on the dining room table are about to climb out of their tiny four-packs and walk to your back yard or patio. It’s time to garden.

Anchorage is abundant with garden resources, from commercial nurseries, Cooperative Extension Service, municipal composting, nonprofits like the Alaska Botanical Garden, Yarducopia (share your yard with a gardener who doesn’t have one), municipal community gardens and more.

On today’s Hometown Alaska, we’ll introduce you to a free garden mentoring service with high ambitions. It aims to build community by connecting new gardeners with “old” gardeners, right in the same neighborhood. Their goal is to have a coach or coaches in every community council district in Anchorage. So when you get home with your flat of veggie starts and flowers and don’t know where to begin, you know who to call. Or when you realize your soil needs enriching. Or when it’s time to put the garden to bed for the season.

Anchor Gardens also has a deeper mission. Its founders take Alaska’s food insecurity issues very seriously. They aim to make sure Alaskans know how to grow their own food, and how to keep their garden soil healthy.

We’ll meet a founder of Anchor Gardens, and several mentors. Your questions and comments are welcome throughout the program. Just dial us at 550-8433 to ask your garden questions. And check out our list of useful links on the page below.

Here’s to your gardening success!