Offbeet Farm
Wintertime Veggies in Fairbanks, Alaska
Offbeet Farm
Wintertime Veggies in Fairbanks, Alaska
About Us
Summer Growth - Winter Rewards
At Offbeet Farm, we grow vegetables during the summer and sell during the long Fairbanks winter. Everything we grow is meant for storage in our specially-designed, modern root cellar. After the veggies are washed and stored in the fall, we provide the Fairbanks area with access to locally grown food throughout the winter.
Earth-friendly Practices
We grow vegetables using organic methods, but we're not a certified-organic farm. We feel that in interior Alaska, the high cost of certification is not worth the label. That said, we do not use any synthetic fertilizers nor any pesticides not approved for organic certification. We also work with the USDA's Natural Resource Conservation Service to prevent erosion of sediments and excess nutrients into local watersheds. Irrigation is key in our semi-arid climate, and we use drip irrigation to save thousands of gallons per day during the growing season.
Human-Scale Farming
We produce a lot of food off one acre of land, and we do it mostly by hand. We use a small walk-behind tractor for soil preparation, but we control weeds, harvest, and wash vegetables primarily by-hand. We have many specialized tools and try do work as efficiently and ergonomically as possible!
Sam wrote a book!
"Beyond the Root Cellar" teaches modern methods of winter veggie storage!
First at Root Cellar Farm in Michigan and later while building Offbeet Farm, Sam noticed there weren't many resources for small farmers learning to store vegetable through winter. Most of the information out there was aimed at homesteaders and gardeners using old traditional methods. Sam set out to create a guide for commercial growers meeting today's high standards for vegetable quality deep into winter. In the process though, Sam realized that modern techniques of climate controlled storage weren't just for industrial mega-farms; everyone from the backyard gardener to farmers with acres of fields can benefit from learning these proven methods of food storage.
Find our Veggies!
Our sales typically begin in mid-September and last through April. We offer a winter-only Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, with shares delivered every other week in November through March. We also sell at a handful of markets in the fall and winter, including the Tanana Valley Farmers Market and its annual Holiday Bazaar. Lastly, we sell through a few local stores including The Roaming Root Cellar, the Co-op Market, and Bender Mt. Farm's online store.