Anchorage Daily News

When Dale Walberg thinks back a year, he has very vivid memories.

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"A year ago this week we had a foot and a half of new snow," says Walberg, owner of Mile 5.2 Greenhouse in Eagle River. "We had a lot of pansies and violas out front so the customers could see them. Then we got all that snow."

Nobody knows what the weather will bring for the next few weeks, but Walberg says things are looking bright around the greenhouse.

"If customers can predict summer, we're in for a good year," he says. "Last year, people were walking with their Carhartt jackets on. Now there is lots of light and people are dressing like it's spring, and they're so happy."

Part of their joy might be from walking into Walberg's greenhouse at 17026 Santa Maria Drive in Eagle River. The greenhouse has so many herbs available it's difficult to name them all. There also are 10 varieties of northern climate tomatoes and several pepper plants.

Walberg describes the tomato plants as "thick and bushy" in their 4-inch pots ($4.25 each). Top varieties include Tumbling Tom, Sweetie Grape, Siberian, Moskovitch and the Tiny Tim Cherry.

While it's still far too early to put plants outdoors, Walberg says it's easy to grow those tomatoes, even without a greenhouse.

"Most people try to put up a visqueen enclosure; that keeps the plants warmer and protects them from the wind," Walberg said. "Put them up on your deck with the visqueen and hope for a warm summer."

If you're thinking about herbs, Walberg has them in 4-inch pots ($4.75), gallon pots ($9.99) and 8-inch hanging baskets ($15).

"If you really like oregano or lemon verbena, get that gallon pot and take it home and you can do a whole lot with it right away," he says.

Some of the herb options include the aforementioned two plus basil, chamomile, chives, cilantro, dill, French tarragon, lavender, marjoram, parsley, thyme and eight varieties of mint -- plus a few more.

Fresh seafood

Fresh side-stripe shrimp are in, but there is a limited supply because of poor access to Whittier.

Despite that, John Jackson from New Sagaya markets says there is plenty going on to keep seafood lovers happy -- and their wallets a bit thicker.

"Halibut pricing has started to come down off of the initial higher prices at the start of the 2009 season due to the volcano and weather; catches were low and demand high," he says. "Now, catches are becoming steadier, and although there is demand, it seems the economy is putting a damper on pricing. It is now translating to lower pricing for the customer."

New Sagaya has 10- to 20-pound halibut headed and gutted for $5.99 per pound. The fishmongers will cut it up free.

Other fresh fish include Alaska cod, rockfish and black cod fillets. Jackson calls black cod "one of the best-tasting fish coming out of Alaska."

Jackson expects to get Hawaiian blue marlin fillets today ($6.95 per pound) and Rambo black tiger prawns at $7.99 per pound.

Dannon Southall at 10th & M Seafoods says the store has cod, rockfish, sole, halibut, side-stripe shrimp and troll-caught kings in all week.

If you have information or suggestions for a future MarketFresh column, please contact Steve Edwards at sedwards@adn.com.

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