Animals:
I keep pairing down as the kids age...
But I have had horses, goats, ducks, chickens, geese, pigs, and turkeys, parrots, and dogs.
As to crops:
If you are really into crops, look into land inthe MatSu area. They get more heat so can grow more stuff.
Living on the coast, I don't get that cold in the winter, but I also don't get that warm in the summer..
I can grow all cool season crops... anything that wants heat needs a greenhouse or equivalent.
What is interesting here... is the VAST difference in growing ability between one spot and the next.
My NEIGHBOR, yep, just a far tossed stones throw away, gets strawberries a week or more before I do. Their bed is angled better than mine, gets a tad more sun. Also their bed is lined in rocks which reflect the sun and help melt off the snow a bit faster.
I am high up, almost 1,300 feet elevation, and so my growing season is maybe a month or even more shorter than those at a lower elevation. But, up here "on the hill" I have better water. Most of the houses down "on the bench" (a flat bench of land that gradually slopes upwards, but is mostly at 200 feet elevation) have to have their water delivered. There is water down there, but most wells have to go through a coal layer to get to the water, and coal water isn't good.
When we first moved here we lived on the bench and had apple-crabs and a HUGE highly productive garden. We actually did have water because we were on a creek, and tapped into the underground creek flow. But that didn't last long, since an earthquake messed up the pipe.
The further inland you go, the warmer the summer, but the colder the winters.
And God help you if you pick a property that is north facing... because you will want to up and die! Truly, like living in a dark pit of despair!
Pictures from 2 days back:
That one tree that is golden yellow is a birch... my lone birch! I am too high up for birches and such, and that is a straggler. The rest of the trees are spruce. There are alder bushes and elderberry and rose bushes along the drive.
Alaska is surprisingly monoculture-esk. Coming from Texas it is impressive.
Hidden in there is a pond and the pond coop.
ooo! It needs a big spoiler!
