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On a crisp October afternoon, as bright cottonwood leaves flutter to the ground, I gather with a group of people to talk potatoes. In typical pandemic style though, we’re not outdoors, nor are we together in person; instead, we’re online, with each person occupying a little box on my computer screen. While this may sound a little dull for online entertainment, the enthusiasm over harvesting spuds from a community garden is contagious.
Michelle Putz of the US Forest Service in Sitka, Alaska, leads the call, smiling broadly under her sandy blond bangs. Though an in-person meetup would be nice, she says, the online format has brought together a far-flung audience of several dozen people. We span nearly the length of the Pacific Northwest coast, from my home 1,000 kilometers northwest of Sitka, near Prince William Sound, to 1,400 kilometers southeast of Sitka, in Washington State.