Unalaska, AK – Although it's great for wildflowers and heather, the Aleutian environment isn't exactly hospitable to other types of plants, as anyone who's ever looked at one of the tortured spruce specimens around town knows. If you've experienced frustration trying to garden here, you'll want to show up for a couple of talks being given by University of Alaska Fairbanks development agent Bob Gorman in Unalaska this week.

Gorman will be leading a hands-on gardening soils workshop Tuesday evening and a talk on greenhouses and windbreaks on Wednesday. He said that, unsurprisingly, one of the greatest challenges out here is dealing with the wind.

"The cheap greenhouses that people use down south I think probably wouldn't hold up to the conditions out there," he said.

Tuesday's event will be at the High School auditorium at 7 p.m., and Wednesday's will be at the Museum of the Aleutians at 7 p.m.