Anchor Point Greenhouse Chosen as 2026 Farm Family of the Year
Al and Grace Poindexter operate an on-farm store at Anchor Point Greenhouse.
Photo Credit: Alaska Department of Natural Resources
Near the westernmost extent of the North American highway system, Al Poindexter has been growing vegetables, flowers, and herbs while producing Fishy Peat potting soil at greenhouses in Anchor Point since 1976. Coinciding with its 50th anniversary, Anchor Point Greenhouse is also selected for Alaska’s 2026 “Farm Family of the Year.”
Independence, Challenge, and Service
Poindexter and his wife, Grace, are lifelong Alaska residents. Poindexter started farming as a boy in Seward, where his family ran Totem Eggs with 17,000 chickens, and they later ranched cattle in the Caribou Hills on the west side of the Kenai Peninsula. His parents brought the family to Anchor Point, where they started Anchor Point Greenhouse. His father developed the recipe for Fishy Peat, which Poindexter has continued manufacturing and perfecting, along with another product, Alaska Earth. Poindexter is also considered a pioneer in Alaska’s rhodiola industry.
Poindexter served as executive director of the Alaska Association of Conservation Districts, working to support efforts of soil and water conservation districts around the state, and he has been involved for many years with the Alaska Farm Bureau’s Kenai Peninsula chapter.
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August 2026
The Poindexters’ children and grandchildren have had a major hand in developing the farm and have had a heavy influence on its direction. Poindexter and his family have had a significant impact on agriculture within the community and the state. Poindexter followed his father to become an agricultural educator at Homer High School, and he is responsible for starting and leading the local Future Farmers of America Chapter serving Homer and Anchor Point for several years, where the program thrived.
“The independence, the challenge, and the service to the community and state are what I like most about farming in Alaska,” Poindexter says.
The Farm Family of the Year award was established in 2000 by the Alaska Division of Agriculture and the Alaska State Fair, with sponsorship provided by Matanuska Valley Federal Credit Union, to honor an Alaska farm family that best epitomizes the spirit of the industry and to show appreciation for the hard-working Alaskans committed to agriculture.
“I became acquainted with Al twelve years ago when he served on the State Farm Service Agency Committee in 2017,” says Alaska Division of Agriculture Director Bryan Scoresby. “Al is a vocal supporter of agriculture education in Alaska schools to teach the next generation about where their food comes from. He also spent several years serving on the Board of Agriculture and Conservation for the Agriculture Revolving Loan Fund at the Alaska Division of Agriculture.”
Anchor Point Greenhouse is situated on 10 acres of family property. An on-farm store carries local eggs and farm and garden supplies.
“Al Poindexter and his family have positively impacted the local community through practical, sustainable, and responsible farming practices and truly embody the spirit of Alaska’s agricultural heritage,” says Alaska State Fair CEO Blake Allen. “Their success is not only gauged by the harvest they produce but also in the values that they cultivate.”
Nominations for the Farm Family of the Year are submitted by the public annually during the open nomination period. The nominations are then peer reviewed and selected by leaders in Alaska’s agriculture industry.
