Palmer Potato Pioneers Chosen as 2024 Farm Family of the Year

Three years ago, they added a food booth dubbed “The Kitchen”—a small food stand next to the produce stand, open Thursday through Sunday in the summer. There, patrons can find a variety of dishes, from the hearty beef stew that the Bushes Bunches fair stand is famous for to potato soup, pasta fagioli, and mouthwatering BLT sandwiches.

“We use a lot of the product that we have in our store—as much as possible—to make the products that we’re putting out,” says Vickie Bush. “That’s our intention, to pull the foods that we have in Alaska.”

Vickie Bush says the lineup of foods available at The Kitchen vary according to what’s available, what’s in season, and also what’s selling best. This year is the first year they’ve tried the BLT, made with locally baked bread and produce, she says. The famed Bushes Peanut Potatoes—also a hot seller at the fair food booth—will be available later this year, after the potatoes have finished growing.

Recognizing a Lifelong Commitment

Being selected as 2024 Fair Family of the Year was a little surprising, Vickie Bush says, given the couple’s long-time involvement in farming in Alaska. Bruce Bush helped create the award twenty-five years ago, in fact.

“Committed Alaskans like Bruce and Vickie are helping to lead the way toward food security in our state as they put nutritious food on Alaskans’ plates, support other local farms, and inspire our next generation of farmers,” says Governor Mike Dunleavy. “For twenty-five years the State’s Division of Agriculture and the Alaska State Fair have recognized outstanding farm families, and it’s incredibly appropriate that Bushes Bunches has won the silver anniversary award for their decades of dedication to agriculture in Alaska.”

Bruce Bush has volunteered hundreds of hours in service to Alaska agriculture. He was a Mat-Su Borough Assembly member, served on the board of directors for the Palmer Soil and Water Conservation District for many years, was past president of the Mat-Su Farm Bureau, and served multiple terms on the Alaska State Fair board of directors. He also cast the tie-breaking vote to fund the first farmland conservation easement, Heaven’s Hayfield. He has been a longtime volunteer with 4-H and Future Farmers of America, served on many agricultural advisory committees for the borough and the state, and is known as the rhubarb king of Alaska.

Vickie Bush jumped into Alaska farming with both feet when she married Bruce in 2005. She is key to the design and daily operations of the farm stand and the Alaska State Fair booth, and she handles bookkeeping and marketing for the business.

She says one of the things she likes most about farming is “providing a healthy, healing product for others to enjoy and reap the benefits. Our goal is to help feed the masses with a terrific product.”

“Bruce and Vickie being recognized this year as a second-generation Alaskan farm family is impressive when you consider that Bruce continued the family farm business and grew it for the past thirty-six years, with a year-round farm stand, iconic sales booth at the State Fair, and as creator of the Bushes Peanut Potato,” says Bryan Scoresby, director of the Division of Agriculture. “I’m personally inspired by Bruce and Vickie’s many contributions to Alaskan agriculture in Southcentral Alaska.”