Some of the amazing fruits being produced at Klondike Valley Nursery. Photo by Suzanne Crocker.
When you imagine fruit North of 60 you probably think of berries and rosehips. And you wouldn’t be wrong. But it’s now time to expand the realm of possibilities.
Apples, pears and grapes can also be grown in the Yukon Territory. At least if you are a master of northern fruit bearing trees, like John Lenart and Kim Melton are.
Klondike Valley Nursery, located in Dawson City, Yukon is the most northerly nursery in Canada. And look what they can grow!
John and Kim are dedicated to exploring the boundaries of what can be grown in cold climates at high latitudes.
This year, they managed to grow pears and grapes in their greenhouses, as well as apples from their 65 cultivars of apple trees.
So if your timing is right on a Fall Saturday at the Dawson City Farmer’s Market, you may be treated to a local Klondike pear, apple or grape!
The Inuvik Community Greenhouse houses the most northern apple tree in Canada. Photo by Ray Solotki.
This is an Autumn Delight apple tree growing in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada at 68 degrees North, well north of the Arctic Circle.
To our knowledge (please correct us if we’re wrong) this is the most northern apple tree in Canada!
This particular apple tree survived an Inuvik winter in the unheated Inuvik Community Greenhouse, blossomed this spring and is now producing fruit!
Autumn Delight was developed at the University of Saskatchewan and was supplied by John Lenart and Kim Melton of the Klondike Valley Nursery in Dawson City, Yukon. John and Kim also sent a Trailman and a Rescue apple tree to Inuvik whose blossoms would have pollinated the Autumn Delight.
John Lenart has spent the past thirty years studying and grafting apple trees in order to cultivate varieties that can withstand the climate of the north.
Their nursery now has around 65 cultivars. Check out the Klondike Valley Nursery the most northerly nursery in Canada.
The Inuvik Community Greenhouse was refurbished into a growing mecca from an old hockey arena. It bills itself as the most northerly greenhouse in North America!
One way to have celery year round from the garden is to grow celeriac root. Weird looking but quite flavorful, celeriac root is edible raw or cooked, and tastes similar to the stalks of common celery. It grows well in the North, keeps well in cold storage all winter, and apparently can have a shelf life of approximately six to eight months if stored properly. You can serve it roasted, stewed, blanched, or mashed, or added to your favorite stews or casseroles. Peel it and chop it and use it in place of fresh celery in cooking. Excellent combined with potatoes when cooking mashed potatoes! Celeriac Root – Wikimedia Commons
Tonight, April 11th, is the date of this year’s Pink Moon, and everyone is talking about it on social media. But what makes the Moon pink on this particular date?
Sorry to disappoint you, but turns out the Pink Moon isn’t actually of a rosy hue. The title “Pink Moon” is credited to Native American tribes, many of them practiced the custom of naming every Full Moon according to the cycles of the year (like Cold Moon in December or Harvest Moon in September). In the case of this moon, the “pink” comes from the wild ground phlox that rapidly blooms in the springtime. The different full moons were a way of tracking the seasons ahead, and you can still find this knowledge in the Farmer’s Almanac.
Continue reading “Tickled Pink – How April’s Full Moon is special for growing”
Asian Greens – Photo by Wikimedia CommonsTake advantage of your greenhouse in April and May, before you plant your tomatoes and cucumbers, to give you an early crop of spinach or Asian greens!Riley Brennan, of Dawson City, direct seeds spinach in her greenhouse as soon as the soil thaws in April. She leaves the greenhouse unheated and the seedlings don’t require any covering. By the time she goes to plant her greenhouse proper in late May, she has a crop of baby spinach to harvest.Continue reading “Early Leafy Greens in a Cold April Greenhouse?”
Next weekend, Dawsonites will have a chance to participate in two amazing workshops!
Seedy Saturdays will be held on Saturday March 25th at the Recreation Centre, and it will include presentations by Karen Digby and Grant Dowdell about northern gardening and by Scott Henderson about mushroom cultivation.
The following day on Sunday the 26th, there will be a Birch Syrup workshop in which participants will meet at the Rec Centre and then go hunting for Birch sap.
There are limited spaces on both, so make sure you sign up soon!
Tonight, April 11th, is the date of this year’s Pink Moon, and everyone is talking about it on social media. But what makes the Moon pink on this particular date?
Sorry to disappoint you, but turns out the Pink Moon isn’t actually of a rosy hue. The title “Pink Moon” is credited to Native American tribes, many of them practiced the custom of naming every Full Moon according to the cycles of the year (like Cold Moon in December or Harvest Moon in September). In the case of this moon, the “pink” comes from the wild ground phlox that rapidly blooms in the springtime. The different full moons were a way of tracking the seasons ahead, and you can still find this knowledge in the Farmer’s Almanac.
Continue reading “Tickled Pink – How April’s Full Moon is special for growing” 
