Large suppliers are touting their local produce as small operators find ways to grow even subtropical specialties here in the north
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But while tomatoes and (in season) strawberries may be relatively easy to source, other more tropical items are harder to come by in Canada. Harder, but not impossible.
“We’ve been growing mediterranean tree fruits here for more than 30 years,” Bob Duncan told the National Post. And while they sell some fruit as well as jams and marmalades, their focus is showing others how to grow their own.
One of Duncan’s favourites is the yuzu, a citrus fruit popular in China and Japan, which is both hardy (the trees can withstand temperatures as low as -9 C) and high in value, with the fruit selling for up to $50 a pound.
Duncan grows yuzus “like apples” in the middle of his yard, but he also cultivates lemons, limes and mandarin oranges, planting the trees against south and west exterior walls where they get a little more reflected heat, and covering them with a mild heat source — “I use those old incandescent Christmas lights,” he says — on nights where the temperatures fall below freezing.
The result: a crop of 200 to 300 lemons per tree, with an energy cost of about a penny a fruit.
“Thermal mass, energy curtains and a wood gasifier furnace keep the greenhouse temperature above 1° C throughout the winter,” she says on her web site. “Learning how to grow healthy, nutrient dense fruit in our cold northerly climate with low energy inputs is the challenge, and sharing useful information a goal.”
“Canada’s greenhouse sector is a hotbed for growth,” it added, while cautioning that energy consumption and opening new markets would continue to be a drag on expansion. It also noted that bananas were “one to watch” in a list of potential growth industries that included spinach, okra, coffee and berries beyond just strawberries.
“Staying in Ontario, thanks to our year-round greenhouse operations, add half a red pepper or a few Brussels sprouts to dinner or lunch and you’ve achieved more than 100 percent RDI (recommended daily intake) for vitamin C.”
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