SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - As the snow melted outside on Friday, the sun beat down through polycarbonate panels and onto the seedlings and flowers in Arctic Farmer's new greenhouse.

Christian Frenette stands in Arctic Farmer's main greenhouse amongst a jungle of seedlings and plants. - Tim Edwards/NNSL photo

The gardening season has begun for some business operators, but there is plenty of time to get started for those who have not yet laid down seeds.

"The farmer's almanac says, for our region, the first moon in June is the last chance of frost," said Darwin Rudkevitch, owner of Arctic Farmer.

"Some of us cheat a little bit. I've planted on the 15 of May before and I've gotten away with it, no problem. Some years it's worked - some years I've cheated and some years I've been cheated," said Rudkevitch.

Christian Frenette, an Arctic Farmer employee, said now is the perfect time, however, to get started with indoor plants such as tomatoes and peppers.

Dwayne Wohlgemuth, co-chair of the Yellowknife Community Garden Collective, said he has already started his own tomatoes and peppers in his greenhouse.

"In this climate, you almost need to have buds or flowers by the time you put the tomatoes outside at the beginning of June," said Wohlgemuth.

He said community garden plots are already booked up and demand is growing in Yellowknife. There are two community garden sites in Kam Lake and one in Old Town near Rotary Park, and another is slated to be built this summer to be ready for next season.

Arctic Farmer has already started growing flowers and plants for the season. The greenhouse shut down on Nov. 7 last fall, and production started again on March 15.

Frenette estimated there are about 85,000 plants in Arctic Farmer's greenhouses, of which there are three.

One greenhouse is new and full of modern technology the employees have been using to keep up with the ongoing care and maintenance the plants need.

The polycarbonate roof opens up automatically to keep humidity and temperature constant, and an automatic irrigation system keeps hanging plants from drying out in the sun.

"We're growing everything ourselves," said Rudkevitch.

"We've done away with the middle man and we're manufacturing the plants in Yellowknife now."

Frenette said gardening novices can start out with a variety of vegetables while they hone their chops.

"Some things that are very easy are carrots, radishes, broccoli, cauliflower, and lettuce," said Frenette.

Carine Pattin, another employee, added that easy flowers to grow are petunias, pansies, snap dragons, and marigolds. Arctic Farmer also makes its own soil.

"The soil here is mostly boreal forest, so its comprised of a lot of pine needles and peat moss," said Rudkevitch.

"So, it has super-high acidity and ... it's hard to grow in because there are no micro-organisms in the soil, and very little nutrients," said Rudkevitch.

Frenette said the soil can be usable with a little bit of work.

"Work the dirt a little with lime and you can build a pretty nice dirt."