LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - Gardeners across the Northwest Territories experienced an excellent growing season this year, especially in Fort Simpson.

Delainea Anderson, 9, digs up the dirt to look for vegetables in the garden in Fort Simpson this past summer. Gene Hachey, an agricultural consultant for the department of Industry, Tourism and Investment said weather played a role in a successful gardening season. - NNSL photo

"Fort Simpson had a phenomenal year this year," said Gene Hachey, Agriculture, Agri-foods and Commercial Wildlife Development Consultant with the department of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Tomatoes and carrots did particularly well, he said.

"We got a lot of tomatoes everywhere this year, tomatoes that ripened on the vine," he said.

Good rainfall combined with an early spring made for excellent weather and a perfect environment for certain vegetables, Hachey said.

"This year we had a really good rainfall and usually in the evening," he said.

"We had nice, hot sun in the day and then a nice sprinkling of rain in the evening so it was perfect."

The soil in the NWT is ideal for root crops such as potatoes, carrots, turnips and beets because of the high alkaline content in the soil, Hachey said.

"The root crops all do well here; our soils are all fairly alkaline," he said.

Though the soil can support vegetation such as cranberries and pine trees, which typically like acidic soil, Hachey said the soil also supports root crops.

"Because our climate is cold and because we don't have a whole lot of rainfall, we don't have that leaching in the soil you would normally expect in more developed soils," he said. "Our soils have a lot of carbonates in them; root crops like carbonates."

"So those are all perfect things for root crops to just be happy."

The NWT is also great for growing herbs, Hachey said.

"Most herbs do really well because of our sunlight," he said. "The herbs just love that."

With a little bit of extra care and watering, lettuces also grow exceptionally well.

"Because we don't have lots of rainfall, we have to put lots of water on those," he said. "They bolt with the increased sunlight we have here."

This year's crop of lettuce and chard was "just amazing," Hachey said.

"The season is a bit shorter for those, but we definitely had incredible crops of spinaches and chard this year," he said.

Community gardens are now established in 26 communities across the territory as part of the Small Scale Foods Program and other agriculture initiatives, Hachey said.

The Small Scale Foods Program provides some small equipment, seeds and expertise to help get a community garden started, then it's up to volunteers to keep it going, he said.

The NWT hosts a surprising amount of community garden initiatives, Hachey added.

"I think we're a little bit ahead of the curve, community garden systems are a big movement now internationally," he said.

While community gardens are an important social tool by bringing people together, growing food locally also gives community members more control over what they eat.

"It develops more of an awareness over what we're eating and more control over what we're eating," he said.

In addition to community gardens, Hachey said he would like to get some commercial gardens started some day to grow local food on a larger scale.

"We would love to see everybody having backyard gardens and from there, maybe some commercial gardens," he said. "It's an evolutionary process."

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