Green thumbs persevere in Cambridge Bay
Vegetables, flowers and herbs sprout up in greenhouses
Derek Neary
Northern News Services
Monday, July 3, 2017
IKALUKTUTIAK/CAMBRIDGE BAY
There are plastic containers hosting green, leafy objects flourishing on a window sill at the Cambridge Bay post office.
Sandi Gillis grows vegetables in her greenhouse, about half-an-hour outside of Cambridge Bay. Peas, onions, carrots, beets and potatoes are the vegetables that have thrived under her care. - photo courtesy of Sandi Gillis
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Curious residents who inquire are informed that what they're seeing is baby lettuce. It's one of the successful crops that Angela Philips, a postal worker, has cultivated in the northerly Kitikmeot community.
"I like to bring plants into the post office because people are fascinated by them, and they have a calming effect on people," she said.
Philips, who has a small greenhouse at home, also grows tomatoes, potatoes, avocados, kale, carrots, radishes, flowers and more.
"I like to take seeds from the food that we buy and try and grow things," she said. "I (also) purchase seeds and see how far I can get with them."
She said she values having control over how organic the growing conditions are.
"I do think it tastes better," she said. "For me, it's therapeutic and I love to watch things grow. It's amazing. You stick a seed in dirt and you get something out of it that you can eat or something that smells nice or looks nice."
Sandi Gillis also knows that satisfying feeling, but she has experienced some disappointment as well. Despite her best efforts, tomatoes blossom on the vine in her greenhouse but then freeze before getting large enough to harvest. Cucumbers too.
Her attempt to grow corn last summer produced a tiny cob. So this season she has planted it earlier and in greater numbers in hopes of having a good feed of kernels.
She routinely has success with beets, carrots, potatoes, onions and peas. She also puts flowers and herbs in her soil. What doesn't grow well outside can still be cultivated in her house, and can be started earlier, like a variety of peppers, cherry tomatoes and cucumbers.
Gillis grew up on a farm in southern Saskatchewan and she wanted her children, raised in Cambridge Bay, to know what produce is like in its natural state.
"It was more to teach them where your vegetables come from and what it looks like ... it's kind of bringing a little of the farm up north," she said. "They instantly realized that carrots grown out of the ground taste way better than the ones in the store."
This doesn't happen without considerable dedication, however. Gillis's greenhouse is at the family's cabin, about a half-hour's drive away. It means frequent trips back and forth to haul water from a nearby creek to give the plants needed moisture.
"Definitely it's time consuming," she said, laughing. "It's fun. It's rewarding."
