by Jeff Colbourne
Northern News Services

BAKER LAKE (Sep 10/97) - Two southern professors with a keen interest in biology have grown a beautiful Northern garden.

But it wasn't easy.

After two months of hard work, patience and care, they have a bumper crop of cabbage, lettuce, potatoes and radishes popping out of Baker Lake soil.

"They want to show the community that it is possible to grow vegetables in the community," said Leo Caouette.

Caouette, Baker Lake hamlet's community works management trainer, has been working closely with the project.

"It's part of an interpolar study looking at the greenhouse effect on the Arctic," said Caouette.

Josef Subvoda, a retired Professor of Biology from the University of Toronto, has been coming to Baker Lake for many years.

He came up with the idea and the plan, with helpful advice from a colleague professor with the University of Winnipeg.

After years of research and close analysis, the pair decided it was time to do a demonstration garden project in the community.

Caouette helped them gather the necessary equipment and find the right kind of soil to get the garden growing.

To build the facility they used several old 45-gallon drums cut in half and converted into garden beds.

Old crates discarded in the community have also been collected and taken apart to construct greenhouse's walls.

Subvoda, who lives in Ontario and was unavailable for comment, told residents that this year's project is nothing compared to what he had in mind for Baker Lake.

"He would like to get everything going on a bigger scale in Baker Lake," Caouette said. "He believes it would be commercially feasible."

Subvoda is interested in coming to the region regularly and putting some of his expertise to use in getting the commercial greenhouse up and running.

Once established, the community will take it over and possibly hire residents to work in the facility.

Subvoda is coming up to Baker Lake later this month to install temperature probes in the community to continue research into the effects of global warming on the Arctic.