As the country rapidly warms from human-caused climate change, farmers are being pushed to reconsider conventional wisdom about what can and can't survive in this northern climate.
Saffron, a spice so expensive that it has been dubbed red gold, is traditionally grown in Iran, India, Afghanistan and Spain, among a handful of countries. In his second year, Roy harvested 172 grams of saffron. In 2022, it was 342 grams. But last year it fell to 66 grams, which Roy said could be because of a wet summer. One hundred grams of the spice fetches about $600, so Roy is not yet getting rich off saffron, but he is optimistic that production will increase.
Jennifer Doelman says on her farm in Renfrew County, located near the Ottawa River, she has been planting canola during the colder months, in addition to growing typical springtime canola."And we're growing now, as a response to climate change, winter canola ... because our killing frost isn't happening until November."
A team of researchers from Simon Fraser University aims to give consumers a fresh, sustainable, locally grown option with a project that demonstrates how blueberries can be grown indoors during the winter in British Columbia. Mattsson says growing indoors avoids such stressors, while the temperature and light can be controlled to prevent the plants from entering dormancy each winter.
The researchers are currently working with B.C.-based agritech company BeriTech Inc. on the first round of growth trials. After that, Mattsson says they will compete for a $5-million grant to build a prototype facility and scale the project up. But Sopher isn't gardening typical Prairie produce. He's growing bananas, oranges, lemons, limes, passion fruit, guava and figs in a greenhouse he built.