By Glenn Hicks

From frosty to sweaty: the lows and highs of local food production

Jul 2, 2021 | 5:32 PM

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask.— We have near all-time record-breaking heat and yet there was frost on the ground just a matter of weeks ago– I guess we must be talking about farming in Saskatchewan!

The bizarre extremes have confronted local smaller-scale producers but they’ll still be at Prince Albert’s Farmer’s Market next to city hall Saturday.

paNOW reached out to a couple of vendors who grow fresh produce to see how they’re coping with the mercury hovering in the upper 30s.

“It’s really hard walking through my garden to imagine what it was like a few weeks ago, I still have frostbite tinged on the leaves of my corn, cucumbers, and squash,“ Byron Tenkink, the owner of Lily Plain Gardens explained.

“Trying to grow anything for profit in Canada is difficult enough but it feels like with this combination [of weather] we’re on maximum difficulty mode this year.”

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Despite the challenges, Tenkink said he would still have things for market and the secret is to have a diversity of offerings among his organic berries, fruits, and veggies.

“Some produce may be a number of weeks behind but we’ll still bring things. Such is life,” he said.

The irony of his set-up is that he uses greenhouses and plenty of plastic covering to keep heat in during the colder spring and to reduce weed growth. But lately, he’s been ripping some of that away because it’s just too hot. In addition, he’s opening up the irrigation lines and ‘letting it run as much as we possibly can.’

For Eric and Irina Kotelko— whose St. Louis-based Riverlot Orchards produces wines, syrups, and jams among other things— having a quality water supply is everything. The very hot weather is actually a good thing.

“We just irrigate out of the river and everything is growing like crazy, “Eric said. “Everything is growing twice as fast.”

Riverlot Orchards produces syrups among other things and the heat means things are ‘growing like crazy’. (Riverlot Orchards /Facebook)

The Kotelko’s will be bringing fresh peas to market tomorrow and said their strawberry, raspberry, and blackcurrants are coming along nicely for the coming weeks.

In fact, when it comes to this searing heat they don’t seem remotely fazed.

“No problems at all, just enjoy it.”

–

glenn.hicks@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @princealbertnow