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Johnny Appleseed of the North
John Lenart is a native of the U.S. midwest who grew his first melons at age 5. He planted his inaugural apple tree in the Klondike thirty years ago, undeterred by cold, heavy, moss-covered silty soils. Determination and passion prevailed and John has become a sought-after expert in extreme northern horticulture. He has been featured in Yukon, North of Ordinary, Up Here, What's Up Yukon and CBC television, both in the series On the Road Again and more recently in a feature interview. John loves to share his passion for growing and treading lightly on the earth with everyone who comes through our place.
The Renaissance Girl
Born in South Africa, Kim Melton migrated north of sixty with her family around the same time as John. She grew up on the Canadian shield and moved to the Yukon to pursue her career as a biologist. She has shifted to a more holistic approach to life that focuses on sustainable living while allowing her to engage as a scientist and a writer. Her work has appeared in Cirque, Northern Public Affairs and What's Up Yukon. She is working on a novel that features muskrats and otters and likes to sing and play the banjo in her greenhouse.
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"Together we share an ethic of care for the natural world that supports us. The nursery lets us explore ways to diversify our local landscape, broaden our community's food production capabilities while retaining a sense of integration with our natural landscape."
2020 Team
Each year we rely on volunteers and interns - many become long-time friends. We're excited to introduce this year's team!
Sabrina Clarke
I grew up in the Yukon and spent a lot of my childhood camping, foraging, and fishing with my family and friends. When I went away for university in Montreal, foraging and being outdoors meant having an urban garden. I loved it! Both growing things and watching microbes and worms turn kitchen scraps into compost on my balcony (my roommates weren't as enthused). I switched my major from Chemical Engineering to Agricultural Engineering and since then, I have kept learning new and exciting things -- especially all the cool agriculture stuff happening in the North. While bike touring in Russia, Finland, and Eastern Europe, I saw that many backyards had at least a cabbage patch. On the last few months of that trip, I volunteered on an organic orchard, sheep, and cattle farm in Ireland and reveled in the experience. I have always felt strongly about returning to live and work in the North, but have found a passion in learning ways we can innovate and integrate northern living with sub-arctic agriculture. What better place to find myself than at the Klondike Valley Nursery this summer!
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Clara Reid
I grew up in southern Yukon and northern British Columbia, exploring the surrounding forests. I am passionate about ecology, local food systems and creating healthy relationships between people and the environment. Recently I completed a B Sc. from the University of Victoria in biology and environmental studies. In my spare time I enjoy hiking, paddling and getting to know the local wildlife (including plants and fungi!). I am excited to be joining the Klondike Valley Nursery team this summer to learn more about northern food production.
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Keira Nichol
I come from the wind-swept prairies of Manitoba, where I developed my interest in agriculture while spending time on my family’s farm. In my pursuit to learn ways to grow food without relying on the conventional, and often unsustainable, growing practices that I had grown up witnessing, I found myself working on a market garden in the Peace River Valley in Northwest British Columbia. I spent two seasons growing good, local food there and was welcomed into a wonderfully inspiring community along the way. During those seasons I learned a lot about organic practices and sustainable small-scale growing as well as marketing. In my down time I love going hiking, rock climbing, paddling, devouring good books and learning about plants. I am currently working on a Bachelor of Environmental Science with a minor in Indigenous Studies at the University of Manitoba and recently had the incredible opportunity to study for a semester in Haida Gwaii, on BC’s north coast. I am excited to become more familiar with fruit trees and to continue learning this year at Klondike Valley Nursery!
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Where in the Boreal are we?
We live and work at our nursery on the banks of the Klondike River in the central Yukon, surrounded by mature white spruce forest and lowland bogs. Dawson City is a twenty-minute drive after crossing the river, by canoe six months of the year and on foot for the remainder. We are off-grid and heat our home and greenhouses with wood that we collect in the winter. The long summer days are used to grow trees and produce our food for the year, helped by many interns and volunteers.
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Growing spaces conducive to vegetables and fruit trees have been conscientiously carved out of the forest over John's thirty years on the property. This has grown to include two heated greenhouses and numerous unheated shelters housing fruit trees, as well as outside vegetable gardens. A 3 acre field sporting neat rows of haskap and dwarf conifers is the most prominent feature from the air. Dotted throughout the property are trees and shrubs that you are unlikely to find anywhere else North of Sixty!