The world’s most northern greenhouse

Credit: Sheena Adams

Planting a bathtub container garden in the world’s most northern greenhouse.

Sheena Adams embarks on a gardening adventure

Hi everyone! This is the first of many blogs over the next year. As you can see from the title Global Gardening with Sheena, I am off on a gardening adventure. I have packed my new University of the Fraser Valley degree into my blue backpack and am setting out on a trek that will take me gardening and doing yoga in new areas.

Previous to leaving for Inuvik, I enjoyed working with my fellow students at the University of The Fraser Valley as Sustainability Coordinator. Pictured here at the Welcome Back BBQ is a sample of their harvest. The students enjoyed cultivating tomatoes, herbs, lettuce, peppers, pumpkins, sunflowers peas, and beans. For fun, the harvest was served up at “Salad Days,” where we all enjoyed nutritious fresh organic salad, university grown. The plan is for the garden to continue and transition with the seasons.

My first stop is the Arctic Circle community of Inuvik. For six months I will be coordinating the community garden and commercial greenhouse. Being the lead grower should be a challenge in such a cold and dry climate – with only 10 inches of precipitation a year, Inuvik is classified as a desert. The temperature upon my arrival was -29°C, the days 20 hours long and the ground permafrost! Never mind getting deliveries, the ice roads are about to melt and supplies all need to be brought in by air now – shipping plants in the cold will be the largest hurdle! Nonetheless, I am so excited to be a part of such a unique project and be relocated to such a beautiful part of Canada!

My new home for the summer – the Inuvik Community Greenhouse Garden!

My second stop will be Pescadero, an organic-farming community located in the largest peninsular desert in the world, Baja Mexico. I will spend a few months doing yoga and volunteer gardening at the local orphanage, where they have a huge farm and use the food to feed the children. I had a chance to be part of the lunch program on a recent global development project and am excited to go back and help out.

My last stop has yet to be determined but is looking like a three-month stay in Rwanda and/or a stay at the elephant orphanage in Sri Lanka … anyways, I’ll know more soon!

Until then, I am down to 1 passport and 2 bags full of snow gear, yoga wear and beach clothes! I’ll look forward to keeping you in touch about what is “growing” on.