There are all sorts of plants we aren’t supposed to be able to grow here, but we do. If you’ve ever paged through a seed catalog, it’s apparent that everything is amazing (insert exclamation point here). One cultivar could do well on the Island but not in the Kootenays so we are constantly tinkering with varieties and growing techniques. Even on Apple Quill Farm, soil varies from one area to the next. Experimentation is necessary; we strive to improve our system every season to provide more, more delicious, and for more for longer.

We’ve narrowed our melons down to a couple of favourite varieties. Our recent hot summers have given us some superb melons. Though we grow them up strings like tomatoes, they do take up a lot of real estate and are still in the experimental stage for our production.

Figs. Yes. Though not yet commercially viable for us, for now we have fig trees for fun. Figs love growing in pots and most varieties can survive down to -11 C. If you have a cool storage (a dark area under 10 C) you too can overwinter a potted fig before the deep freeze. And if you have even a small greenhouse, they can give you fruit in the summer and fall. Drop us a line if you are curious! We have a few hardy varieties to choose from.