In a large greenhouse just outside┬аLunenburg, N.S., hundreds of unusual plants of┬аall┬аshapes and sizes are getting used to their new life in Nova Scotia.
There are hardy citrus trees┬аfrom Japan called flying dragon, pineapple guavas with petals that taste like marshmallows┬аand something called a blue sausage tree┬аthat has rows of black seeds surrounded by jelly inside.
“And then there’s also things that aren’t even discovered yet, right?” said the woman tending the plants, Annette Clarke. “We always think we know it all, but there’s so many fruit out there I’ve never heard of.”┬а
Clarke transplanted her exotic fruit nursery from the West Coast to the East Coast in May 2021, filling her moving truck┬аwith hundreds of plants that are now spending the winter in her┬а24-by-12-metre┬аgreenhouse.
WATCH | Explore an exotic fruit nursery:┬а
From blue ice-cream bananas to yuzu, this Lunenburg, N.S., fruit grower loves the unusual. Take a walk through her exotic fruit greenhouse.
She has more than 65 different varieties and specializes in┬а“easy exotics” that can withstand up to┬атАУ12┬аC, or even тАУ20 C. Clarke┬аhopes to show Nova Scotians that even the most unusual plants can find a home here.
“You don’t have to bring things in from far away so┬аyou can grow it locally, which is great, right?” she said. “It cuts down on the carbon footprint, too.”
Clarke is an environmentalist who used to restore wetlands before turning┬аher attention to┬аgrowing her own food.
She transformed┬аher hobby farm on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, located north of Vancouver, into one of the area’s few exotic nurseries. But she decided to┬аleave the province┬аin part because of┬аthe worsening effects of climate change,┬аincluding the rising number of forest┬аfires.
In her┬аquest to find ever more unusual fruit, Clarke collects seeds and clippings from all over. Some come from botanical gardens or┬аfrom trips to visit family in Germany, where she grew up. Others she┬аgets from wholesalers who specialize┬аin exotic varieties.┬а
“I just love reading and doing research so I just got all those different plant books about unusual fruit and I was like, ‘Oh that sounds interesting and where could I get it?'” she said.┬а
Her very first exotic┬аplant was a┬аpawpaw, a species native to eastern North America that’s about the size of a mango. It┬аtastes like a mix between a banana and a mango.
Clarke now has everything from yuzu to olive trees.
Her latest obsession is the ice cream banana, which “have a blue-purple colour and they taste like ice cream, like they’re really sweet and fluffy.”┬а
These are fruits that the executive director of the Nova Scotia Fruit Growers’ Association said she hasn’t found┬аat other plant┬аnurseries in the┬аprovince. The association, which represents more than┬а50┬аgrowers, as well as packers and processors, deals typically with apples, pears, plums, cherries and peaches.
“Any opportunity to increase the market share and to find alternative crops for farms to grow … we should be doing that,” Emily Lutz said.┬а“I think it’s exciting when people take on something new in this province.”┬а
Lutz said peaches are now the second biggest crop of tree fruit in Nova Scotia after apples.┬а
“There may┬аbe appetite to move more toward┬аpeaches in the future because of the warm days that are coming, and the warming climate,” she added.┬а
Since Clarke began posting online about her nursery near Lunenburg she said she’s been overwhelmed by the response.┬а
When she officially opens in the spring, she plans to hold tasting events and workshops about growing exotic plants and passive-solar greenhouse construction.
She’s building an off-grid┬аgreenhouse, as well as an attached tiny home on wheels that will share┬аheat from the sun and a wood stove.┬а
“I wouldn’t say everyone to go ahead [and] buy [a]┬а$100,000 greenhouse, have your fruit cheaper, but you can do it on a much smaller scale,” Clarke┬аsaid.
For now, her many plants┬аare┬аlargely kept inside the greenhouse but she plans to move some outdoors┬аas she works to create “a food forest” with exotic trees┬аon her large property.┬а
She can trace her passion for fruit back to her grandmother, who cherished it as a treat┬аduring the Second World War, and then to her own childhood in Germany.┬а
“We had a few times where we didn’t have any money and we had to actually do dumpster diving and we picked fruit from other people’s trees,” she said. “Fruit was this one staple I always loved.”
Clarke refers to her plants as her babies, and feels┬аprotective of the vast number of varieties she’s collected over the years.┬а
“I just have the responsibility when I have them, they’re dependent on me and I have to take care of them.”
