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Locavoracious - Little Green Things
By Columnist Paul Compton
A year ago, if someone had asked me what could be produced in Saskatchewan, I would have answered “grain, forests and fish”. Never would I have thought to answer sour cherries, pears, plums, apples, or even apricots. But all of these are being grown just twenty minutes northwest of Regina, in the beautiful and fertile Qu’Appelle River Valley.
The joy of fresh fruit no longer requires buying imported products or waiting for the roadside vendors to drive in from BC.
On Wednesday and Saturday mornings, at the Regina Farmer’s Market, you will find Dean and Sylvia Kreutzer, the owners of Over the Hill Orchards and Prairie Cherry Corner. On display are cherry tarts, cherry bark and a variety of cherry spreads, all of which are not only delicious, but made with sour cherries grown at their Lumsden orchard. According to their website, www.overthehillorchards.ca, this young couple left careers in the IT and travel industries, to grow fruit in the middle of the Canadian grain belt. While this may sound awfully eccentric, there has been a great amount of work done, by researchers at the University of Saskatchewan, to develop fruit tree strains that thrive and, most importantly, produce delicious fruit, in our often harsh growing zone.
The initial focus: sour cherries.
As anyone tasting the fruit of the Kreutzer’s labours can attest, the results have been excellent. In fact, a recent article in the Regina Leader Post indicated that sour cherry production is on track to become a significant industry in Saskatchewan.
It seems, though, that the Kreutzer’s aren’t content with growing cherries alone. In a recent conversation, Dean indicated that Over the Hill Orchards is working on growing a host of other fruits not typically associated with Saskatchewan, such as pears and peaches. He also hinted that they may soon start growing some citrus fruits! Here. In Saskatchewan.
Suddenly, a Saskatchewan 100 mile diet doesn’t seem quite so bleak.
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Paul Compton,
homebrewing fanatic and locavore.
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