Sketches from a Northern Homestead

Rambles on Farming & Living in the Sub-arctic.

by Finella Pescott of Whitehorse, YT

Above the sixtieth parallel, we occupy a northern experiment. The corner of Canada known as the Yukon is remote and relative to the rest of north America, became populated by settlers by and large only in the last 80 years. Farming here is on a small scale. The largest producers might be considered in the hobby farm realm down south. The largest cattle operation has 30 head of cow/calf pairs and similarly, the largest hog producers have 40-50 head. This is according to Simone Rudge, who with her husband Tom, operate a farm near the Takhini River and run a butcher shop, Tum Tum’s Black Gilt Meats. Farming is diminuitive in scale and in breadth; there are under 90 farms and just over half of those are under 70 acres.* There is a smaller producer to consumer ratio here. In other words, there are less farming inclined folk at this latitude. The demographic has shifted, too. From around 2009 to 2024, more people ventured north. The population grew by 15% in 15 years and we are somewhere in the 40,000 range now, largely around Whitehorse. This steady trickle continues for now for a host of reasons. Long time Yukoners remember a more stagnant population up until the 2000s. Travel ‘Outside’ was so expensive that people were more inclined to stay put.

So what is different about agriculture ‘up here’? Here’s a glimpse into some key challenges.

There is a contracted but more intensive growing season. Snow free conditions can be as early as mid-May for workable ground but at least in southwest Yukon it can be early June. At the time of writing, April 20, there are still two feet of snow on the ground. That said, this spring the weather is around two weeks behind that what it usually would be. Above freezing temperatures at night will bring about a rapid shift at the end of the week. The number of frost free days ranges from 70 to 80. On account of the lower productivity in the short growing season, including limited use of irrigation, a larger area is needed to produce the same amount of food down south. What we do have in abundance is light in the land of the midnight sun. Many of us note the charged energy that comes with light so late in the day. Late evening projects like preparing ground for planting doesn’t feel out of place. It’s as though the reserves of energy built up over the long, dark months spill out post-hibernation.

One cannot ruminate on northern living without mentioning the climate. Winter is six months long. Snow can fall in October and typically melts in April. This last winter was mean. In December, temperatures went down to -45c to -50c (-49f to 58f) and stayed there for around two and a half weeks. Everyone has a story and we are still talking about it. There were many casualties of the cold weather phenomenon of materials becoming brittle. Whitehorse friends David and Jessica’s vinyl front door shattered one evening and in the same frigid week, a speed bump in the parking lot broke an axle in their Subaru when dropping their kids off at school (because the school buses had stopped running due to the cold). For those of us living off grid and relying solely on wood heat all that one had planned to do for those two weeks went by the wayside as feeding hungry stoves became the primary preoccupation. New lessons were learned with the deep, extended cold snap. Generators are not built for these temperatures and parts like fuel line snap and the engine oil you thought would work, doesn’t. The prolonged cold spell however brought about innovation. This winter a new discovery: bucket bread. Propane congeals around the -40c/f mark so cooking on the woodstove was necessary. Though envious of those with a wood cookstove, I learned that in a pinch a metal bucket with a lid on top of the stove serves as a fine oven. A glass dish with its own lid that was wedged halfway down the bucket produced sourdough bread and even cake.

Back to farming, there is scarcity in key cogs of the agriculture wheel, namely locally grown feed. This part of the general challenge of higher costs that makes farming a more expensive endeavour. The lack of supply options is keenly felt, for example, when a main feed supplier puts grain prices up by 15% overnight. Or, with almost no hay to be found, small square bales of hay were offered for $17** each and that was only if you went and picked it up in the field ($7-10 is a more common price). These are more extreme examples but illustrate a picture of greater vulnerability for those not producing their own feed.

This part of the continent has us contend sometimes with different wildlife challenges. Here in southwest Yukon, we are home to one of the higher densities of grizzly bears in North America. Black bears are rarely seen due to prevailing hierarchy and abundance of grizzlies. The sight of bears lining up in a river to feast on a run of salmon is a classic scene. Bears better tolerate each other relative to an abundance of a particular food source. I see there is enough for you and for me so I will leave thee be. Lesser known is how they will tolerate each other in a field of ripe oats. Local lore bears witness to a scene about a decade ago. A farmer did not put up her horses as intended to graze on green oats that year and when they ripened, not less than fifteen griz were in the one field fattening up winter stores. Moose busting their way into hay barns is not such an uncommon occurrence. They will also clean up any scraps of vegetables left in your patch, brassicas being a favourite.

Some aspects of farming are surprisingly easier. The Yukon is one of the least restrictive places for meat production. Uninspected meat can be sold at the farm gate. For meat consumption in restaurants and the like, commercial abattoirs must be used. These have come and gone over recent years, including small abattoirs attached to small farming operations. That said, there is presently an unmet demand for abattoir and cut and wrap butcher services.

The challenges of growing up here can also yield some sweeter rewards. One of the northern growing experiments at this homestead was putting in a cold climate orchard. Around 60 fruit trees, mostly apples and berries went into a modest orchard. The first apples came in their sixth year. Nested within that experiment was another of growing some select fruit trees in a greenhouse, this was a 2025 project. The unexpected cold snap this winter had me concerned if any trees would survive. I was accepting of finding total losses in the greenhouse but what I found instead are buds on all trees in there, even fresh growth on some! Emotions of excitement, wonder and admittedly satisfaction were felt on this recent discovery.

Are there broader lessons from the growing of food in a northern setting that might be applicable elsewhere? At first glance, yes. In some ways, the challenges of farming in the north offer a magnified insight into some of the challenges down south. The fuel prices making an uncomfortable trajectory are keenly felt at the end of the line. Gas prices reached $2 a litre, ($7.56 a gallon) this spring. The tighter squeeze on operating costs offer some interesting questions. The game of “what if fuel went to $x” draws out concern but also begs valid enquiry. How high do these prices have to go to bring about review of the fossil fuel based farming that dominates? Would the higher cost of living bring on an exodus where currently we have the fastest growing population on a per capita basis in Canada? Is there greater or lesser logic to animal powered agriculture? On a practical and economic basis, the questions are worth asking. Whatever the external markets and their machinations will bring about in the coming years we cannot know but it would seem the draft animal community and northern homesteaders, farmers and ranchers can at the very least claim the common traits of perserverence and innovation.

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* According to the 2021 census.
** All prices are in Canadian dollars.

Finella Pescott is a homesteader, forester and author of Cabins of the Yukon.