Klondike Valley Nursery in Yukon: Northern Fruit Trees, How It Makes Money and How to Contact It
Profile updated November 2026
Klondike Valley Nursery, run by John Lenart and Kim Melton near Dawson City, is described by the Government of Yukon as Canada's northernmost research nursery. It won a 2022 Yukon Agriculture Award for more than 30 years of research with hardy fruiting trees that has expanded fruit production in Canada's North.
| Location | Klondike Valley, just outside Dawson City, Yukon |
|---|---|
| Sectors | Fruit tree nursery and cold-climate fruit research |
| Scale | About 75 apple varieties under test and tens of trees sold per year, per CBC reporting |
| Research record | More than 30 years of work with hardy fruiting trees, per the Government of Yukon |
| Why it is elite | 2022 Yukon Agriculture Award; Canada's northernmost research nursery |
| Ownership | John Lenart and Kim Melton |
| Official website | Government of Yukon announcement of the 2022 Yukon Agriculture Awards (no official site found) |
History of Klondike Valley Nursery
John Lenart is a long-time Yukoner who first grew and sold ornamental conifers. CBC reported that customers began asking for apple trees, and that concerns about food security and climate change renewed interest in growing fruit, so he made fruit a major part of the business.
The Government of Yukon recognized Mr. Lenart and Ms. Melton with a 2022 Yukon Agriculture Award, noting more than three decades of research with hardy fruiting trees. In 2022 the territory named two Klondike Valley farms as winners, the nursery and Lastraw Ranch.
What Klondike Valley Nursery Grows and Raises
The nursery tests apple, cherry, currant and grape plants alongside ornamental trees, with apples as the main focus. CBC reported about 75 apple varieties being tested under different types of growing shelters. The site is remote and off-grid outside Dawson City, with no road access, so visitors have traditionally arrived by boat in summer and on foot or across the ice in winter.
The business sells fruit trees to other would-be growers, mostly in the Whitehorse area, and has produced a written guide on growing fruit in the north. Mr. Lenart describes the nursery's work as pioneering techniques for northern growing, which is an accurate description of an operation that has to solve cold, short seasons and isolation at the same time.
How Klondike Valley Nursery Makes Money
Selling trees to northern growers
The main revenue is sales of fruit trees and plants to gardeners and small growers. CBC reported about 20 fruit trees sold in one year and roughly 60 the next, with most of the apple trees going to the Whitehorse area. These are small numbers, but they show demand growing from a very low base.
Know-how and guidance
A written guide to growing fruit in the north packages decades of trial and error into a product that helps customers succeed, which in turn supports repeat buying and the nursery's reputation.
Recognition and research credibility
The Yukon Agriculture Award adds credibility with government, funders and customers. For a northern research nursery, trust in survival data is more valuable than advertising.
Farm Insight: What Other Operators Can Learn from Klondike Valley Nursery
Lesson one: in a small market, sell knowledge along with product. Trees that survive cold winters are worth more when the buyer also gets tested varieties, shelter methods and a guide. Lesson two: follow customer questions. The nursery moved from ornamental conifers into apples because customers asked, and then built a research record behind the move.
Lesson three: trial before you promote. Testing dozens of varieties under different shelters gives honest evidence about what will survive, and in the North that evidence is the product.
An apple tree in the Klondike is a tiny act of rebellion against the calendar, the frost and possibly the laws of botany. We cover that spirit at farm.FM, where farm satire, farm humor, ranch humor and farm jokes are our daily bread, and a nursery that tests 75 apple varieties near the Arctic circle deserves a standing ovation. We hope the orchard does not get too ambitious about cider.
Part newsroom, part radio dial, farm.FM bills itself as America's first satirical farm site and plays Tractor Tunes, its country music for farmers. Browse a farm.FM writer's back catalog to see the style.
How to Contact Klondike Valley Nursery
Website: https://yukon.ca/en/news/two-klondike-valley-farms-win-yukon-agriculture-award
No official website, phone or email was found in the sources used, so none are listed. The nursery site is off-grid with no road access, so contact the owners through the Yukon Agricultural Association or local Dawson City channels before planning any visit.
Klondike Valley Nursery Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Government of Yukon: Two Klondike Valley farms win agriculture award - Official 2022 award announcement
- CBC North: Dawson farmer apples and grapes - Independent profile of the nursery's fruit work
- First We Eat: most northern apple tree in Canada - Local food coverage of northern apples
- Statistics Canada: Small-scale diversified farming in Yukon and the Northwest Territories - 2021 Census of Agriculture article
- Yukon Agricultural Association - Territorial farmers' association
Klondike Valley Nursery FAQ
Where is Klondike Valley Nursery?
Just outside Dawson City in the Klondike Valley, Yukon, at an off-grid site with no road access.
What does it grow?
Hardy fruit trees and plants, mainly apples, plus cherries, currants, grapes and ornamentals.
What award did it win?
A 2022 Yukon Agriculture Award from the Government of Yukon.
Who runs it?
John Lenart and Kim Melton.
Klondike Valley Nursery is a small but genuine pioneer of northern fruit growing. To see how it fits into Yukon's farm scene, read the Yukon farms guide.