Tucked in between gentle granite hills is the Upernaviarsuk Research Station, an experimental farm trying to manipulate agriculture to suit the arctic. Even below the arctic circle, southwest Greenland is above the northern tree-line and not a land of fertility. Looking at the hay fields and perfect rows of cabbage. Maybe Eric the Red was not so far off when he named Greenland, a name he had selected to entice settlers.
Our interest ranged from curiosity to practicality. We wanted to find out what they were able to grow successfully and thought it might be the ideal source for purchasing good quality vegetables. Aside from a speedboat full of teenagers that arrived after us, the farm was quiet. A sign near the dock showed where the Norse, Eskimo and Colonial ruins were located but gave no additional information. There were two Danish men working in the greenhouse but they did not acknowledge us. We figured that since it was Sunday, they were not interested in dealing with visitors.
We wanted to continue looking around but all the fields were fenced. Not being sure of the etiquette we decided to walk out of the main farming area to pick blueberries. The land had been grazed and blueberries seemed to have been a popular item on the menu. We were about to give up after only finding the occasional single blueberry when we discovered a small steep area that had been missed. By the time we had finished, there were enough for another batch of jam.
On the walk back we could see from a distance that our dinghy had been relocated to make room for a skiff. Once at the quay we realized it had been moved to an inaccessible location. It was tied with no slack to the outside aft cleat of the skiff, making it impossible to reach from the ladder and the swell that was rolling in did not help bring it any closer. It took all of Frances' courage to be able to hook the skiff with her foot and jump down onto the slippery bow of the speedboat. She was then able to reach the dinghy, pick up Krystina and return to the boat. Snow Dragon was sitting bow towards the swell, which made the motion comfortable, but we still selected several alternative anchorages in case the wind continued to increase. Neither of us wanted to move and were content to put up with the motion.
Only the group of teenagers that were there presumably to learn about farming, were evident when we returned in the morning. Eventually we found a woman by the greenhouse who was able to explain that the gardener was in town and we would have to wait until he returned. We debated staying but felt that they were not that keen on selling their produce. When a small group of tourists arrived, we noticed they were also being left to wander on their own without any interaction from the staff, we knew that moving on was the right decision.
The bright, sun-lit farm that we arrived to reminded us of Norway. While the clouds that filled in as we left took some of the cheeriness, it still failed to bring our attention back to the fact that we were in Greenland. Maybe its because we associate the area with the harsher realities of the arctic climate, not the soft nurturing aspects of nature. Or that we left without gaining a better understanding of the project's viability. Perhaps agriculture will have a bright future in Greenland if global warming is here to stay. For now the sheep need to be kept indoors during the winter and greenhouses still play a vital part in Greenlandic gardening.
For more photos please click on Upernaviarsuk Research Station Album.
No comments:
Post a Comment