Hassan Adam, Yellowknife dentist, wows with greenhouse bounty
'It makes me feel very good and realize if you want to do something, you can.'
A Yellowknife dentist is using his green thumb to give back to his community.
Hassan Adam moved to Yellowknife from Malawi, in southern Africa, in 1980. "We had a big farm and grew plants all the time," the dentist says.
Adam is already well known for the beautiful gardens he keeps around the Adam Dental Clinic downtown.
Moving to the Far North, Adam never thought his garden would reach its current state.
"We started with just the basics and simple things that grew well in the North: lettuce, cabbages, potatoes, carrots and beans."
Adam has since hired horticulturist Leslie Creed to help him with this greenhouse. Now he's experimenting with even more exotic plants, including watermelon, quinoa and corn.
"I will try anything," says Creed. "But not pineapple. It's a two year commitment."
Every harvest, Adam shares the fruits of his labour with staff at his dental clinic and the city's homeless — some of whom work for Adam during the growing season.
"They help bringing in the soil," Adam says. "One gentleman has gone back to his community and took a bunch of seeds and says he's going to grow a garden there."
Adam says he plans to keep trying new things, and sharing his successes.
"It makes me feel very good and realize if you want to do something, you can."