The Yukon government is recognizing Lorne Metropolit, the owner and operator of Yukon Gardens, as the 2022 winner of the Yukon Agriculture Award.

Metropolit is being celebrated for his decades of work developing agriculture and building food security in the Yukon, the government said Tuesday.

In 1985, Metropolit started Yukon Gardens as a show garden to demonstrate what can be grown in the North’s cold climate. The gardens are located near the Alaska Highway-Robert Service Way intersection.

More than 40 years later, the family business has expanded to grow greenhouse produce that can be found on the shelves in most of Whitehorse’s grocery stores.

Over time, Yukon Gardens has become the Yukon’s largest family-run greenhouse and garden centre operation, growing tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and lettuce.

In the late 1980s, Metropolit was promoting northern agriculture nationally on the CBC’s Canadian Gardener television show and was featured more recently on the cover of Greenhouse Canada for his hydroponic greenhouse heated with biomass.

Metropolit has also delivered many gardening programs at the local correctional facility, communities and schools across the Yukon.

The Yukon Agriculture Award is part of the 2022 celebrations for Canada’s Agriculture Day.

“Congratulations to Lorne for winning the Yukon Agriculture Award,” said Energy, Mines and Resources Minister John Streicker.

“Lorne’s dedication to growing produce in the North has helped expand the Yukon’s agricultural sector and highlight what can be grown in our climate.

“His resilience, innovation and hard work has ensured that Yukon Gardens’ greenhouses continue to put healthy, nutritious food on the tables of Yukoners and is an example of the territory’s ability for self-sufficient food production.”

The second place runner-up was Agnes Seitz for her work in the Mount Lorne area.

Other nominees included Trevor Amiot, Sunnyside Farm, Megan Waterman of Laststraw Ranch, Jean Van Bibber, Gail Riederer, Alan Stannard, Bluebird Farm and Jolene Billwiller.

The award is formerly known as the Farmer of the Year Award. The government updated the name to be more inclusive and broaden who is recognized for their contribution to the agriculture industry.