Chilean Guava to Blue Sausage Fruit: Take a tour inside this N.S. exotic fruit nursery

A new nursery in Lunenburg, N.S., isn’t your typical garden.

Annette Clarke runs what’s believed to be one of the only exotic fruit nurseries on the East Coast.

“Everything we grow has some special thing to them,” said Annette.

Originally from Germany, Annette is an environmentalist who became interested in gardening as a way to address food insecurity.

“I was also looking for ways to cut down on our carbon footprint,” Annette explained. “Growing our own food was one of the ways we could do that.”

Inside a greenhouse on her 33-acre property on the South Shore are more than 65 varieties of fruits and nuts from all around the world that are adapting to their new surroundings.

There’s chilean guava, a flying dragon citrus tree from Japan, yuzu and a vibrant jellow-like fruit with an unusual name and unique flavour.

“This is a Blue Sausage Fruit tree,” Annette said. “It doesn’t look like much in the winter, but it eventually will grow these nice feathery leaves and metallic blue fruit. It takes like watermelon with a hint of lemon.”

Annette’s love for research and experminting led her to discover a book on growing exotic fruits.

“The first one I saw was a Pawpaw tree,” she said. “It’s a big fruit that looks like a mango. I thought it would be so neat to have that.”

Clarke ran a successful nursery on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast where she built up her inventory by collecting clippings and seeds from her travels abroad.

In May 2021, Annette and her son, Nick Clarke, decided to relocate to Nova Scotia -- bringing their beloved plants along with them.

“It was really fun growing up and learning about all these different fruits I had never heard of,” Nick said. “Of course it was fun tasting them too.”

Annette says some of the “hardy exotics” can withstand negative temperatures as low as -20. Eventually, they’ll be able to grow things year-round.

“Since we produce things that we let ripen, it’s completely different than some of the fruit you buy in the store, because they’re often picked totally unripe for shipping,” Annette said.

While still under construction, Annette hopes to share the fruits of her labour by opening the nursery to the public in the spring.

They plan to hold tastings events and educational workshops so others can experience the same joy these plants have brought her.

“People can come and see what the trees look like when they’re mature and what the fruit looks and tastes like,” Annette said.