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Antoine D'Avignon was passionate about heirloom vegetables. A pioneer in Quebec in the preservation of heritage seeds, he harvested, cultivated and shared several varieties which, today, would have been forgotten without him. For example, Louis-Marie's Crotte d'ours potato, Ice Grow tomato (from Suzanne Bourgeois), Huron wheat, and... this corn. he appeals to all Quebec corn that our grandmothers grew no longer exists. No one grows flour corn anymore. After the interview, a lady telephoned the radio station to say that she had in her possession seeds of flour corn that had been grown in her family for ages.<!--more-->And so it is that she shared with Antoine her precious treasure. Then that summer, Antoine talked about it to his friend, Mme France Bouffard, who asked him to give her some seeds. Hesitating, because he has very few, he ends up leaving him 6 seeds. She cultivates and multiplies them, then makes flour for her pancakes. The story could have ended like this, but it was without counting on the early death of Antoine, who took with him the story of corn. More recently, Mrs. Bouffard contacted me, who then worked at Semences du patrimoine . We speak. She tackles the corn, then sends it to me by post. Having had a good first harvest, we can therefore offer it to you in turn. To top it all off, Antoine had given the seeds to another of his friends, René Paquet, who has kept the corn husk to this day. And on the envelope, a name. Anita Fournier, from Nicolet. We are looking for this lady (probably deceased today) or her descendants. Please let us know if you know it. Note that some of the seeds have been sent to Seeds of Diversity for preservation. Hoping that you too will contribute to adding a new chapter to the story. Send us photos of your Canadian White Corn and we'll share them.

BOTANICAL INFORMATION
Latin name: Zea mays (possibly a Northern Flint, but resembles Narragansett Indian Flint Corn, eastern US)
Common names: Flour corn, Indian corn (Quebec)
English: Horn
Family: Poaceae

The roots, whose very sweet taste is reminiscent of parsnips, are eaten cooked. Popular even at the royal table until the 17th century, the chervis gradually fell into oblivion. It was probably a victim of the success of carrots or beets, the selection of which underwent spectacular improvements over time. But for the permaculture vegetable garden, it's a must! Easy to grow, the soft white flesh of its roots will make it popular again. Harvesting can be done in early spring before the plant has started growing or in the fall. Like the carrot, a first frost can make the roots sweeter. Harvest time is also the time to divide the plant for the next season. *Must have a cold period in the refrigerator, see information below.;Here is a recipe from 1460"Take skirrets, parsnips and apples, and parboil them. Make a batter of flour and eggs. Cast ale, saffron and salt into it. Wet them in the batter and fry them in oil or in grease. Pour on almond milk and serve it forth.

BOTANICAL INFORMATION
Latin name: Sium sisarum
Common names: Chervis, berle des bergers, chirouis, girole
English: Skirret
Family: Apiaceae

MAINTENANCE AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
The chervis likes to have its feet cool and the development of its roots requires regular watering. Also, mulch the feet as soon as the temperatures warm up. And do not hesitate to water!

This cabbage looks like lettuce, but with a sweet cabbage taste. Narrow white stems that end in a very pale green curly leaf and are used in stir-fries or raw in salads. Easy to grow, it can be cut and it grows back if the season is long enough. Tolerates cold and heat. Pick the leaves when they are still young and tender or when they are fully mature.

Courgette Cocozelle;Cucurbita pepo;50-60 days to maturity.;Appreciated by gardeners, who have been growing it for a long time, this ancient variety comes to us from Naples, hence its name Cocozella di Napoli.;Bushy type, it produces fruit tasty in quantity. To stimulate fruiting, be sure to harvest young zucchini. This will extend the harvest season and you will be feasting on little zucchini.;When ripe, this zucchini is 30cm in length. It is at its best if harvested when it measures between 15 and 20 cm. The dark green fruits are streaked with light green. The flesh is a delicate color between white and green.;Succulent cooked, fried, steamed or stored in the freezer.;Italian heritage variety.

BOTANICAL INFORMATION
Latin name: Cucurbita pepo
Common names: Zucchini, zucchini
English: Zucchini, zucchini
Family: Cucurbitaceae

MAINTENANCE AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:
Harvest regularly throughout the season to boost production.

Old variety of corn introduced around 1890 in the USA, soft and sweet. Plant over 2 m tall, producing two to three 20 cm spikes. The long white grains are not arranged in a row, but in a totally irregular fashion. Cook longer to extract the flavor. Excellent on the BBQ.

MAINTENANCE AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Rare, share.

Côte de Beaune lettuce is a Boston lettuce with fleshy, slightly blistered foliage, green in color tinged with a little red. Foliage very resistant to cold. Excellent fall lettuce. It comes to us from Portage seeds, and we have been growing it for 3 years.

The Comtesse de Chambord bush bean is a very old variety (1880s) originating, as its name suggests, from the Chambord region of France. Its small pods with elongated white grains and excessively thin skin have a remarkable quality that makes it a highly esteemed variety. Branched and late plant.

The 'Black Crimean' tomato is a very old and still very popular variety of black tomato. She was found in the 90s in the peninsula of Crimea. Beefsteak type, it produces large fruits about 10 cm wide in shades of purple, red, black and green with a rather unique appearance! Germination rate 100%.

MAINTENANCE AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:
Gradually acclimate to outdoor conditions about 10 days before planting by taking them out during the day. When planting, lay the plants horizontally, slightly arching the plant to bring out the leaves upwards.

Aunt Alice (Marie-Alice Laflamme Gosselin) was still growing her cucumber at age 90. She chose the largest and most beautiful to produce seeds that she soaked in milk, the day before Saint-Antoine, before planting them in the garden, in good rich and fertile black soil. Then, the succession not being there, the last seeds were entrusted to a passionate man who introduced us to this excellent variety.;This very productive cucumber is resistant to diseases. It is easy to digest. We prefer small cucumbers to larger fruits, for their juicy, crunchy and fragrant flesh.;Exceptional heritage variety.

Few seeds because it is difficult to extract seeds from this cucumber, it gives really little.

Curly mallow is a medicinal plant also called curly mallow or Chinese mallow. It was already cultivated in Asia more than two millennia ago. It has emollient, laxative and depurative properties. Its leaves, with their sweet flavor, are eaten raw or cooked. Still young, they can replace lettuce in salads. The stems of the plant can rise almost 2 meters in height.

MAINTENANCE AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Reseeds itself.

Very vigorous climbing yellow bean producing beautiful long stringless yellow pods which are delicious eaten fresh. The man who gave it to us was collecting the seeds from his bush beans year after year when he noticed that his beans were becoming vines! He named them Daroi and we were surprised how good they were so we share them with you!

Appreciated by gardeners, who have been growing it for a long time, it was introduced to the United States around 1894 by the seed company Peter Henderson. It produces about ten fruits of 0.5 to 1 kg per plant. These are ivory or yellow streaked with green. Its flesh is very sweet with a flavor reminiscent of chestnuts. Interestingly, it is one of the only winter squash whose flesh is edible when cooked. Due to its small size, it is ideal for stuffing.;Small squashes can be stored for about 3 to 4 months.

The vast majority of our seeds are produced on our farm. However, if the cultivation of a variety fails or if it is out of stock, we source from other seed companies to ensure an interesting selection. This is the case for this variety.

BOTANICAL INFORMATION
Latin name: Cucurbita pepo
Common names: Delicatea squash
English: Delicata squash, peanut squash, Bohemian squash, sweet potato squash
Family: Cucurbitaceae

MAINTENANCE AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Does not tolerate cold.

Appreciated by gardeners, who have been growing it for a long time, it was introduced to the United States around 1894 by the seed company Peter Henderson. It produces about ten fruits of 0.5 to 1 kg per plant. These are ivory or yellow streaked with green. Its flesh is very sweet with a flavor reminiscent of chestnuts. Interestingly, it is one of the only winter squash whose skin is edible when cooked. Due to its small size, it is ideal for stuffing.;Small squashes can be stored for about 3 to 4 months.

MAINTENANCE AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Does not tolerate cold.

Here is a nice round and very red beet. Its juicy flesh is perfect for making juices. It can also be cooked very well raw or cooked. Its sweet flavor is in no way earthy. In addition, its abundant foliage is delicious in pesto. To be harvested in summer. An old variety, its appearance dates from 1892.

The vast majority of our seeds are produced on our farm. However, if the cultivation of a variety fails or if it is out of stock, we source from other seed companies to ensure an interesting selection. This is the case for this variety.

BOTANICAL INFORMATION
Latin name: Beta vulgaris
Common name: Detroit Beet
English: Detroit Beet
Family: Amaranthaceae, formerly Chenopodiaceae

Original from the Doe Hill area of ​​Virginia. Produces small rounded and compact sweet peppers. The flesh is thick and the skin very thin. It is perfectly adapted to our climate since it produces an astonishing multitude of orange fruits very early on, which can be eaten cooked, stuffed or cut raw. Refreshing and sweet flavor.

BOTANICAL INFORMATION
Latin name: Capsicum anuum
Common name: Sweet pepper Doe Hill
English: Doe Hill pepper
Family: Solanaceae

MAINTENANCE AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
love the heat

Dwarf green bean with small, round, sweet pods. A delight! This variety was found on a seed exchange table at a Seed Festival in Frelighsburg, Quebec, in 2013. It has a name that seems old, and is not listed by seed saving organizations in the Canada or the United States. Limited quantities. VERY RARE. Anyone who can provide us with information on where it comes from would be appreciated as this is one of our best beans! Addendum In November 2016 we found a trace of a Duch Princesse bean in the "New-Zeland Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science /Experimental Agriculture" of March 1978. The origin of the bean named Duch Princess is believed to be Holland. He was also named by the seed company William Damn Seeds who would sell an improved variety from a Duch Princess bean. We find another trace of it in a research center in... Tanzania, in Arusha, (Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT)) in 1972.

MAINTENANCE AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Avoid handling or removing weeds when the beans are wet to prevent the spread of disease. When the seedlings have started to sprout, ensure that the plants do not lack water until the first true leaves appear.

Early European yellow bean known for its precocity. Its pods, measuring 15 cm long, are slender and tender. It boasts a particularly smooth and sweet taste and remains productive even in challenging conditions. Harvest when the beans are round but thin. If the pods remain on the plant for too long, the beans will become fibrous and starchy.

According to records, this olive-shaped red radish was cultivated in Port Williams, Nova Scotia, in the 1860s. Originally called "Early Scarlet Olive," it was sold for 5 cents per pound package in local markets and featured in Maul's seed catalog in 1893. The "Early Scarlet Globe" radish is known for its rapid growth and crisp, slightly spicy flavor.

CARE AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Make multiple successive sowings throughout the summer for multiple harvests.

This exclusive blend of radishes presents a vibrant spectrum of colors, ranging from cherry red to white, plum purple, and rose. With crisp white flesh and sturdy foliage, the round and crunchy roots of these radishes are easy to cultivate, marking the arrival of spring. Enjoy them as a delightful snack, appetizer, or colorful topping for your salads.

CARE AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Make multiple successive sowings throughout the summer for multiple harvests.

Number of seeds per packet: 150

This old variety of eggplant was introduced on the market around the 1910s. It produces abundant and early dark veiled fruits, pear-shaped, measuring about 15 cm. This variety has known through the ages and is still found more than 100 years after its appearance commonly in the vegetable gardens of amateur gardeners.

BOTANICAL INFORMATION
Latin name: Solanum melongena
Common names: Black Beauty Eggplant
English: Black Beauty eggplant
Family Solanaceae

MAINTENANCE AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:
Benefits from staking to prevent the branches from breaking under the weight of the fruit.

***The vast majority of our seeds are produced on our farm. However, if the cultivation of a variety fails or if it is out of stock, we source from other seed companies to ensure an interesting selection. This is the case for this variety.