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Japanese mustard also called mizuna cabbage. Its flavor is slightly peppery. Traditionally used in soups, salads or sautéed. Also grown as an ornamental plant for the beauty of its serrated leaves. It does not like heat. Better to grow it in early spring or fall.

This currant tomato was discovered in the Châteauguay region in the 1940s. It is a family favorite because its many small red fruits are a delight for children. Make no mistake about it, the real Petit Moineau tomato bears 7 fruits on its bunches, otherwise it is an imitation!

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

Calendula is an annual plant that produces a multitude of orange and yellow flowers. Also called garden marigold, it is grown both for its ornamental appeal and for its medicinal properties. We use the edible flowers in herbal tea and its petals will nicely decorate your salads. Commonly used in the manufacture of balms, calendula would have healing and anti-inflammatory properties. Generous and very easy to grow, it will flower until the autumn frosts.

This plant with lobed and narrow leaves has a more pungent taste than that of cultivated arugula. It will appeal to those who love arugula salad as well as gardeners who like to taste a few leaves in passing, on hot summer days.;Arugula reseeds itself year after year.

MAINTENANCE AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
When thinning, be careful not to damage the plants that will remain in place because they are still fragile. When the plants have a few leaves, thin out by removing the weakest so as to leave a plant every 10 to 15 cm. Germination generally takes place about ten days after sowing and thinning can be done immediately after the appearance of the first leaves. The wild arugula is discreet during the winter but will start up again in the spring and will remain in place for several years.

Heritage variety brought to New France in the 17th century by European settlers. It is still eaten today in soups. Very productive, the plants can reach 1 meter in height and require stakes. According to the blog Le Potager d'Antan "an old European tradition dating back to the 15th century mentions that a pea soup would be associated with Saint-Hubert, patron saint of hunters and foresters. In summary, in the 7th century, after having moved away from God and having hunted on a Friday, Saint-Hubert would have encountered a deer carrying a scintillating cross which would have enjoined him to propagate the word of the divine. After many exploits including miracles, he brought the gospel to distant lands and built many places of prayer dedicated to the Lord. He died on May 30, 727 and was consecrated Saint on November 3, 743. This is one of the reasons why he is celebrated on November 3 in Belgium and May 30 in France. Europe would have perpetuated, here in Quebec, the name of this variety used in the famous hunting soup, in honor of Saint-Hubert. For the full story, visit the Potager d'Antan. This variety is considered very rare and in danger of extinction.

MAINTENANCE AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Requires net or other support to be able to hang on. Peas do not like lack of water.

Mauve from Mauritania. Beautiful and strong plant with flowers with dark pink corollas, streaked with purple veins. Pollinators appreciate it mainly because of its long flowering period. It reseeds itself, year after year. Can climb up to 1.5 meters in height. Easy to maintain, it will beautify the garden and flowerbeds.

MAINTENANCE AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Reseeds itself. Be careful not to damage the root ball too much, mallows don't really like transplanting.

Because we all had a grandmother who made rhubarb jam for us... An easy-to-grow perennial, this plant is perfect for lovers of "Guerilla Gardening". You wait for nightfall, then you discreetly plant a rhubarb seedling in a flower bed in plain view of the city. Small insignificant growth, it will go unnoticed. Then within a year or two, it will keep producing everlasting leaves with delicious stems and will be too healthy (you'll see to that) for the city to eliminate. Then you will then provide your grandmother with a stem that she will then return to you in a Mason jar, in the form of jam. Isn't it beautiful, the eternal cycle of nature?

MAINTENANCE AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:
Requires little care once implanted. Consider cutting the flower stalk to encourage leaf development. Direct seeding offers a lower germination rate than indoor seeding.

CAUTION Rhubarb leaves are poisonous, consume only the stalk.

Amazing and elegant flower, the zinnia is an annual that comes in multiple colors sunny yellow, bright orange or fuchsia pink. Its nectar will relentlessly attract hummingbirds and pollinators.;Zinnia is found primarily in Mexico. Following the sun, it spread across the dry grasslands, over an area stretching from southwestern North America to South America.

MAINTENANCE AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Good dried flower. Cutting faded flowers stimulates flowering.

In the 1960s, Mr. Q Réginald Lefebvre owned a farm in St-Rémi, Quebec. One day, some Spaniards ask him for a few acres to grow their tomatoes. He accepts and discovers by rubbing shoulders with them the potential of one of their variety of tomatoes. He cultivates it in turn. In 1981, for lack of succession, the farm was sold, but the tomato went down in history!


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.

Lamb's-quarters (Chou gras);Chenopodium album;In Quebec, we always ate it in times of scarcity. When the vegetable cellar was empty, when spring was slow to come, we picked the leaves and the young shoots and made a well-vitamined soup that we called "fat chicken soup". Of course, there was no chicken in there! The honor of the cook was safe.;Edible annual plant of the family Amaranthaceae. Its name refers to the shape of its crow's feet leaves. Slowly, it colonizes wasteland, vegetable gardens, fields, continents. We find it everywhere. However, this weed has many virtues. Very rich in calcium, protein, vitamins A, B and C, phosphorus and iron. The leaves and young shoots are eaten. However, like spinach, this plant contains a high level of oxalic acid. We will therefore refrain from putting it on the menu every day. The seeds are edible but always in moderation, because of the saponins they contain.;It freezes well and can be cooked with all sauces. To discover in pesto or in soup.;Also called fat cabbage, this plant is at the origin of the expression "to throw its fat cabbage", which means to waste its wealth. Very stupid the one who throws his fat cabbage.

BOTANICAL INFORMATION
Latin name: Chenopodium album
Common names: Lamb's-quarters, Ansérine blanche, Fatty chicken, Fatty cabbage
English: Lamb's quarters, Melde, Goosefoot, Fat-hen
Family: Amaranthaceae

MAINTENANCE AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:
Does not require fertilization. Harvest mature flowers regularly as the plant can quickly become invasive. If you wish to harvest the seeds, harvest the stems just before the seeds brown and let them dry on a tray.

Greater plantain;Plantago major;Plantaginaceae;Medicinal plant. Its virtues have been recognized since Antiquity, in the East as well as in the West. In North America, it spread with European settlers. Native Americans nicknamed this plant "white man's foot", because it grew wherever it trod the ground.;Plantain has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. It is used to treat wounds, skin irritations, inflammation of the respiratory tract and mucous membranes, rheumatism, constipation. In general, the great plantain purifies the body.;The fresh leaves of the plantain, washed, can be applied as a poultice to the skin or ingested in the form of an infusion and mother tincture. Very nutritious, they can also be eaten raw in salads, or cooked when they are tougher.

CAUTION, plantain can be invasive.

Rare, resistant and very productive variety, formerly cultivated by the Iroquois. The plant can climb up to 2 meters in height and produces white and purple flowers. Young, the beans can be eaten as small green beans. Its name means skunk in English. Indeed, its magnificent beans are speckled with black and white spots, or sometimes entirely black. Their flat shape is reminiscent of lima beans. When ripe, they are ideal for making soups. Personally, we have tested them in baked beans, and they are delicious mixed with Kahnawake Mohawk. This bean was rediscovered in Chester, Vermont and saved by Gail Flagg of Fort Kent, Maine (USA). Perfect for the three sisters, to grow with Canada Croockneck squash.


MAINTENANCE AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:
Avoid handling or removing weeds when the beans are wet to prevent the spread of disease.

Also called "little red tobacco", this annual variety, with pink flowers, grows easily in all types of soil. Rustic, early and small in size, it matures in six weeks and produces a full-bodied tobacco.;Considered a sacred plant, tobacco occupies an important place in the Amerindian pharmacopoeia and is used in various rituals.;This tobacco, also called "petit tabac rouge" or "small red canadian" is mentioned as far back as 1807 by the W.M Ewing & cie in their catalog of 1897. In Quebec, the Petit Canadien has been cultivated for more than a hundred years. From 1884, it was marketed by the J. O. Forest factory in Saint-Roch-de-L'Achigan. Considered rare.

MAINTENANCE AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:
If you are planting tobacco for leaf harvest, remove the flowers. The leaves are picked when yellow or brown. If you want to collect seeds and leave food for pollinators, let the flowers bloom. You can also harvest the leaves, but there will be fewer of them.

Milkweed, the host plant of the monarch butterfly

Lettuce Grosse Blonde Paresseuse. Mentioned by Vilmorin, a French seed company, in 1904, this old variety produces a beautiful large head of a beautiful blond green. It is hardy, and does not go to seed easily. It's crunchy to the bite, and has given us a great harvest this summer.

BOTANICAL INFORMATION
Latin name: Lactuca sativa
Common names: Big summer blonde, Blonde cuirassier, Nonpareille, St-Omer summer blonde
Family: AsteraceaeI

Very crunchy lettuce, which a friend from France sent me as a gift a few years ago. Very easy to grow, it seems to like the Quebec terroir. On the Internet, here is what we found about it "This lettuce has certainly been born in the Champagne region since the beginning of the 19th century. Then over the decades, like many varieties it lost its real name.However, it survived time thanks to its undeniable qualities and was kept by a woman named Angèle and continued on its merry way and its propagation under this last name.Luckily, Gilbert Vincent, great collector of beans, was able to carry out after many years of research to find the surname of this old variety, a joint culture with another very old variety also from the Champagne region, the Alphange à graine noire, and was able to observe that it it was the same variety. Angèle was thus able to find her surname." There is also a mention of the variety under its English names in an 1870s London publication, The Garden by William Robinson.

Climbing green beans with 6 to 7 seeds in each pod. These are a pretty pink, very small, and very tasty when eaten dry. Is just as delicious fresh, and very very prolific. It was at a Seed Festival that Marie-Jeanne Disant, from Quebec, gave this bean to Mr. René Paquet, then volunteer representative of the Seeds of Diversity Canada kiosk. This one shared some of them with me, and when we grew them, we were immediately delighted with their performance... and their color!Marie-Jeanne Saying "I'm very happy to find other lovers of my grandmother's beans. I have been growing them since the 1970s and give them to whoever wants to take care of them, telling myself that it is important to save this heritage!For the record, I I actually got these beans from my grandmother, who lived in France and almost never moved from her little hometown in Ile-de-France, unlike these beans that have crossed the continents! from his neighbor from Switzerland who gave them to him between the two wars... How these beans arrived in Europe and ended up in Switzerland, I have no idea! But when I emigrated to the 90s from France for Quebec, I brought some in my shoes, telling myself that I was not doing a great from a trick to the regulations since all in all, I was only bringing these beans back to their continent of origin (...) Another small specification, they are eaten green even when the small seeds are forming inside, because they are very tender. (...)"Later, Madame Disant will tell us that the beans were in the shoes of her suitcase, not the shoes in her feet.

MAINTENANCE AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:
Need to be tutored.

Mixed sunflowers.;The word "sunflower" is borrowed from the Italian girasole, "which rotates with the sun". There are many names or vernacular expressions for it: great sun, garden sun, common sun, parrot seed, sunflower... The protein-rich seed is an excellent food source for birds and humans. Depending on the variety sown, your sunflower plants will bear a single large flower or several small ones.;Small varieties and very large varieties in a mixture.*The varieties included are subject to change

CARE AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS: By the end of September, sunflower seeds are ripening. The stem dries up and the flowers bow their heads. It's time to harvest. Cut off the whole heads. They must then be dried in a dry place. Check often that the sunflower does not rot. After a few days, the seeds will sound "hollow" and "dry" when you run your fingernail over them. You just have to rub to remove the rest of the flowers, and scrape with your fingers to loosen the seeds.

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.

Shy in the garden, salsify blends in with grass when it is young. But its hardiness and lack of pests make it a wise choice for curiosity seekers. It is not the most productive plant, but it is worth the detour for its taste between hazelnut and parsnip. This plant is a real little sundial At the first light of dawn, meadow salsify opens directly towards the sun, then follows the course of the star until evening. From the dandelion family, it has an edible root with a slight nutty taste. The roots are tender and devoid of bitterness, provided they are picked before the flower stalk develops. The leaves are also edible. When the flowers appear, in the second year, it is possible to eat the flower buds like those of scorzonera. Culinary uses - chopped raw roots in salads, - cooked roots cut into strips (with white wine to prevent them from turning black), - young leaves in salads, - cooked leaves in vegetables, - raw flower buds in salads or cooked in vegetables.