Gaspé Flint Corn

Elegant and surprising flower, this annual flower can embellish our gardens with its multiple colors: sunny yellow, bright orange or vivid pink. Its nectar will also please insect pollinators and hummingbirds. Zinnia is mostly found in Mexico. Following the sun, it spread over dry prairies, in an area extending from the North American South-West to South America. Package: 100 seeds

Wow! Our best open-pollinated cherry tomatoes, all grown at our farm! Includes:

• Poire Jaune (yellow)
• Petit Moineau (red)
• Groseille (orange-red)
• Black Plum (black-red)
• Black Cherry (black-purple)
• Mon Plaisir (red)
• Sun Drop (orange)

Package: Around 35 seeds

Indeterminate. This red currant tomato was discovered in the Châteauguay area in the 1940s. Families and children love its numerous little fruits. The true Petit Moineau bears 7 tiny tomatoes in every cluster. Do not confuse it with an imitator! Package: 40 seeds  

No need for introductions! This herb is loved by all cooks for its taste, and gardeners for how easy it is to grow. It aromatic leaves and equally tasty seeds makes it a great ally, be it in the garden or in a pot on the balcony. Sow at intervals to be able to harvest all season long. Package: 75 seeds

Determinate.

Plant approximately 1 meter tall. Round fruits with a diameter of approximately 8 cm. Rare tomato variety. Firm flesh with an exquisite taste. All red tomatoes wish they were Plourde.

 

Grown since 1925 in Saint-Alexandre de Kamouraska, Quebec, by Aurélius Plourde and his family. Handed to Jeannot Pelletier and then to René Paquet. The latter cultivated and selected it before introducing it in Seeds of Diversity Catalog. According to the man who saved this Quebec heirloom : « The Plourde is an old beauty who forgot its own identity ».

Antoine D'Avignon was a ancient vegetable lover. A pioneer in Quebec for heirloom seed saving, he grew, harvested and shared the seeds of numerous varieties that would have otherwise been forgotten by now. Notably, Louis-Marie's Crotte d'ours potato, Suzanne Bourgeois's Ice Grow tomato, Huron wheat, and... this corn. In an interview in the late 1990s he reached out for help to the public: the Quebec corn that our grandmas used to cultivate has disappeared. Nobody is growing flour corn anymore. After the interview, a lady called the radio station claiming that she did have seeds of a flour corn that had been grown by her family for ages. This is how she came into contact with Antoine and shared with him her precious treasure. Then, during that summer, Antoine ends up mentioning the corn to a friend, Mrs. France Bouffard. She is really interested and ask for a couple seeds. Reluctant as he as only a few, he ends up giving her 6 seeds. She grew those and multiplied them, enough to make flour for her pancakes. The story could have ended there. Sadly it did not as Antoine died still young and took with him the corn story. More recently, Mrs. Bouffard reached out to me while I was working for Seeds of Diversity. We chatted, and she ended up mentioning the corn. She then sent me some seeds by the mail. We had a good first harvest from those seeds and, thanks to that, we can now share this variety with you. Luckily, Antoine has also gifted a few to another one of his friends, René Paquet, who has since carefully kept the envelope. On it, a name: Anita Fournier, from Nicolet. We are looking for this lady (probably deceased by now) or her offsprings. Please let us know if you know her. Please note that some of the seeds have been sent to Seeds of Diversity for preservation. With the hopes that you might also contribute to writing a chapter of this story. For more information, please visit (in French): Antoine d'Avignon (1948-2003), jardinier de la dernière chance" Please send us pictures of your crops and harvests! We will share them! Package: 40 seeds