Hidatsa Red Bean

Heirloom variety introduced to the Saint Lawrence River Valley by French settlers in the 17th Century. It is still eaten today and makes delicious pea soup. High yielding plants. They will need trellising and can grow up to 1 meter tall. The Potager d'Antan reports this story : « According to an old European tradition dating back from the 15th Century, Hubertus, patron saint of hunters, was associated with the pea soup. To make a long story short, during his lifetime, in the 7th Century, Hubert went astray, hunted on Good Friday, and while pursuing a stag, he had a vision in which he saw the animal with a crucifix between its antlers and heard a voice enjoining him to lead a holy life. Hubertus later performed many miracles, evangelized pagans in distant countries, and erected temples dedicated to the Lord. He died on May 30, 727. His relics were translated on November 3, 743. His feast day is November 3 in Belgium and May 30 in France. In memory of Saint Hubert, European settlers in Quebec supposedly kept the name of this pea variety, used in the preparation of the « hunting soup ». For the complete story, visit the Potager d’Antan website. This variety is very rare and is considered endangered.   Package: 30 seeds

Crisp green lettuce with long serrated leaves. Its taste is mild and not at all bitter. Very easy to grow and self-seeding if you let it bolt. Cut and come again variety. Italian heirloom.   Package: 200 seeds

Dark as the streets of Montreal deep into the night. Early, just as the arrival of winter over Quebec. Easy, to be grown in the field as well as in a pot on a Plateau balcony. Born in our field from a cross between 2 varieties, Black Crime and Teton de Venus, this tomato kept the dark colour of the former and the shape and density of the latter. It however yields much earlier than its parents, and produces much more. The variety is quite stable, but might still display some irregular shapes. We are keeping up our breeding work with the hope of creating a perfect tomato. The fruits are slightly smaller than a tennis ball. Our team carried a taste test and found a ...steak flavour! The foliage is regular, and the plant is not prone to diseases. Package: 35 seeds. Germination rate: 100%

** CANNOT BE SHIPPED OUT OF CANADA ** The tree onion, or Egyptian onion, has been grown in Quebec for a long time. It is mentioned as early as in the 1820s, and was allegedly brought in with the first colonizers. However its true origin remains mysterious; some people claim that it comes from Catawissa, a town in Pennsylvania, while others say it comes from China. It is a perennial onion that produces, at the tip of its leaves, clusters of red grape-sized bulbils. The most commonly harvested parts are these bulbils and the bulb, but the leaves can also be used, chopped just like chives. After 2 to 3 years, the plant might start feeling a bit crowded at its base: divide the bunch, and transplant individual sections further apart. Extra ones can be eaten like green onions. The tree onion has an elongated bulb that ranges from small to medium in size. Package: About 8 small bulbils per order

A Cross between the mythical Montreal Melon and the American Banana Cantaloup. Its orange aromatic flesh is exquisite. Bred in 1910 in Oka Trappist Cistercian monastery by Father Athanase, Director of the Oka Agricultural Institute. The Oka Melon disappeared after the closing of the school, in 1962, but was rediscovered on Bizard Island, near Montreal. Right where we're growing it ! Heirloom variety.   Package : 12 seeds.

High-yielding yellow bush bean. Can withstand comparison with the Beurre de Rocquencourt. Delicious long yellow pods with black seeds. Can be eaten when young and tender or as a dry bean. Very productive over a long period of time, the more you pick the more it will give you beans. This old variety comes from Sainte-Hélène, Kamouraska County, where it has been cultivated since time immemorial by Rollande Labrie (born in 1923) and her family. We are proud to offer it and ensure its preservation. Wax bean originally comes from Algeria. Under the name Algiers Bean, it made its appearance in France in the 1840s. From then on, the French selected and developed many yellow wax beans with black seeds. The most famous one is the Beurre de Rocquencourt, named after a town near Versailles.   Package: 30-35 seeds