Apache Chili Pepper

 Jan 20, 2021

Ottawa City, Ontario, Canada

I have collected lots of Apache Pepper last Fall 2020, and aside from sharing the harvest, I have saved a lot for planting. 

While I do not use hot pepper, I have many friends that do love hot pepper. so why not? 

This is the harvest shared by my friend Karen during our Fall 2020 clean up. I will start some of the seeds now and see what we can grow this year ahead. 

"How hot is the Apache pepper? Its Scoville heat rating of 80,000 to 100,000 Scoville heat units aligns the Apache pepper as an extra-hot pepper, though on the milder side of that qualification. In relation to our jalapeño reference point, this puts the Apache pepper as 10 to 40 times hotter than a jalapeño pepper.

Capsicum annum ‘Apache’ is a dwarf chilli pepper, ideal for growing in pots on windowsills. It bears masses of medium-sized, hot chillies in a variety of colours from yellow to red. Chillies measure up to 75,000 on the Scoville Scale. For the hottest chillies, grow ‘Apache’ in full sun and water sparingly.

 a cultivar of capsicum annuum, the common chile. Apaches are a dwarf variety, good in pots and small gardens. There are two recognized varieties of Apache, apparently. Sometimes the fruit are yellow, and they can be eaten green like a Serrano or jalapeño. The plants don’t get large; only about 18 inches tall. They don’t grow fast either, although they will produce a lot of inch-long (or slightly longer), tasty peppers over time. (The fruit hang down on an Apache plant; other ornamental chiles may stick up in clusters.) Get the conditions and watering right and you can have chile peppers all year round, from a pot right in your kitchen.

How hot are Apache peppers? I’ve seen reports of anywhere from 5,000 Scoville Units to 80,000. To put that into perspective, a jalapeño pepper is about 5,000 at best, with the Serrano about 20,000 Scoville. The chiltepin chile weighs in around 80,000, with the infamous Habañero slightly hotter. "

Medicago sativa ( alfalfa)

 

Alfalfa - Medicago sativa

Common Alfalfa as Organic - Commonly used as a nitrogen fixing greencrop legume that fixes nitrogen in the second year. Alfalfa’s long tap root is good for breaking up the hardpan below the topsoil improving soil aeration and drainage. Produces heavy top growth which can be cut when it flowers. Usually sown in the spring with a nurse crop of oats and plowed down the following summer or fall. Perennial

Hyacinth Bean-Ruby Moon

Jan 18, 2021 Monday

Ottawa City, Ontario Canada

I am reviewing my planted beans last season at Sweet William Farms and my own garden here in my Victory Homes. These pictures are taken October 18, 2020. I was very happy with the result, so I saved the seeds and will plant again this season. 

We got these seeds from William Dam Seeds, and I actually love the plant. It climbs well on my 8 foot structure and it looks bigger than the  hyacinth bean pictures. I saved some seeds. The pictures above are my plants, these beans were buzzing with bee-sitors. I love them, so this is added in my collection. 

from  william dam seeds description: "Ruby Moon

Dolichos Lablab Selected variety with purple-veined leaves, lavender flowers, and dark purple seed pods. More attractive than the common Hyacinth bean. Edible fruit when boiled. Annual | Ht. 3m/10ft | 3-4 sds/gm. " 

Marigold

 Jan 14 2021

Ottawa City Ontario Canada

last season 2020 has given me lots of joy and lots of marigold in the gardens. I use them everywhere are companion for my tomatoes, planted in the parking lot, in the garden bed. I love the bright colors. 

Beans Collection

 January 14, 2021 Ottawa City, Ontario, Canada

Jimenez Pole Beans Seeds

The red flower tells you, we got a Scarlet Runner Bean!

This is Jimenez beans - it was gifted to us by Greta of Gretas Organics. It is a strong pole beans and this picture was taken October 18, 2020 from my backyard in our Victory home in Carlington. 

Jimenez Pole Bean with some dry pods

I have moved 3 times within the last 5 years, culminating in my achievement of finally having a farm, but I lost seeds along the way. Lucky me, there are good souls that continue the the tradition of seed saving. Above are pictures of my current bean collection which is minimal. 

I come across a farmer in Ontario who grow heirloom seeds, so I am starting my collection again. I will start with 15 varieties because I have the acreage for it. I imagine it will be a fun adventure for me, and I will be able to have fun with beans again. 

Here are the descriptions and I will be buying them from Tree and Twig Farm. I will add pictures are they grow. 

1)  Alice Sunshine Snap ( Bush Bean) - A productive snap green bean, gorgeous seed which is tan coloured with burnt orange coloured mottling. Of course the seeds you save are edible as dry beans if you have too many for the next years crop...as are all the beans listed here.

2) Blue Ribbon ( Bush Bean)  - A very rare bean, hard to find elsewhere, but so worthwhile. This is a fat meaty fresh eating bean, green with purple striping. Plump cream coloured seed with maroon splotches.

3) Bobis D'Albenga ( Bush Bean)  - A very rare bean, hard to find elsewhere. I love this bean, green curved bean with purple striping, slimmer than Blue Ribbon. Tasty. Seed is kidney bean shaped, cream with maroon markings.

4) Blue Jay (Bush Bean)  - Green snap, tender and stringless. Large productive plants, seed is black with white speckles. Introduced by Russell Crowe, he found it in a field of white seeded beans.

5) Canadian Wonder ( Bush Bean)  -  A rare bean, my original seed is from the UK, not Canada! Also known as Rose bean, good for fresh (green) or dried use, dried seed is red flat kidney shaped bean.

6) Fall Speckled ( Bush Bean) - Rare bean, excellent dried bean. Produces a plump and meaty bean, which is beautiful. Tan and maroon swirls.

7)  Greasy Grits - POLE- An old Appalachian heirloom, bean has a glossy sheen to the pod. nutty flavour. Small tan seed with brown splotches.

8) - Hutterite Soup Bean ( Bush Bean)  - Pretty lime green small seed. Productive and great for...as the name suggests...soup!

9) Ice (Bush Bean)  - A very rare and unique bean, hard to find elsewhere. Great for fresh eating, a small pale lime green curved bean, juicy and delicious. Seed is small and white. Unlike any other bean I know of.

10)  Mbombo (Bush Bean) - An excellent dried bean from Kenya, also good as fresh.  Seed is an emerald green kidney shaped, quite unusual. Drought and heat tolerant, good production.

11) Mrocumiere ( Bush Bean)  - A gorgeous lilac coloured kidney shaped bean, quite unique. I have only ever used it as a dry bean and it is delicious. Originally from South Africa, but apparently not too common there any more as I have had people from South Africa requesting it from me over the years.

12) Negritos ( Bush Bean) - Another very rare one. I got my original seed many years ago from the seed saving organization Kokopelli in France. I can find no one offering this anywhere now. So keep saving it! A small plump black bean that I have only used as a dry bean. Excellent for this purpose.

13) Quarantaine (Bush Bean)  - Rare. Dry use, excellent meaty bean, plump roundish bean is cream coloured with purple swirls and splotches. 

14) Silver Cloud Cannelini (Bush Bean) - Just a great dried bean of Italian descent. Thick pods dry easily on the plants as they are held high. White kidney bean shape. I grow loads of these to get me through the winter.

15) Turtle (Bush Bean) - Small well known black bean for dry use, good production. Great taste.

Borage

Borage - Borago officinalis

Zone 4a/4b Ottawa City, Ontario, Canada

My personal experience with borage is planting it in my garden directly. Honestly, I dumped a whole seed packet near the edge of my fence and forgotten about it. It was a beautiful flower, a unique start shape, and hairy stems.  I read about it that is a very useful herbal plant. 

POLLINATOR: The bees love it, and the star shaped flower is amazing and huge. I did not need to weed around it, it seems to me that it just smoothen the small weeds around it.  I did not buy any more of it because every year the plant self-seed. 

USES: Early in the morning, I gather the flowers to make some tea, mix them with my mint collection, it is refreshing in the hot summer sun.  

CULTURE: 

• Mediterranean native herb and is unique for its charming bright blue flowers as well as its hairy stems and leaves. 
• All aerial parts of the herb can be harvested in spring and used to make a nutritive and medicinal tea; known to be beneficial for adrenal glands, balancing the body in periods of stress. 
• Borage seeds are valued commercially for their high gamma linoleic acid (GLA) content within its oil. The body naturally produces GLA but the pathway can get blocked due to diet, lifestyle, aging and other stressors. 
• Borage seed oil supplementation can help bypass this block, and reduce inflammation. 
• Topical and internal use of borage oil is known to be beneficial for skin conditions, such as dryness, eczema and psoriasis. 
• Topical application of the leaves can be used to soothe minor skin injuries. 
• Flowers are edible and have a flavour reminiscent of cucumber, making a perfect garnish for soups and salads.
•  Leaves also have a culinary use, although only young leaves should be eaten. Try adding chopped young leaves and flowers to salads or summer drinks. On those sweltering summer days, cool off with iced borage tea, adding honey and lemon juice to taste. Prefers full sun in moist, fertile soil. 

Planting Instructions: 

• Germination time 1-2 weeks. Self sows. Pollinator friendly, especially for bumblebees. 
• Planting directly in the garden. 
• Planting depth 1/4 inch. 
• Spacing between seedlings 3 inches apart

Bloom Time: June to July

Flower Color: Blue

Special Features: 

• Deer resistant as well as a hornworm & cabbage worm deterrent. 
• Ht 2ft.

Zucchini- Deema (Summer Squash)

 Jan 12, 2021

I was very happy planting summer squash last year. This year I will plant this Zucchini again. It is also called summer squash. 

from the seed packet: 

Summer Squash

Deema Hybrid

High-yielding, virus tolerant, Mid-Eastern summer squash. Deema is an Anita type squash, commonly picked when 3”long with a blossom attached. Strong plants have a semi-erect single stem and open habit for easy picking. Pale green fruits have attractive cream mottling, a nice tapered shape, and a small blossom scar. Yield studies have shown that this variety out yields other varieties by 30%. 35 days 

Pkt contains 10-12 sds.

139 March Rd barn

Today monday, 4 jan 2021. It was nice day at the farm.

Temp was at -1c, nice day for a walk. 

Seeds

Jan 4 2021.monday - 1c in ottawa city ontario canada

I love receiving my seeds

Borage seeds ( borago officinalis)

Swiss chard mix - brigth lights