Heritage Vegetables Garden Ripened Heritage Vegetables
Naturally Raised, Chemical Free
Our Objectives: To search out, preserve, perpetuate, study, and encourage the cultivation of heirloom and endangered varieties of food crops by searching out heirloom and endangered varieties, particularly Canadian varieties; establishing and maintaining curatorial collections of Canadian varieties; co-operating with individuals, groups, and institutions in Canada and internationally in aid of maintaining, supplementing, and salvaging existing collections of heirloom and endangered varieties,
It has come to be widely recognized that market forces can play an important role in the conservation of agricultural and horticultural diversity.
We have a couple of gardens in production during the season and are constantly expanding. Produce is offered to our clients either fresh at the farmer's market, or to established customer's we deliver to in Saskatoon. Any produce left is then immediately processed into our fine variety of canned preserves. This ensures top quality for both the fresh and canned choices.
We try to price our produce the same as the major chain grocery stores so you pay no more, but the quality and flavour is superior.
Although we are not totally organic, no fertilizer other than compost and no general herbicides are used. But we do spray one persistent weed variety that cannot be cultivated out, Canada thistle, individually with a hand spritzer. These we 'spot spray' and do not compost the remnants.
We encourage you to alert us through the 'Contact' link at left if you would like to join our regular route and have this bounty delivered into Saskatoon when available through the summer.
Fruit including strawberries and raspberries picked at the height of ripeness. Saskatoon berries to be planted this upcoming season.
Variety of Vegetables
Beans
Black Valentine (1897) - A legendary snap bean for its delicious taste. Peter Henderson & Company introduced this wonderful variety back in 1897.Productive bush plants produce 6” long green pods and black shiny seed that can also be used as a dry soup bean.
Jesse Fisk (pre-1740) - Originally brought to Charleston, New Hampshire in the 1740’s from England by Jesse Fisk who was one of the original settlers. An excellent bean that can be used as a string bean when very young but is best used as a dried bean. The large kidney shaped seed is maroon with tan splashes and cooks very quickly and is great in chili, soups or stews. An excellent dried bean that is not only productive but also very early and dependable.
Grandma Nellie's Mushroom - A very unique heirloom originally from Russia. In 1952, Nellie Chernoff obtained a seed for these beans from a Russian lady. Nellie grew them in Kamsack, SK until 1988 when her granddaughter, Marge Mozelinsky, took over the preservation of these beans. Marge has been growing them ever since. The pods are a nice yellow color and the seeds are dark brown. The unique trait of this variety is that the flavor of the pods is similar to mushrooms when cooked!
Dragon Tongue - (a.k.a. Dragon Langerie) Extremely productive and delicious wax bean that originated in the Netherlands. Flattened yellow pods are 6-7” long and streaked with purple. The seeds, which can also be used as a dry bean, are beige with purple stripes, some are almost all purple.
Beets
Bassano (pre-1840) - (aka Chioggia, Candy Stripe Beet) A very old historic beet that was originally called Barbabietola di Bassano and was grown in Italy well before it was known in North America. In 1865 Fearing Burr included it in his book Field and Garden Vegetables of America. He stated that the Bassano beet was “An Italian variety, generally considered the earliest of garden-beets, being from seven to ten days earlier than the early blood turnip rooted.” It is documented as grown at the Red River Settlement in the mid 1800’s under the name Turnip Bassano, referring to its slightly flattened shape like a turnip. Apparently the original Bassano beet was slightly flatter and a duller red than the one that survives today, but otherwise are the same. The Bassano beet is also known as the Candy Stripe beet because of the alternating white and rose colored rings (like a bulls eye). This trait makes it a beautiful slicing beet. They are excellent if slightly steamed or baked and the young beets can be used in salads.
Lutz Green Leaf - (a.k.a. Winter Keeper) An old variety that was popular with the Amish and Mennonites for generations. The tops are green so they were very popular as a cooked vegetable and the roots are huge and red with excellent storage qualities. The large roots are very sweet and do not get tough or woody even at a very large size. Excellent variety. One of the best.
Carrots
Coeur de Rouge - A beautiful orange carrot. The roots are dark orange, large and excellent for storage. Great for stews and soups! A very rare heirloom that is believed to have originated in France. EXTREMELY RARE.
Cucumbers
Beit Alpha - An open pollinated Middle Eastern type of cucumber that is delicious and very productive. A great slicing cucumber!
Lyaluk - A rare old Belarusian heirloom obtained from Andrey Baranovski of Belarus. The very compact plants produce many small green pickling cucumbers early in the season.
Lettuce
Cracoviensis (pre-1885) - An Eastern European heirloom that has wavy green leaves with a purple tint. Retains buttery flavor even in the heat. A very nice leaf lettuce. Looseleaf type.
Lollo Rossa - Extremely frilly red leaves are gorgeous! One of the most beautiful lettuce varieties available. Looseleaf type.
Brown Dutch Winter (White Seed) (1731) - This is a very historic lettuce mentioned as early as 1731 by British botanist Stephan Switzer. It was also very popular in Colonial America and Thomas Jefferson often planted it at Monticello. Large floppy heads that are bronze tinged. EXTREMELY RARE.
Merveille des Quatre Saisons (pre-1885) - (a.k.a. Marvel of Four Seasons) A French heirloom described in Vilmorin’s The Vegetable Garden in 1885. Reddish green rosette with crispy leaves and excellent flavor. The red color intensifies with cool weather. One of the most beautiful lettuces available. Butterhead type.
Muskmelon
Cershownski - A very exciting find! The seeds of this melon come from Jake Rempel of Halbstadt, Manitoba. Jake’s mother, Mrs. Tina Rempel, believes it was brought over from the Southern Ukraine by her great grandparents, Jacob Kehler and Kathrina Penner in July of 1874. It has been passed on in Jake’s family ever since! It is rare to find such a well documented history on an old variety so this makes it all the more interesting. To make this find even more exciting I believe that this is a strain of the extremely rare Cob Melon. The center of the melon is filled with a cob like structure containing seeds so it is easiest to cut around the melon lengthways against the center core of seed, take the top half in one hand , the bottom half in the other and the twist the two halves apart. This is how Jake’s family has been doing it for generations. The fruit average 8-9” in length and 5-6” in diameter and the mildly sweet flesh is a light green to cream color. EXTREMELY RARE.
Gnadenfeld - I am very pleased to be able to offer this excellent variety to my customers! This melon has been grown in Gnadenfeld, Manitoba for generations and is named after its place of origin. One of the earliest, most productive and sweetest melons that I have ever tasted! I cannot say enough about this excellent find. The small melons have deep orange fragrant flesh and are produced in abundance. RARE.
Onion
Australian Brown (1897) - C.C. Morse & Co. obtained five pounds of Brown Spanish onion seed in 1894 from Australia and sold it to W. Atlee Burpee in 1897. W. Atlee Burpee then renamed the variety Australian Brown. Australian Brown is the most reliable onion I grow. I always had a problem trying to grow large onions in my clay soil and short growing season until I came across Australian Brown. It produces uniform globes with pungent yellow flesh and is a great keeper.
Topsetting Onion (pre-1800) (Allium cepa var. proliferum) - (a.k.a. Tree Onion, Egyptian Onion) A very hardy perennial onion that produces clusters of marble size bulbils at the tops of the leaves instead of seed heads. The bulbils can be used for cooking and the greens are one of the first to grow in the spring.
Southport Red Globe (1873) - Originated in Southport, Connecticut. A beautiful large globe shaped red onion. Very dependable and an excellent keeper. My favorite red onion.
Peas
Homesteader (pre-1908) - (aka Lincoln) An excellent shelling pea that is ideal for fresh eating or freezing. One of the best tasting!
Large Manitoba - A great pea that originated in Manitoba many years ago. Very productive with large pods and green wrinkled peas. Great for shelling.
Peppers
Black Hungarian - This pepper is not only very early and productive but is also very ornamental. The green foliage has purple veins and beautiful purple flowers. The jalapeno shaped fruit is also a deep purple, almost black, and it ripens to red. The flavor of this pepper outstanding and used in salsa or spicy casseroles. This pepper is about as hot as a chili pepper, perhaps slightly milder.
Doe Hill Pepper (pre-1900) - A very rare family heirloom from Doe Hill area of Highland County, Virginia. This is without a doubt one of the very best peppers for short season areas, also one of the tastiest. The small round lobed peppers are the shape of old fashioned tomato peppers and turn gold at maturity. They are very sweet, excellent in salads or any dish that requires sweet peppers. These would also make cute little stuffed peppers. EXTREMELY RARE.
Grandpa's Siberian Home Pepper - Very dwarf plants grow to 1.5 ft high and are excellent as a houseplant if pinched back from time to time. It will continue to produce small hot peppers all winter long. Great for chili! Originally from Siberia. EXTREMELY RARE.
King of the North - An excellent blocky red sweet pepper. The 1936 Isbell Seed Catalogue wrote “This is the newest and best early large pepper and is especially valuable in the northern states.” They go on to say “The flesh is thick, firm and very sweet and mild.”
Orange Bell - An excellent variety that produces mostly four lobed orange bell peppers with thick sweet flesh. Excellent as a green bell pepper as well. One of the best peppers.
Weaver's Mennonite Stuffing (1860's) - Originally from the Weaver family of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The variety is a type of pepper called a tomato pepper with small red fruit are only one inch in diameter. These peppers were traditionally used for pickling and hors d ouvers.
Squash
Mandan Banquet - (a.k.a. Will's Banquet) Oscar H. Will developed the Mandan Banquet squash from a cross between Buttercup and Gilmore Squash. According to Hedrick in The Cucurbits of New York(1935), the Gilmore Squash was the result of a cross between the Winnebago and Arikara Squash and was introduced in 1926. The resulting Mandan Banquet Squash is orange in color with a cup on the bottom similar to Buttercup. Mandan Banquet has good quality thick orange flesh for baking. EXTREMELY RARE.
Tomatoes
Andrina - This heirloom cherry tomato originated in Russia and is one of the earliest tomatoes there is. The plants are extremely dwarf reaching 6” high and produce good yields of tasty cherry sized fruit.
Bison - An old fashioned favorite that was developed by Prof. A. F. Yeager of North Dakota University and was listed by Oscar H. Will & Co. in 1937. The 1937 McFayden Seed Catalog also listed this variety as Bison Self-Pruning, stating that it was an “outstanding new development for the dry land farm.” Indeed it is! Bison is my mom’s favorite for canning. The medium size red fruit are 2.5 x 2”. This tomato also has exceptional taste. Great for salads or canning.
Many thanks to Heritage Harvest Seeds for the descriptions and seed, as well, both Heritage Harvest Seeds and Google Images for pictures.
Please contact us if you would like to be put on our regular Saskatoon delivery route.
Phone - 306.883.2221
eMail - peter qz gordonlakehomestead.ca