I have been intrigued by the varieties of tomatoes which grow in such a cold climate in Quebec, so I have done a little bit of googling. In the 1960s a plant breeder called
Roger Doucet created some new varieties of tomatoes especially for the cold climate in Quebec where there are only 4 months without frost. These varieties are able to withstand colder temperatures in Spring. There were a number of new varieties created such as
Ledoux, Canabec and Rosabec. I have brought one of these large beefsteak tomatoes home with me from the market, so will be saving seed to try next year.
I also went to visit a maple syrup factory in Canada. Here you can see that a simple tap is inserted into a
Canadian Sugar Maple tree for just 6 weeks in Spring and the watery sap is extracted into these buckets. This sap is boiled down and reduced to make syrup. The statistics vary according to all our tour guides, but it takes about 40 litres of tree sap to make 1 litre of syrup. That's just about what one tree produces in the Spring.
The most frequently found local squash variety found in Canada appeared to be this dark green variety. So interesting to see fruit and vegetables which can grow in such a short season.
I couldn't resist taking a photo of this street furniture. Residents in Norfolk, Rhode Island are quite rightly encouraged to pick up after their doggies by taking one of these free
MUTT MITTS from a dispenser in the high street!
I have been intrigued by the varieties of tomatoes which grow in such a cold climate in Quebec, so I have done a little bit of googling. In the 1960s a plant breeder called Roger Doucet created some new varieties of tomatoes especially for the cold climate in Quebec where there are only 4 months without frost. These varieties are able to withstand colder temperatures in Spring. There were a number of new varieties created such as Ledoux, Canabec and Rosabec. I have brought one of these large beefsteak tomatoes home with me from the market, so will be saving seed to try next year.
I also went to visit a maple syrup factory in Canada. Here you can see that a simple tap is inserted into a Canadian Sugar Maple tree for just 6 weeks in Spring and the watery sap is extracted into these buckets. This sap is boiled down and reduced to make syrup. The statistics vary according to all our tour guides, but it takes about 40 litres of tree sap to make 1 litre of syrup. That's just about what one tree produces in the Spring.
The most frequently found local squash variety found in Canada appeared to be this dark green variety. So interesting to see fruit and vegetables which can grow in such a short season.
I couldn't resist taking a photo of this street furniture. Residents in Norfolk, Rhode Island are quite rightly encouraged to pick up after their doggies by taking one of these free MUTT MITTS from a dispenser in the high street!