Ontario pepper farm.

[2dimes]

I find it interesting that there is a pepper farm in Ontario Canada. Seems like something you would grow in a warmer place, though the summer growing season probably gets prett warm and humid there. Good for them.

I'm losing my desire to eat very hot sauces and never wanted the extra hot ones but, I still quite like tobasco.

[Dukasaur]

I find it interesting that there is a pepper farm in Ontario Canada. Seems like something you would grow in a warmer place, though the summer growing season probably gets prett warm and humid there. Good for them.

I'm losing my desire to eat very hot sauces and never wanted the extra hot ones but, I still quite like tobasco.

Ontario is also one of the world's leading ginseng producers. We not only supply most of North America's demand, but even export 5 million pounds of ginseng to Asia every year.

[2dimes]

Maybe it's because I grew up on the prairies but growing roots seems normal in Canada.

I know ginseng was brought here to grow but I don't know if peppers would do as well in Saskatchewan.

Maybe it's a lack of fertilizer or something because apple trees don't tend do well in Calgary, yet my uncle was telling us about raiding someone's really great apple trees here in the 1970s.

[Dukasaur]

Yeah, Alberta is not really apple country. But there are outliers in everything; I'm sure there are enough apple trees for hobby farming.

Peppers are mostly a hot-weather crop. Our pepper farms are statistical blips also.

[2dimes]

I'm a big fan of things grown in Canada because most of the people involved are trying to grow good food without chemicals. There are exceptions to that also.

[Jdsizzleslice]

Can you grow Green Peppers in Canada?

[2dimes]

Yes but I'm not aware of where there are any working farms doing it, if there are any currently. I was told that green peppers for most of Cabada used to grown on Mayne Island BC. I am not sure when that ceased. It's less expensive to import them now.

My cousin has been growing Carolina Reapers and other similar extra hot peppers here in a very small green house.

Part of the family in the OPs motivation is likely that you can price hot sauce high enough to make quite a bit more money than fresh green peppers. I was a bit surprised and it was pretty interesting for me to see that video of a couple in their field with a few acres of plants outside.

Fun timing too, I bought a pepper plant a few weeks ago at the
Italian store. It is on our counter near a window that gets enough sun that my son grew a mango tree, the mango tree has not blossomed but it pretty small, I don't know but it might need pollination and unfortunately there are no more mango trees around here.

Canada is pretty vast and much of it is sparsely settled.

There are commercial green houses that grow tomatoes all year round.

There are a few places where we have orchards. Peaches, cherries, apples etc. but you can't grow those easily in most of the country.

The most common crop would be things such as barley, oats, wheat and canola.

There are a few places that have plenty of large farms growing corn. The Taber area in Alberta and somewhere in Ontario are somewhat notable for it.

[mookiemcgee]

You guys grow assloads of soybeans too don't you?

[2dimes]

That is possible. I have never seen any, even if I have had some at the sushi places.

There are a fair volume of potatoes grown but most people around here think of Idaho. Two factors in that might be advertising and the impressive russet production there for global French fries.

[Jdsizzleslice]

Yeah, I would assume that mosh of Canada doesn't have a great climate to grow many fruits and vegetables. Or at least a climate that is supportive year-round like most of the countries that are closer to the equator.

[mookiemcgee]

Yup, but Canada is massive and as was pointed out they use alot of greenhouses for crops that need them. I was curious so I looked it up:

Cultivable land > Hectares
Canada - 45.1 million - Ranked 6th
USA - 170.43 million - Ranked 1st
(India was second, China 3rd)

DEFINITION: Cultivable land (in hectares) includes land defined by the Food and Agriculture Organisation as land under temporary crops (double-cropped areas are counted once), temporary meadows for mowing or for pasture, land under market or kitchen gardens, and land temporarily fallow. Land abandoned as a result of shifting cultivation is excluded."

https://www.nationmaster.com/country-in ... d/Hectares

[2dimes]

That is interesting but seems confusing.

First because I can never get a grasp on what a hectare is. And second because it would appear they are not counting native grassland as being productive since humans are not planting crops on them.

The second part potentially looks like they may be under estimating how much land could be used to grow food on. Fair enough for our discussion since we are talking about things that are unusual due to their being difficult to grow there.

I know a limiting factor for what is grown on some grassland is moisture. For example a large amount of southern Alberta and Saskatchewan called by some the golden triangle* was arid before the introduction of irrigation, much of which is provided by means of small partial dams and canals constructed by humans.

I recently read something showing a picture of the roots of native grass that could go as deep as 8-12 feet. Most of the wheat crop roots are well less than a foot long.

*The term Golden Triangle was also an area of the Southern USA associated with slavery.

[2dimes]

OK, only counting land used for intentional planted crops makes more sense after looking at the site, it seems to be for comparing countries food production.

Does it seem odd and potentially shady, that there is annual data starting in 1961 that suddenly ceases in 2008. Why does it stop over a decade ago?

[mookiemcgee]

OK, only counting land used for intentional planted crops makes more sense after looking at the site, it seems to be for comparing countries food production.

Does it seem odd and potentially shady, that there is annual data starting in 1961 that suddenly ceases in 2008. Why does it stop over a decade ago?

So... I don't really have any claim to knowing the validity of these numbers. But it would seems a silly to create a bunch of fake facts around airable land no? I'm totally open to using other sites, I'm sure there are others out there.

Also, I chose 'cultivatable land' but there are other headers you can break it down under that might be more to the point of this conversation. I'm by no means an expert in the terminology of farming statistics.

[2dimes]

Easy. I just meant they should have been able to continue with data.

I notice the newest data for global light pollution seems to only go back to 2016.

Why are these studies being neglected? Is this type of science going to disappear while the brightest and best concentrate on hair growth and prolonging erections?

[mookiemcgee]

Easy. I just meant they should have been able to continue with data.

I notice the newest data for global light pollution seems to only go back to 2016.

Why are these studies being neglected? Is this type of science going to disappear while the brightest and best concentrate on hair growth and prolonging erections?

It could be that this particular aggregator site hasn't updated the data, or maybe the studies take years and years to be published idk. I'm sure there is fresher data out there on light pollution unless a given gov't de-funded whoever was doing the work.

[2dimes]

I don't know what is going on to cause a lag in updating light pollution maps, I think NASA would have newer data, maybe they do and are just not sharing. Looks a bit like they are just low on person power.

I found a project where you can volunteer to identify what spot a particular digital photo taken from the ISS is.

The 2016 maps are the new ones. Some are still stuck on data from 2012. I agree someone probably lost funding. Kind of sad I think.

[Dukasaur]

Can you grow Green Peppers in Canada?

Yes. Anywhere you can grow a tomato you can grow a green pepper.

)Green peppers are just unripe peppers which will turn red or yellow or purple if allowed to ripen. I assume you mean bell peppers, but really the same can be said of any pepper variety.)

You can grow any other kind of pepper in Canada, too. The reason why most peppers are grown in hot countries is not that cold countriescan't grow it, it's just that hot countries have a big competitive advantage with their much longer growing season.

[Jdsizzleslice]

Can you grow Green Peppers in Canada?

Yes. Anywhere you can grow a tomato you can grow a green pepper.

)Green peppers are just unripe peppers which will turn red or yellow or purple if allowed to ripen. I assume you mean bell peppers, but really the same can be said of any pepper variety.)

You can grow any other kind of pepper in Canada, too. The reason why most peppers are grown in hot countries is not that cold countriescan't grow it, it's just that hot countries have a big competitive advantage with their much longer growing season.

No, I mean specifically the Green Chile Pepper, not Bell Pepper. Bell Peppers grow pretty much anywhere right? Green Chile's are much more sensitive to temperature and altitude.

[Dukasaur]

Can you grow Green Peppers in Canada?

Yes. Anywhere you can grow a tomato you can grow a green pepper.

)Green peppers are just unripe peppers which will turn red or yellow or purple if allowed to ripen. I assume you mean bell peppers, but really the same can be said of any pepper variety.)

You can grow any other kind of pepper in Canada, too. The reason why most peppers are grown in hot countries is not that cold countriescan't grow it, it's just that hot countries have a big competitive advantage with their much longer growing season.

No, I mean specifically the Green Chile Pepper, not Bell Pepper. Bell Peppers grow pretty much anywhere right? Green Chile's are much more sensitive to temperature and altitude.

Had to google to see what you mean by green chiles. The term is used for several different varietes. https://www.thespruceeats.com/types-of-green-or-fresh-chiles-2342638

I know jalapenos grow in Ontario because I've bought them locally. I wasn't sure about Anaheim peppers, but according to the USDA, they will grow in zones 5 through 12. Most of the populated parts of Ontario are zone 5 or better:

[Jdsizzleslice]

Had to google to see what you mean by green chiles. The term is used for several different varietes. https://www.thespruceeats.com/types-of-green-or-fresh-chiles-2342638

I know jalapenos grow in Ontario because I've bought them locally. I wasn't sure about Anaheim peppers, but according to the USDA, they will grow in zones 5 through 12. Most of the populated parts of Ontario are zone 5 or better:

Yes, Green Chile Peppers are knows as Anaheim Peppers. Sorry for not giving the actual name.

And looks like a very small region. The more you know. I just thought that peppers similar to this didn't grow in Canada due to temperature.

[2dimes]

I would like to mention Montana, Washingtom, Oregon, Idaho, North Dekota, a few more States and the vast majority of the rest of Canada are all north of some of that area shown in the Plant Hardiness map picture.

That is probably part of why I think of the particular farm crops I do.

Occasionally if the weather is nice some years, I might be able to grow some well tended Anaheim pepper plants outside here, possibly smaller ones than typical, but I probably won't be able to simply plant a field of bell peppers and just irrigate until harvest time at the end of the season.

I think trying to commercially grow bell peppers in most of Canada would require a green house. That is true for Tomatoes. I do enjoy some Medicine Hat hot house tomatoes.

A bit over thirty years ago there was a company that built an artificially lit hydroponic tomato growing facility here. Seemed to be doing pretty well. They sort of suddenly moved the whole thing away, then someone put up a fence around the area to keep people from going there since the land might have been contaminated by lead and chemicals left over from several decades of when an oil refinery had been there.

Here is a nice picture of the opaque green houses they built. https://albertaonrecord.ca/is-glen-1742 I think the company called Sprung, still sells those green houses. I know you can buy the basic structure, They are like a semi permanent tent.

Edit: https://www.sprung.com/case-study/sprun ... reenhouse/

[Dukasaur]

Yeah, obviously my perspective is skewed by the fact that I live in Niagara. I know that 99% of Canada is north of here, and a lot of the U.S. is north of here too.

Still, the warm areas of Southern Ontario and Southern B.C., taken as a group, account for more than half of Canada's population and a good percentage of its agriculture too. Almost anything can grow in Southern Ontario except for genuinely tropical fruits.

And even those are showing up in greenhouses... there's a guy in Auburn who's growing bananas and papayas..
https://www.freshplaza.com/article/2178897/bananas-and-other-tropical-fruit-growing-in-ontario-canada/

[2dimes]

That's fantastic. If I had a different marital situation, I might have built some kind of botanical garden sort of thing or relocated to a gulf island in BC. As it is I have heard, "You don't have a job there. We can't move there." a few too many times.

I have been tempted to drive out and get a job somewhere nice then phoning her to ask how things were going here. Not to the point of actually brushing up a resume though.

[BabySasuke]

i used to work at a veggie farm in the "holland marsh" look it up, one of the richest most nutritious dirts ever, carrots and onions loved it, cauliflower galore up the hill, celery, turnips, all the roots, but leamington (by windsor) grows boat loads of tomatos and green peppers, same with out kingston way, southern ontario is some of the best farm country in the world, big misconception of how much we do produce tho