This past week the GEC traveled to the Toronto area again, and we ended the week in Niagara Falls. I had never been to the falls before so it was fun to be able to spend some time sight-seeing, and let me tell you one thing, the U.S. side really doesn’t get to see anything because the falls face the Canada side. So if you are planning a trip to see Niagara Falls I would recommend bringing your passport!
Another highlight for the week was dinner on Wednesday evening. One of our growers, Mike, came with us this week and his parents live only a few minutes from the Loblaws store we were at that day so they invited us over for dinner. It was so nice to have a home cooked meal instead of eating out.
In addition to dinner, it was nice having Mike on tour with us. A few growing questions came up and it was great having him there to answer them for us. Mike works with our peppers and I learned a few new things about them. Did you know it takes about 6-8 weeks for peppers to go from blossom to ripe and ready to pick? Or that it takes red peppers the longest to mature and that they have 3 times the amount of Vitamin C of an orange? When you harvest peppers, the plant will then have a growth spurt because it isn’t supporting the actual pepper anymore, then it can focus on the next set of peppers that will be ripening. Sometimes, if there are too many peppers on a plant, it will abort them because the plant can only support so many peppers, but if the growers notice this they can pick the green ones (which you might find in the grocery store). The nerd in me may be showing, but I think that’s pretty cool!
Even though I feel somewhat of a seasoned pro after just one week, I am continuing to learn new things with every day on the road.
