About Twelfth Fire

Guardians of the Flame

Imagine waking to a world wrapped in emerald green. The air is cool and fragrant, drifting through towering trees that sway like ancient guardians. All around, the forest hums with life: the friendly fox slipping quietly through the underbrush, the curious deer pausing at the edge of a clearing, frogs singing their chorus from hidden pools. Butterflies drift like petals on the breeze, hummingbirds flash like tiny jewels, fireflies write their soft, golden stories in the dusk. Bees weave gentle pathways through blossoms, ravens watch with wise, knowing eyes, and in the distance, wolves lift their voices to the moon. Together, they cradle you in a lullaby of wildness, guiding you into sweet slumber under silver light and welcoming you back in the warm glow of the afternoon sun.

Here, you are held by the forest’s embrace. Here, there is no divide between “us” and “them.” Every rustle and wingbeat, every paw print and petal, is part of one shared breath. We coexist in a place of quiet harmony, where the land remembers how to care for those who care for it. In this sanctuary, they are not just neighbors. They are companions, protectors, teachers. They are friends. We are friends.

Within this living tapestry, from seed to seed, the full circle of life unfolds. On our seven-acre forest haven, we tend all 1,012 varieties of our cherished hot peppers. Each one begins as a tiny promise held in the palm of a hand, then roots itself in earth rich with organic and natural matter, alive with unseen helpers and ancient memory. Our seeds are gathered from around the globe, carrying stories from 96 countries, each variety a spark of flavour, culture, and history traveling across oceans to find a home in this woodland sanctuary.

 

We feed our soil with care, not with chemicals. Our seeds are open-pollinated. The earth that holds our peppers is free from pesticides and harsh treatments, nourished instead by compost, leaves, and the quiet alchemy of time. The forest itself is our greatest ally. Foxes keep watch. Birds patrol the canopy. Frogs and beneficial insects share in the work of balance. Relying on old-world techniques and nature’s own wisdom, we invite our forest-friends to help us guard our plants, choosing harmony over harm, relationship over control.

Season after season, the peppers grow as they have for thousands of years: unhurried, unforced, following the rhythms of sun and rain. Some burn with bright, exhilarating heat. Others glow with a gentle warmth. All of them arise from this meeting place of wild and cultivated, where human hands and forest roots work together. Every blossom, every fruit, is a testament to what becomes possible when land is honored as living, not owned.

This is a sacred space of serenity that many dream of, but few ever truly find—a place where the veil between the everyday and the enchanted feels thin. Here, the wind in the treetops is a kind of language, and the crunch of leaves underfoot is a reminder that each step on this land matters. In the soft hush of morning mist and the shimmering hush of twilight, you can feel it: something old and kind moving through the roots and branches, whispering that you are part of this, too.

We operate on the unceded and traditional Aboriginal territory of the Anishinabewaki, Haudenosaunee, Kanien’kehá:ka, Omàmìwininìwag, and Wendake-Nionwentsïo. We acknowledge the historic relationship of the Anishinabewaki, Haudenosaunee, Kanien’kehá:ka, Omàmìwininìwag, and Wendake-Nionwentsïo peoples to this land and our shared obligations to respect, protect, and care for it in ways that honor their stewardship. This forest, this soil, this water are not only our home and workplace; they are part of a much older story, carried forward by the Nations who have loved and tended this place since time beyond memory.

We stand here as caretakers of the land and curators of the harvest, humbled by the responsibility and the privilege. Every seed we sow, every pepper we pick, is done in gratitude—for the forest that shelters us, for the creatures that walk beside us, and for the Indigenous peoples whose enduring relationship with this territory guides us toward deeper respect and reciprocity. This place is a gift, and we tend it as such, with reverence and joy.

We are Twelfth Fire.

Welcome to our world.