Farm Update
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| Jane and Jessamine went out to the blueberry patch on Friday morning to help Fred collect some blueberries. |
What to Expect in Your Share This Week
At the regular drop-offs:
- Choice of kale or cabbage
- Choice of green onions, shallots, or basil
- Blueberries for everyone!
- Choice of beets and broccoli
- Choice of carrots and cucumbers
- Choice of large-leaf salad mix, spring mix, or romaine heads
- Zucchini for everyone
For home/workplace delivery:
A Share: B Share:
Kale Cabbage
Green onions Basil
Carrots Cucumbers
Beets Broccoli
Blueberries Blueberries
Zucchini Zucchini
Spring mix Large leaf salad mix
Organic Pest Control: How We Protect our Plants from Bugs and Other Tiny Pests
Recipes
We often get asked “So, how do
you control insects on your crops?” While conventional farms have a vast array
of pesticides and pest-resistant GMO varieties in their arsenals, it is tricky
to keep insects under control organically. We do take some crop losses here and
there because of our dedication to not using synthetic chemicals or GMO
varieties. The main thing we focus on is plant health and growing as much as we
can in the right season, so plant growth is strong and vigorous and can fend
for itself well. If a plant is under stress due to poor soil or adverse weather
conditions, it is more susceptible to attack by pests. A good example this season was our potatoes
that got hit hard by potato beetles because they received frost damage twice in
the spring, which weakening plant health considerably. A big part of helping
our crops grow vigorously is by feeding the soil the right balance and amount
of nutrients. We do this by taking soil tests and foliar nutrient tests, and
then using the results to determine the right mix of natural fertilizers for
our soil. However, some pests attack no matter how healthy the plant is, and
some insects (like squash bugs and flea beetles) have given us quite a bit of
trouble over the last few years.
A common misconception is that
if a farm is organic, it doesn’t spray anything on the crops, which isn’t actually
true. We don’t spray anything synthetic,
but there are plant extracts and other naturally occurring substances that can
be used in organic systems. We do use
things like Pyganic, which is a chrysanthemum extract that deters and kills
some insects. We also use Bt, which is a bacteria that easily infects soft
bodied worms like tomato worms and cabbage loopers, but is harmless to people.
Neem tree extract and food grade diatomaceous earth (fossilized ocean shell powder
that make small lacerations on insects exoskeletons) are also ingredients we
use. We apply the ingredients by mixing all four of them together and diluting
them in water, then using a motorized backpack sprayer (basically a
commercially modified leaf blower) that blasts a mist of this mix into the
plant foliage. We use all four ingredients on the plant at the same time to
make the plants the most inhospitable to the insects as possible. This technique has been much more effective
than spraying individual ingredients and we have gotten nearly complete control
of several pests over the last couple years due to this way of applying organic
sprays.
None of these natural products
have the same effectiveness as the synthetic chemicals used in conventional
systems. However, it is important to us that the food we eat does not have
pesticide residues that we would be ingesting, and that the farm is a safer
place for us, our workers, our animals, and the environment. Our fields and our
surrounding areas are also teeming with a lot more insect and reptile life than
in conventional systems. Synthetic chemicals often have a lot of side effects
on other insect and reptile life in the environment, and it is good to see the
great number of snakes, frogs, toads, bees, and other pollinating insects that
make their home in our fields every year.
This year has been an easier
year for us to control pests in general as insect pests tend to thrive when
field conditions are warm and dry. So
far we have had a lot of rain, and this has helped keep the insect populations
from taking off. Our biggest problem so
far this season was with our potatoes, where the reduced plant health from late
frosts left the plant very vulnerable to infestations. In most years our potatoes do not get hit
with frost and the beetles are just a minor and easily controllable nuisance.
Like many other aspects of organic vegetable
production, pest control is a lot trickier than in conventional systems, but it
is worth it. I like that our kids can
grab carrots or lettuce leaves and eat them right out of the field, and I don’t
have to worry about what else they’re ingesting. I also like that the way we grow things
supports not only a healthy diet, but also a healthy ecosystem.
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| Black Bean and Zucchini Quesadillas |
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