A Scholarly Journey in the Art of Safety

For all you punks and punksters out there, I would like to start this blog by offering you something powerful and versatile, that will titillate and tantalize your knowledgeable noggin ; here is my finest and most finessed, un-pun : most accidents are preventable.

Now that you have had some comic relief, please allow me to segway into our safety workshop. On this day (March 8), we had a guest visit us from Ag Safe BC, Tj, as he asked us to call him, teaches safety but is not responsible for enforcement, and neither is the organization that he represents. Ag Safe was created for training and consultation on safety issues within the agriculture industry, but not act as a watchdog or whistle blower.

In the first part of the workshop, Tj gave us a very brief history of the safety scene in the agriculture industry and the creation of Ag Safe BC. Basically, Worksafe BC has been around since 1917 (100 years) but agriculture has been exempt from its policies and protections.(1) In the late part of the 20th century (1994 or 95), a smoking regulation at work was created that also applied to agriculture. However, it was not until the early 2000's that agriculture has been included in Worksafe BC (although some farmers were reluctant for this change to occur). Ag Safe BC, formerly Farsha, has actually been around since 1993.(2)

In the second part, we reviewed the worker orientation checklist, which we are required to have reviewed before operating any equipment (if you were not able to make it that day, please check with Mike to review safety procedures). By the way, the worker orientation is also available in Spanish, Punjabi, and Vietnamese, in addition to English (follow the link above). Below I have listed any notes that I took for each item on this checklist using the same topic number, and if topic number has sub-topics I have listed these as a), b), etc even though sub topics are not lettered in the original document.

1.The worker orientation is mandatory for all workers, and must be completed with the supervisor - this ensures that workers actually know whom there supervisor is. Check each item off once discussed.

2. Rights and Responsibilities

• a) Every one has the right to a safe workplace, and and responsibility to maintain a safe workplace. If these rights or responsibilities are being violated one has the right to seek guidance from Ag Safe (for mediation), or he/she may communicate directly to Work Safe. 
• b) Sometimes workers are hesitant to voice concerns, or they do not fully understand their rights. 
• c) In the past, health and safety policy has been reactive, now it is more proactive. 
• d) Bullying and harassment is a recent addition (2014).

3. Health and Safety Rules, in the context of the agro-ecosystem class:

• Wear closed toed shoes, steel toed shoes (CSA rated) are encouraged 
• Tractor users are required to wear steel toed shoes (CSA rated)
• Bring adequate water and food for the day
• Wear gloves (supplied by the program)
• Wear/use adequate sunscreen, hat, and clothing for sun protection
• When a tractor is in use, everyone is responsible for safety, not just the operator

4. Known Hazards and How to Deal with Them, in the context of the agro-ecosystem class:

• When pesticides are to be used, the re-entry period must be observed
• For certification purposes, only certified organic pesticides are allowed in the Orchard or at TFN, so pesticide use will be limited.

5. Safe Work Procedures, in the context of the agro-ecosystem class:

• Must use personal protective equipment (PPE) when necessary (eg: handling pesticides)
• Must lift with legs, not back (when lifting, squat first, grab item and then carefully stand up straight).

6. Procedure for Working Alone or in Isolation.

• Must check in a worker every 30 mins. (or more frequently)
• Tj told us of a story, where a man working alone in a cranberry field had a heart attack, fell to his knees, and drowned.

7. Measure to Reduce Risk of Violence

• Diffuse the situation, do not let it escalate.

8. PPE

• If equipment is in bad condition, notify supervisor.
• Follow manufacture instructions for storage and cleaning
• Example: workers have used rubber gloves for handling pesticides, not cleaned them properly, and the pesticide residue has dried into a powder. The powder can then contaminate the hand of the workers, and they are at risk of ingesting pesticides.

9. First Aid

• a) Security station let of parking lot doors
• b) First aid kit found at the security station or in the shed at the orchard. Must observe 15 min. of continuous rinse in case of eye contamination
• c) Report accidents, even if they seem small, as they good get worse - this action guarantees a paper trail in case Worksafe claims must be made

10. Emergency Procedures

• a) Inside, look for EXIT signs, also emergency #s posted beside each classroom door. Outside many exits.
• b) In newer buildings, closing doors can contain a fire for 2-4 hours
• c) If you do not how to use a fire extinguisher, don't bother with it. It only takes 20 seconds of smoke inhalation to die.
• d) Go to meeting point. In case of an earthquake keep away from objects that could fall.

11. Occupational Health and Safety Program

• The paperwork is only a blueprint, the safety program must be actively implemented.

12. Hazardous Materials and WHMIS

• a)Internationally, we are moving towards a global system (Globally Harmonized System)
• Training in Canada is done under the name WHMIS 2015 (3)
• CCOHS has a free introductory WHMIS 2015 course here
• b)Evert hazardous material has a label, and safety data shes (MSDS)
• c) MSDS, labels and all safety information for a product are also located online
• d) All info should be located on MSDS
• e) Cat litter is an inexpensive chemical absorbent; All chemical spills must be reported.

13. Occupational Health and Safety Committee

• If an institution or business has more than 20 employees it must have a safety and health committee by law.
• The minutes of the committee most be posted in an accessible location (eg: online)

14. Other Key Orientation Topics

• a) risk for ladders, maintain 3 points of contact (feet and one hand), never stand the top or second to last step of the ladder. Working on the terraces also poses a risk for falling...
• b) shutdown, unplug or brake equipment or machinery
• Tractor: use parking brake, and turn off PTO (power take off)
• PTO: is the spinning shaft for hook ups of tractor implements - is extremely dangerous
• c) lift with legs, use a cart/dolly/wheelbarrow when possible.
• d) Guards are meant to protect you, do not modify or bypass them.
• e) Must have training, particularly for tractors and forklifts
• make use of the owner's manual
• f) any space that is not designed for human occupation
• confined spaces have reduced oxygen levels, and make rescue challenging
• Tj told a story about a farm, where several people got injured or died due to a confined space. On this farm, the supervisor asked a worker to go climb down an oil well. The worker entered this space which had little oxygen and noxious fumes, and collapsed. After sometime had passed, the supervisor sent in another worker, whom similarly collapsed. After sending 4 workers that did not return, the supervisor went to check for himself, but in this case, he recognized that the workers had collasped and called for help, rather then going down the well. 2 out 4 of these men died, and the other two were severely debilitated (existing only in a vegetative state).

In the final part of the workshop, we looked at some statistics on farm accidents, and then focused more specifically on tractor safety. To finish off the day, we had a little quiz on tractor safety to ensure we were all awake and paying attention. All in all, Tj's workshop was very informative, and should help reduce and prevent accidents as we are working for the agro-ecosystem class this summer and fall.

1- https://www.worksafebc.com/en/about-us/who-we-are/100-year-anniversary
2- http://www.agsafebc.ca/
3- http://www.ccohs.ca/

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Lettuce Love

Spring Equinox is approaching, and I have a vivid memory of celebrating this day last year lying in the luscious grass in my front yard, wearing shorts and a T-shirt and feeling the warmth of the sun on my bare skin. Fast forward a year, and the thought of lying on the ground without my jacket, hat and scarf is an uncomfortable one.

The weather has been quite different this year, it’s taking a while for the ground to warm up, and that’s having a huge impact on farmers. We started out the class by discussing the nitrogen predicament we are in: students had planted clover as a cover crop on the terraces. The more the clover grows, the more nitrogen it fixes, and when it’s biomass is incorporated back into the soil before the growing season, we will have lots of available nitrogen for this year’s crops to take up. However, with the bizarre amount of snow and cold weather we’ve been experiencing, the clover didn’t do so hot. Consequently, not much nitrogen was fixed and there is not much biomass to incorporate back into the soil. A nitrogen deficiency can be a big problem for farmers, as it results in poor plant growth.

A photo from Mike’s PowerPoint presentation of  what the clover looked like this time last year on the terraces, with someone weed whacking it. 

A photo I took on the terraces this year - no weed whacking necessary!

So what were our options?

1.       We could apply compost tea. However, it is treated as raw manure and we would be unable to use edible crops within 120 days of application, so this did not seem like a promising option.

2.       Applying manure increase nitrogen in the soil, however this would have needed to be done last year, and we didn’t because we thought the cover crop was a better option.

3.       Since our terraces not certified organic, we could also apply synthetic fertilizers that increase available nitrogen.

This is an interesting option to consider. As sustainable agriculture students, many of us would agree that synthetic fertilizers are not a great option as they damage the natural make up of the soil and can have negative effects on beneficial microorganisms in the soil. However, this is a moral predicament that many farmers can find themselves in; knowing that one thing is more sustainable for environmental well-being, while another is more sustainable for financial well-being. With our first market date being in 3 weeks, the pressure is on to have crops ready! It’s an interesting dilemma, how the pressure of a land to be productive greatly influences how we may treat it. Near the beginning of our degree at KPU, we were taught the 3 pillars of sustainability; (1) environmental protection (2) economic development and (3) social development. So, when making decisions such as what to do about nitrogen deficient crops, it is important to consider how each of these branches would be affected to make a well-rounded decision.

4.       We could plant peas! There are gulls of bacteria that live symbiotically on the roots of peas. These bacteria fix nitrogen in the soil to make it more readily available for plant uptake.

And that is what we did! First, we had to inoculate the pea seeds with a rhizobia, which help the pea plants to grow. Rhizobia are naturally occurring bacteria in the soil, but if peas haven’t been planted there is the last decade, then there won’t be the type of rhizobia there that the peas need, or that we need to fix the nitrogen for us. 

Package of the rhizobia inoculant we used.

While a few of us were inoculating the pea seeds, the rest of the class was applying compost to the terraces. A pick-up truck loaded with fresh compost from Harvest Power was parked near by. The compost was still quite hot and steamy when it arrived, but fortunately the crisp air helped it cool off as we applied it.

Compost!

Unloading compost

Spreading steamy compost

Eric and Piper adorably planting pea seeds.

Once we were finished with compost and peas, we started to prepare rows to transplant lettuce and kale in. Yay for me, as transplanting lettuce is strangely one of my favourite things to do. I find it incredibly magical to dig a little home in the soil for one of the most fragile looking plants in it’s infancy, shake up it’s roots a little bit, and then fill in it’s surroundings with soil, presence, and love so it may feel safe and supported in it’s new, vast home. Our every little action in these moments affect the quality of life this vulnerable salad green will have; how deep we dig the hole, how close it is to other plants, how loose or constrained we leave its roots, and how much we compact the soil around it’s little stem. 

Eric giving new homes to baby lettuces.

The other magical thing about transplanting lettuce, is I always seem to have the best life chats with fellow peers and farmers gathered around our baby salad greens. And this day was no exception. A peer and I got to chatting about how many indigenous cultures have ceremonies around planting. For example, in a Blessing of the Land Ceremony, Mayans would ask Mother Earth and the Creator to bless the seeds and for permission in breaking the land to plant them.

Interestingly, the topic of ceremony I agriculture has been showing up a lot around me recently. At the COABC conference, which myself and some other fellow students attended, got the privilege to listen to the keynote speaker, who was of First Nations lineage, and he also spoke about bringing ceremony to agriculture. He spoke about the difference between having a planting “party” and a planting “ceremony” in which the latter simply involves more intention in developing a relationship to what we are celebrating. To him, a planting “ceremony” involves an understanding of the commitment we are making to a vulnerable seed as we are planting it. Our intention is that we are going to take care of it, through whatever weather arises, to the best of our abilities. Ceremony invites us to remember that sentiment, communicate it to the plant, and consequently form a stronger relationship with it. In the end, we eat that plant, it feeds our cells, it’s nutrients become ours, and it gives back to us all the nourishment we gave to it. Through this lens, the act of transplanting lettuce can become quite a magical experience indeed.  

And so, I tried to keep Nicholas Peterson’s (the keynote speaker) wisdom in mind as I puttered along the terrace beds, communicating to each bunch of little green leaves that I committed to supporting them to the best of my ability on their journey to a fully grown, edible lettuce head.

The next tray in line to be transplanted was named Drunken Woman. Continuing our deep and meaningful lettuce conversations, I turned to one of my peers and asked, “why do you think it’s named Drunken Woman?!” We concluded that it’s probably because it has a wild, curvy, feminine appearance to it – seems reasonable. We proceeded to plant each plug into the ground, and I made sure to send my love and support to each of the Drunken Woman...

Seeding, Weeding, and Spreading

     What goes well with your morning coffee? Oh, just some light learning from our Ag students, on topics that range from the cute and fluffy to hardcore!


   First to snag the teachers seat was Will, to inform us about the "weed" Portulaca oleracea or more commonly known as purslane. This "weed" is common across the globe but also a food staple of many cultures, including First Nation peoples of North America. This living mulch is a prolific seed producer and can take over, but benefits like weed suppression, chicken and livestock feed, and possibly saline remediation are hard to argue against. Not to mention this pervasive plant has lots of added health benefits. It is high in omega 3 fatty acids, ant-oxidants, iron, and vitamin C; could it become the new kale? 

 Next up to the hot seat was Jordan, he told us all about rascally rabbits. These cute fluffers have also invaded most of the world and are certainly a nuisance to farmers everywhere. They eat everything! (maybe even purslane), but on the plus side we can eat them. Farmers breed rabbits for meat, skin, and fur. Considering the saying "breed like a  

"rabbit," it might just be a good business to get into. They are a low input meat source, which leaves me wondering why there is not more rabbit in the market. A disease discovered in Latin America has found some success controlling pesky wild populations but resistance to Myxomatosis virus is an ongoing challenge.

Even Modern Farmer is chatting about it! check it out = Down the Rabbit Hole

   Last on the docket was Lindsay with her presentation on Entomophthora muscae AKA destroyer of the fly. Just think insect zombies and your well on your way to understanding this fungi. The fungi commands, if you will, the host to crawl their way to high elevations before death so that the spores have free rain over their victims below. The way it enters the body, I imagine the Scarab beetles from the mummy movies, moving its way through the insects body to the brain then digesting its insides for food. Only slightly terrifying. And just like the body obsession of the new millennia, other fly's are more attracted to the big bums of infected partners. The jury is still out on whether this apocalyptic fungi could be used in the field.

  

   After coffee and learning it was time to get out in the soil. It was a damp Wednesday morning but that didn't stop us from getting things started. I must say, what better way to use under utilised grass space than to grow food. So off we went to prepare another year of productive terrace beds.

   This is the second week of amending the terrace gardens but this week it was the east sides turn. Before getting down to work however, the class took a peak at last weeks plantings, nestled under cozy frost blankets.

Looking good guys!

These babies are destined to be sold at the pre-farmers market, or pop up market happening on April 5th , 18th, and May 2nd. The full market comes to you May 9th and every Tuesday after, from 12-4. Some of our planting had some surprising growth, even though the week prior had some frosty nights.

Ready! Begin

  Adding compost is a excellent way to add nutrients and organic matter to the soil, but heres the thing, its kinda heavy to haul it up flights of stairs. This is why aggies can skip the gym.

Our crew toiled away adding fresh smelling compost to our beds.The class being the healthy size that it is soon had to divvy up the labour and move on to other projects. More of our hardened off seedlings needed to be planted and weeding needed to be done between the established plants.

See those stairs?

   The top layer of added compost needed to be turned/incorporated into the the soil, we had two strategies two accomplish this task.                              Torin and Lindsay on the left are doing it the "good ol fashioned" way, using pitch forks to loosen and turn over the beds. On the right, Kirsten gets it done by a much easier method using a rototiller. Once incorporated these beds are ready to be seeded. This particular bed was direct seeded with french breakfast radishes.

Earthway so Rad! ... ish

Here is another tool used to make our lives easier. This is called an Earthway seeder. As the front wheel turns it turns a seed plate on the inside of the bucket. The seed plate, 1 of 4 tested, scoops up a radish seed and distributes it, in even spacings, onto the soil. The side bar is used to measure the rows and underneath is a mini plow, like on the front of a train, to dig out a row for the seeds to be planted. We planted seven rows of tasty radishes.

  

In some cases farmers will attached multiple of these tools side by side to seed larger areas in a timely fashion. To test the spacing and seed fit the Earthway was rolled over a tarp prior to use. better safe then sorry right?  While all the prep and seeding was being done on the east side, more greens were being added to the west. Among these tasty leafy greens were arugula and several lettuce varieties. So make friends with salad! cause there will be lots ready for munching soon.

Farmer yoga at its best

   After all was said and done, the tender leafy seedlings were tucked in under the floating row covers and we left the rain to water in our newly seeded patch. I don't know about the rest of the class but I woke up with sore shoulders the next day, got to build that aggie strength.

A Visit to the Tsawwassen Farm School

A chilly start to March had us visiting KPU's Tsawwassen Farm School (TFS). TFS is a collaboration between the Institute for Sustainable Food Systems and the Tsawwassen First Nation (TFN),

"the school fuses sustainable agriculture and traditional indigenous food systems as tools to build community and create dialogue around land stewardship for the future."

Located on a 20 acre parcel that is part of TFN's traditional lands, TFS is in a unique position to transition the land to a fully functional organic farm, with room for incubator plots for graduates of the school, an orchard and livestock.

Corine Singfield is the Farm Manager and took us on a tour of the farm.

First stop: PIGGIES!!!

Piggies!!!

We found the pigs in one of the large hoop houses, usually used for plants during the growing season, but was converted to provide the pigs some where dry to live for the winter. Before they brought the pigs in, they covered the soil with almost 2.5 feet of material (mostly straw) to help dry up, and get the pigs up off the soil which tends to be quite wet, due to the very high water table, clay soils, and proximity to the ocean. 

Corine explained that this caused a slight problem, while it was advantageous to bring the material in for the pigs, they now had to figure out what to do when the pigs left. One option is to integrate the straw into the soil (which would add lots of organic matter) and then start planting in the spring. However, straw is a high carbon material, which requires nitrogen to be broken down, this means that as the straw breaks down, it will rob nitrogen from the soil. Nitrogen that the plants need, meaning there most likely will be a nitrogen efficiency. The other option would be to remove everything and compost it somewhere else. Given how compact the pigs had made it, this would be a very labour intensive (and energy intensive) process. 

So Corine has decided to abandon the hoop house for a year. She'll let the straw slowly breakdown, and let everything go fallow. As the hoop house is not a movable structure, it's endured 2 years of intensive growing seasons and has a significant amount of disease pressure that has built up. Even if there wouldn't be a nitrogen deficiency there would still be a high risk of disease. So it's a sacrifice that they are having to make, it means losing a significant amount of indoor growing space (as they only have 2 hoop houses), but it is the best decision for the long run.

18 piglets were born on January 10th, do they ever grown fast!

Corine has already sold 11, and will keep 7, to raise, slaughter, and sell as delicious organic pork!

The farm also has a boar, this is the first year that they are breeding their own pigs, but Corine explained that organic hogs are hard to come by and are very expensive. By having the boar they get to control the process all the way through to slaughter and have extra income by selling the piglets they don't need.

In 3 weeks when it's warm enough, the pigs will move out to the fields to eat and clear any crop residues left over from last season.

The other portion of the hoop house holds the propagation room, the temporary structure is heated by a propane heater to maintain its temperature at 15 degrees Celsius. artificial lights are also used, as the seedlings require 16 hours of light each day.

The fields are divided into a few different areas, with the aim of rotating crops/ livestock through the various areas. While the farm is trying to create permanent beds, the heavy clay soils makes it very difficult to create and maintain, especially when using a broadfork. Tile drainage has been installed every 30 feet in a large portion of the field and every 10 feet around the hoop houses. The drainage was the second thing that was installed (after the irrigation system) and allows them to get on the field 2 weeks early than not having it.

The farm is surrounded on either side by conventional farms, Monsanto potatoes to the West and green beans to the East. Due to these farms' use of Round-up and usual high winds in the area, a 30-40 foot buffer is maintained around the certified organic areas. Along the West buffer zone a hedgerow of berry crops is being grown (to help minimise winds and possible contaminants), these won't be organic, so will just be for on-farm consumption. 

Western drainage ditch, hedge row is hiding behind Eric.

Permanent trellises are adjacent to the hedgerows, and crops are rotated through the trellises, with one section always in cover crops. Beside the trellises, perennial raspberries and strawberries are grown in raised beds. These were filled with clean soil to give the perennials the best start possible and keep them slightly above the high water table.

Raspberries in permanent raised beds

The farm operates a converted refrigerated shipping container as a cooler. the cooler only fills 14 feet of the container and is cooled by an air conditioner and a Coolbot (a computer device that overrides the air conditioner to run at a cooler temperature) that keeps the cooler at an even 3 degrees. The other side of the cooler is used as cold storage for root crops and allows for an expansion of the cooler in the future. The whole system runs off grid via solar panels. To connect to the grid would have cost $30-35,000, so the solar was the better choice, at roughly $20,000. Only in October, did they find there were some problems, due to the limited light conditions not charging the batteries enough to power the cooler through the night. This year they plan on building an insulated roof above the cooler to help maintain cooler temperatures and reduce water pooling on the roof.

The cooler!

The farm markets to a CSA that has 65 members, which they hope to increase to 100 this year. Last year they attended 5 farmers markets a week, this was mostly to get their name out there, this year they will only be doing three: the West End, Mount Pleasant and Main Street. They also sell some food through the Vancouver food hub, while they lose about 40% of what they would get selling direct, they are able to move a large amount at once and do not have the labour and time costs of selling at a market. 

We then went to dig some soil pits and look at the various soil profiles.

Ready to dig!

The first area, "non-piggy" has no drainage and only has had cover crops grown on it, no pigs or crop production. Here the water table was at 45cm with a lower horizon that was waterlogged gleyd clay loam. The upper horizon was a silty clay/ clay and the pH was 6.6.

Yup, there's clay in that soil! 

The second area "piggy 1" has tile drainage and has been limed, cover crops have grown here and the pigs have been rotated through, but no crop production has occurred. The field has been sub-soiled, so there has been some mixing of the soil layers and the presence of orange streaks where oxygen has been introduced and has re-oxidised the iron in the soil. The upper horizon was a silt clay loam, the lower horizon was a silty clay, no water table was present and the pH was 7.05

Re-oxidised iron!

The third area "piggy 2" has no drainage, but has had crops grown on it for one season, but no pigs. The upper horizon was a silt clay loam, and the lower horizon was a silty clay, the watertable was between 35-45 cm and the pH was 6.96.

Will trying to hear if any sand is present... shhh!

 Compare holes 3 and 4: 3 has no drainage, and hasn't had much compost added, lot's of clay and water, whereas 4 is dry (drainage), and look at all of that organic matter at the top (black material)!

The last area we looked at has had 2 years of compost, been limed twice, has grown crops for 2 seasons, and is drained but has not had the pigs present. The upper horizon was a sandy clay and the lower horizon was also a sandy clay, we couldn't find the water table, the pH was 7.12.

And so ended our most magical day at the Tsawwassen Farm School!

Mobile chicken coop!