PTOs and Strawberry Rows

April showers may bring May flowers and the wonderful pollinators that follow, but ask your average farmer about wet weather in the spring and you’ll most likely get a grumbling response about how it’s keeping them from the field, delaying bed prep, planting, and other essentials needed for a timely and bountiful harvest. The best life lessons come from experience, and the Agroecosystems class have been learning just how much work can be delayed by a super wet spring.

We spent the day at the Orchard laying the foundation for a successful season, playing catch up with bed prep and weeding, learning how to properly and safely operate a tractor while the Power Take-off or PTO is active, and about the delicious-but-deadly fiddlehead fern.

We started the the morning with a brief walk-about, laying out the plans for not only the day, but days to come. Greeted by a full 60 yards of compost from the friendly neighbourhood Net Zero Waste in Abbotsford towering in the parking lot, we knew we had our work dug out for us. The two main fields in the orchard eagerly awaited the 30 yards of compost that would provide a bountiful nitrogen source over the next several years, as ammonia present in the healthy organic matter undergoes the slow process of nitrification and becomes available for plant uptake in the form of Nitrates and Nitrites. Our “Shovel and Wheelbarrow” method employed at the Terraces clearly would not be efficient enough to prep the fields - especially considering the late start to the year - so the collective sigh of relief was audible as Torin brought the tractor and compost spreader around, with promises that we would all get a turn to learn how to operate them in the field.

60 Yards. First Down. #sportsjokes

First things first however, we took a look at some of the problem spots in the orchard. Due to the high water table and wet soil, Horsetails (known by their Genus name Equisetum) continue to make themselves a nuisance, growing quite voraciously in several areas of the orchard.

Horsetails and Rye battle for supremacy 

Simply cutting them back would be inadequate, as they proliferate by spores, which can be released when the mature plants are disrupted. Since common labour intensive weeding methods would prove ineffective, alternatives need to be experimented with to find the most effective way of dealing with this persistent weed.

One area that was particularly flush with the long stalks had been solarized in the previous season in an attempt to destroy the plants without spreading their spores. Solarization is the process of covering the field in plastic (generally clear) so that solar energy roasts the plants, killing them in place without spreading more spores. The area was then seeded with ryegrass to push out the surviving horsetails. While some persistent ones did pop back up, the rye was largely effective at covering the area, towering over even the tallest students.

If you're looking for Piper, you can catch her in the rye

Once our walk-about was completed, Torin took some time to explain how to safely and properly operate the tractor and PTO powered compost spreader. PTOs work by using tractor engine torque to power any tractor-attached farming implement; this happens by spinning the PTO at a high velocity which transfers energy to the implement.

Torin with the Ins & Outs
of Tractor Time

The PTO is one of the more dangerous tools we have on the farm, but as long as the proper precautions are taken, such as being aware of when it is on, allowing it to shut off when not sitting in the driver’s seat, and keeping the guard in place it is an effective and innovative method of reducing farm labour. After our driving and safety lesson, Torin took it out into the field to calibrate the rate at which compost would be spread, doing a few runs to demonstrate for us, and then it was up to us. Loading the spreader with compost is a job in and of itself, and using the tractor’s front loader is less efficient with more people-power, so shovels and shoulders did most of the work. 4 or 5 of us at a time would take turns shoveling, with a lucky student getting to spread the load and swap out with the rest of the class, who spent most of the time diligently weeding the strawberries.

Using farm equipment you are relatively unfamiliar with can be a little intimidating at first, but Eric led the student charge, delivering the first student-driven load of compost to the field.

Eric is ready to roll, while Torin teaches and Jordan "Supervises"

Jordan followed, taking care not to destroy the water lines and fences that had been recently revealed as we took turns cutting back the grass with the mower. Kirsten and Emma Lee also got a chance to spread a load, but with so much compost to spread and the learning curve of driving a tractor for the first time meant that not everyone had a chance, although that will likely change over the course of the next few weeks. This compost won’t spread itself, so everyone will get a chance to practice operating arguably the most critical piece of farm equipment.

Kirsten at the Helm

The rest of the day’s labour was far less glamourous, with grass to be mowed and strawberries to be weeded. Manual labour on farms is one of the highest monetary costs to many operations, and can account for a large percentage of on-farm expenses. The Agro students received an excellent display of this, with 6 to 10 students weeding strawberries over the course of a few hours. While our strawberry row is relatively small compared to many fields, there was still about half the row to do by the time we had to pack it in.

Weed-Eating, Weed Pulling, Berry Gawking

This kind of work is often its own reward however, and the large section that was finished by the end of the day looked glorious and ready to start bringing delicious fresh berries into our lives within the next month.

Move in, now move out
Hands up, now hands down
Back up, back up
Tell me what you're gonna do now
Keep mowin' mowin' mowin' WHAT

Last but certainly not least, Jessica taught us about the tasty but dangerous fiddlehead fern over lunch. The variety known as the Ostrich fern is poisonous if the fiddleheads are eaten raw, however if properly cooked they provide a source of antioxidants, omega 3s and 6s, as well as high iron and fibre content. The fiddlehead fern was an important food source for many aboriginal groups, although some types that were native to BC had carcinogenic properties if eaten in excess, even when cooked. Because of this, the ostrich fern has taken over as the main fiddlehead fern used for human consumption, and is even grown commercially in places, and compliments the “shrub” layer of food forest plans for climates such as the one we have on the pacific coast. 

It was not the most glamourous day down at the orchard but spirits and rye were high, and all felt pride at some hard work done well. We may not see ourselves as Rockstars, but I bet the strawberries do.

Rock and Roll. Actually no, don't roll, that's a terrible idea even with the roll-bar.