Sunday, August 13, 2017

Nearing the end of the summer semester..

The KPU farmers market is unfortunately going to be moving away from the Richmond Campus which  leaves us without a market for our produce until they establish the new location! This gave us the perfect opportunity to catch up on some weeding. seeding and more until the harvest becomes even more abundant in a few weeks.

Our farm tour on August 1st was a good one in regards to the observations we made due pest damage and nutrient deficiencies.  As sad as it is to see things in the garden not go as well as we would like, it does provide us with some awesome educational opportunities which is the ultimate goal of our farm.

This gas mask needed for Serenade application is kinda intimidating looking!
We started the tour by taking a look at the powdery mildew that has started to develop on the zucchini plants. The powdery mildew issue is not yet critical but to prevent the problem from getting out of hand we have decided to treat it with Serenade a bio-fungicide manufactured by Bayer. The active ingredient in Serenade is a strain of Bacillus subtilis which can help fight powdery mildew, botrytis and a variety of bacterial diseases in a range of fruit and vegetable crops. Although this product is approved for organic production it requires the person applying the production to wear some protective gear because it can be harmful to inhale. This got us talking, do we hide the process from the public? We know that this can impact the public perception of the practices we implement. Uneducated consumers may be fearful and deem this "spray" as toxic or unsafe because of the way it looks. On the other hand, this can provide us with an opportunity to educate the public about the practices and inputs that are used in organic production. Ultimately, knowledge is power for the consumer and the more in-depth a consumer understands production practices, the more they can support a shift towards more sustainable agriculture. We often see farmers at markets advertise as no-spray but what does that even mean from a health or agro-ecological perspective, especially when we certainly use sprays in organic?
Aphid and midge on broccoli
Continuing on with our walk, we noticed that a couple of broccoli plants have started to bolt.  Which is really too bad but we are guessing that it could have been worse if it weren't for the protection that the purslane is providing protection through ground cover! Some of the broccoli was also covered in aphids which we would have been worried about but we noticed aphid mummies and Aphidoletes aphidimiza which are a type of midge that feed on many species of aphids. Woop woop!
Aphids on nasturtium
We also noticed the nasturtiums that are currently infested in aphids. Oh, no! The aphids make it pretty hard to market those spicy flowers but the good news is that the aphids on nasturtiums are crop specific. They won't hurt any of our other more valuable crops but they WILL attract beneficial predator insects to our garden!
At the orchard we harvested some of the cauliflower that was starting to develop a bit of a yellow color. Unfortunately, the elastic bands we used to blanch the cauliflower heads broke off at some point causing the heads to develop in an undesirable way. As we were harvesting we noticed that the stalks of the cauliflower were hollow which Torin explained was caused by a boron deficiency.


Although, we observed many potential concerns in the garden our diverse cropping system has made sure that we have a great balance of both predator and prey, exactly what you need in an organic farm!




Hollow cauliflower stalks = Boron deficiency




Wednesday, August 9, 2017

The "love-liest" strawberry I've ever seen!

The "love-liest" strawberry I've ever seen!
June 15th was all about the strawberries! Our bed of June bearing strawberries were producing at full force on this day at the orchard. Harvest, counting, and weighing of the strawberries was one of those huge jobs that makes us especially grateful for the big team we have working in the field this summer.  The strawberry production beds are a part of some research comparing the yields of different varieties, and because of this we have the extra step of weighing yields from each variety and counting the individual strawberries. As much as everyone loves to eat the strawberries I’m already noticing decreased enthusiasm due to the labor associated with harvest! Such a key lesson I’ve learnt through my hands-on farming experiences is that it is so easy to underestimate the time that goes into what seems like a simple task. It sure has given me a whole new level of respect for the time a farmer puts into the field!




Some of the harvest
The first couple weeks of June the weather was cool and wet which imparts a more watery-tart flavour in our strawberries. Although a little less sweet than I like my strawberries there is nothing like the delicious flavour of fresh picked strawberries. I am curious as to whether we will notice a large difference in the brix content of the strawberries from the earlier rainy, cool part of June compared to the warmer, drier end of the month. What is brix content? We use degrees brix as a unit of measurement for the sugar content in an aqueous solution. Consensus amongst the agroecosystem students is that Cabot, the variety that produces the largest and most abundant of strawberries, is the least sweet or tasty variety. Funny how that works out, eh?  
One big, weird "Cabot" strawberry
The rest of our time spent on the field was filled weeding the brassicas and then covering them with the row covers. We caught the weeds early which meant we could clean things up pretty quickly using hoes. The row covers provide a physical barrier to prevent the cabbageworm from eating our brassicas. 

After lunch we headed to the classroom for a session of student tool time presentations.


The team hard at work harvesting

Hoeing the brassicas


Tool time student handouts








Monday, August 7, 2017

The second to last day at the orchard

Beet thinnings

Cabbage harvest
Hello folks! Have you noticed that our posts are all out of order? I would say that is a symbolic representation of how I feel and perhaps the other students, and maybe profs as well. The school semester always has a habit of getting away with you, especially as it nears the end. When you combine that with agriculture season, which has the same tendencies, it makes for one deadly combination. Thus I will present to you a series of pictures, in no logical succession that will represents what we accomplished that day. Please note the lack of structure is this post is meant to be an artistic representation of chaos.

Carrot rust fly on sticky trap

We started our day by doing the usual walk around and encountered many pests (see various pictures). After the walk around we tackled to major tasks: harvesting garlic from the experimental plot involving the planting of cloves from big heads garlic and small heads pf garlic to see if planting cloves from big heads actually guarantees production of big bulbs; and we harvested cabbage. Several other minor tasks involved research plot work, for example below you can see work done in the Nick's carrot and onion intercrop plot. I also saw will working in the orchard with the wheelhoe, and I did my usual pinching of flowers and runners in the strawberry patch for my season extension experiment. 
Jordan cleaning the carrot aisles


Mike and Nick examining fly traps for carrot rust fly and onion maggot fly

Of course, as always there was weeding (not pictures below). We certainly accomplished a lot that day, which is important because it will help Torren, Grace, and Connor to keep up with the work on the farm. If that can't keep up though, that's normal, at least we (the students) will have had a break and put our full energy back into farm in September. Happy summer folks!

Kirsten cleaning cabbage




Searching for flea beetles

Tasty cultivated purslane

Rust on garlic

Downy Mildew

Grace preparing sample of garlic reps

Assembling experimental garlic

Rust on Leeks

Cercaspora leaf spot in beets

Effects of wireworm damage

Wireworm in corn roots

Aphid colony on cabbage leaves

Inspecting Cauliflower

Unblanched cauliflower

Our Last Class of the Summer Semester

The summer semester has come to an end, and while their is usually a sigh of relief I think most of us are simply wondering where the time went. The wet and unseasonably cold winter left us scrambling to get into the field. With such a late season we are sadly finishing up classes just as all the hard work is finally bearing the fruits of our labour. Plans for Thursday were a quick trip to the orchard for the first half of the day to finish up with a tour of the UBC Farms. The class was tasked with weeding. As I'm sure most of us have mentioned (including myself), managing weeds is quite possibly the most labour intensive activity on an organic farm. While conventional farms may utilize herbicides to manage plants organic standards limit or completely ban the use of these products.

But before we set off for a few hours of weeding we first discussed the progress of our brassica crop. Pest pressure is quite high for brassica's and Mike spent some time showing the class predator pest interactions. Many of the cauliflower, brussel sprout, and cabbage crops have colonies of aphids establishing. Aphids are a very common generalist pest in agroecosystems, that is they can consume maybe different plant species. The insects are prolific feeders and also produce offspring (asexually) at an alarming rate. They even give birth to live aphids (insects typically lay eggs) which can immediately begin feeding. Additionally, once a colony becomes too densely populated, winged aphids will start being birthed allowing them to move through the crop and colonize another area of the field. This results in what can initially begin as an insignificant pest issue but quickly becomes a full blown outbreak potentially leading to substantial damage to the crop. Healthy agroecosystems tend to encourage a diverse group of insect species and thus many pest species can be managed this way. Parasitic wasps are commonly found and they are happily welcomed as they use aphids as a host. The wasps will lay their eggs in aphids, once the eggs hatch they will feed on the aphid, eventually killing it. Flies will also lay eggs within a colony of aphids and the maggots will feed on the aphids.




 Consistent management of weeds is instrumental to the success of a farm. Agriculturally important species are easily outcompeted by weeds and complete failure or substantial yield reductions can be observed in unmanaged fields. There are many tools and methods for managing weeds but most of them do require some amount of physical exertion. It is important to prepare your body for this type of activity as it does usually require bending, kneeling, crouching, and repetitive motion. All of which put stress on the body. We often fail to stretch before beginning work and I think in the future it could be beneficial to start each class with a couple simple exercises.




Although hoes and other implements can be used between rows and on field borders many weeds are growing at the base of the plant you'd like to harvest. Drip irrigation is likely the cause of this as the root wetting zone is rather small with these systems. Some common weeds found at the orchard are; lambs quarter, smart weed, horsetail, nightshade, and many more.


Stark's strawberry trial has been coming along well. For the plants that failed Stark has used the special propagative qualities of strawberries. The strawberry plant is able to multiply by sending out a shoot (runner) from the crown (base) of the plant which then grows away from the plant and once it makes contact with soil begins the growth of roots (vegetative propagation). Some runners have been grown out for this purpose and Stark has then taken the runner and anchored it in the failed plants spot.

Some blanching was also being completed at the orchard. Blanching results in the white colouring of a cauliflower head. It is carried out by gathering leaves around the cauliflower head and securing it creating a barrier between light and the cauliflower head. Although this had been done once before the plants were fastened with elastics which sadly broke on almost all of the plants. This time Emily and Torrin decided to tie the plants with twine, which will likely hold up!


The class completed weeding (yay!) and we made our way to the UBC Farm. For most of us I think this was our first visit. The farm is situated on the UBC campus. We were greeted by two UBC Farm staff. For the first portion of the tour we discussed some of the crops, general characteristics, and history of the farm. Mel, the perennial plant specialist and seed saving coordinator (these titles may be a bit off but she does deal mainly with seed saving and perennial plant species) explained some of the main fields and crops grown on the farm. The UBC Farm is a real accomplishment as the soil structure is poor, made up predominately of sand and rocky. This results in poor water holding capacity and nutrients are easily lost. It has taken intense management through building soil organic matter to develop a soil which supports agricultural operations. 




Mel ended with the seed trial currently taking place on the UBC Farms. Multiple varieties of leeks were being tested. Mel spoke proudly of these seed trials, this is because British Columbia currently lacks in its seed saving sector. There is an exciting opportunity to not only develop a successful seed industry within BC but also developing varieties that show resilience or qualities unique to this region. With the reality of climate change and the relatively unknown impacts it will have on agriculture, growers in this region must begin preparing and this is one way to do so.


We ended our tour on a high note, at the medicine garden. UBC has established a thriving and diverse  medicine garden in partnership with indigenous peoples. This site serves the purpose of gathering, connecting, healing, and enjoying a meal. Tobacco is seen in the photo below an important plant in ceremony.