Organic Farming - a tough row to hoe
Whenever my father wanted to say that something was going to be difficult, he would say "Son, that is going to be a tough
row to hoe." This expression appears to be appropriate to the venture undertaken by the brothers Alvaro and Rodrigo, and
friend Melanie Golba, on their organic produce farm in Flamborough. Plan B is the name of their farming venture.
Their organic vegetable stand is at the Cambridge Farmer's Market ach and every Saturday.
As a vocation, they collectively decided to be Organic farmers. They started on a rented piece of land and apprenticed
with an experienced organic farmer the first year. With help from supportive parents and a government grant they eventually
ventured out on their own.
They are leading the worldwide trend back to natural produce as they offer the people of Cambridge vegetables grown
without the use of artificial pesticides and herbicides. The produce list is long and changes with the season. Forty to
fifty different vegetables, over the course of the growing season, are available to the customers. In addition, they sell
organic seeds and plants in the spring.
I put on my rubber boots and made a visit to their farm. I found them all, including several hired workers, diligently
preparing fresh vegetables for distribution.
M: "Are you officially certified organic yet?"
A: "We are Transitionally Certified and will be fully certified next year. It takes four years from the last pesticide
usage to be complete."
M: "Is it normal to sell without being certified?"
A: "Yes it is, as we have direct accountability from ourselves to our customer -- this is normal during the transitional
period."
M: "Are there organic pesticides?"
I was lead over to a line of barrels with assorted coloured and pungent liquids.
A: "Here are a few of our own organic fertilizers and natural pesticides. We ferment horse tail (a weed) and stinging
nettle as a fertilizer, and we mix garlic, onion and hot pepper residue as a pesticide. This acts as both an irritant and a
masking agent to insects. There are other products and methods available. Before you can successfully use such products you
must understand the life cycle of the insect pest. For example, there is little use in spraying some insects until they are
ready to mate or lay eggs."
M: "Can you survive at this chosen vocation?"
A: "Farming is very labour intensive - even more so when you have multiple crops. Originally, we all held second jobs to
get the capital for the equipment. Now we are working at odd jobs to fill in the time between the more labour intensive
periods. Someday we hope to increase our acreage and expand."M: "Give me an example of how you might control an insect."
A: "Well the Colorado potato beetle is troublesome for potatoes and tomatoes. We will plant a 'trap crop' of eggplant as
this is the favourite food of the potato beetle. We then control the infestation in the eggplant crop. We hand pick the
beetles and crush the eggs which are generally on the underside of the leaves."
M: "Are these practices taught at colleges?"
A: " No they certainly are not. The whole concept of modern farming is pathetic. Everyone is taught to sterilize the
soil, kill everything in it, fill the furrow with fertilizer and then plant. Mother nature is not used to break down
nitrogen and make it available to the plant. The whole process is artificial."
M: "Do you use cattle manure?"
A: "We use a commercial product with a mix of manure and leaf compost. Kelp and fish emulsions are also available."
M: "Without getting into specifics, what other ways are there to control pests?"
A: "The list is long. Companion planting is one way - one plant wards off the insects that attack the other. We have a
large bush area and the resultant bird populations help. Pheromones are being experimented with to attract and trap pests.
Diatomaceous earth, crushed bone, traps that macerate insects mechanically; some plants are simply covered with a
cheesecloth-like material to protect them. Milk, sugar, pepper juice, flower essences; these all are used to some degree. We
haven't tried everything yet, but through experimentation we are learning to cope."
Before I left, I made a walk around the farm yard and looked at the assorted free range birds. Assorted varieties of
chickens, and ducks wandered around, relatively unconcerned with this stranger's presence. A lonesome tom-turkey was
"strutting his stuff" looking for an elusive mate. (I was glad I wore my boots.)
I personally started the season off with organic spinach, snap peas, radishes, and Russian kale. They were marvelous!
Say hello to these entrepreneurs (or their representative Chris) at the market. Their enthusiasm is contagious.
Have a nice day.
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