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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • NOVEMBER 2019 Growing prospects brighten dark autumn days
Rain and clay-heavy boots mean winter is coming
Last week, a customer
remarked that things must be getting easier on the farm now that summer is over. I agree, in that here I am tooling about on a computer in broad daylight. However, we’re not quite there. It’s a heavy time of year, really. The loads of potatoes going to
Farm News by ANNA HELMER
market are heavy, the rain is heavy and the boots are caked heavily with mud. At times, even the mood is a little heavy. The problem is that the reality of engaging in regular non-farming activities is very close now and in conflict with the on-going, non-optional aspects of work. So many, many jobs must be done before the snow falls. It is possible to grow resentful of the demands of fall farming. (I admit nothing!) It occurs to me that when writing one’s first official column for a publication as venerable as Country Life in BC, having dreamt for years of doing so, it is advisable to start off with subject matter that is gripping and thought- provoking; reflective of a sharp, sensible and agriculturally shrewd intellect. This farm story will instead trend typical, shallow and
elementary: literary tools chosen to avoid resentment. Brief reflections on the changing season to begin, and presently I’ll find a way to talk about my favourite farm subject: potatoes. Any shrewdness will be accidental or at least faint, and the reader will not be inspired to feel emotionally involved beyond what is reasonable. I don’t want to set anyone’s teeth on edge, least of all mine. Right now, my
work is mostly concerned with washing, sizing and selling potatoes. The whole crop is in now and has been for a few weeks. Growing organically means the potatoes are in the path of destruction from the moment they hit the dirt in May. We let them get as big as we dare, plucking them from the ground just as they succumb to flea beetle, wireworm, blight, scab, several types of rot, rhizoctonia and random disfigurement.
The rain is bashing the
window as I write, and I am conscious that not all Pemberton farmers have their potatoes out of the ground yet. The powders and potions used by conventional farmers to protect the potatoes mean that they may flirt with the drama of October harvest, the trade-off being enormous yields. The fields become very
2020 Tree Fruit Replant Program ANNOUNCEMENT:
Application forms and the updated requirements of the 2020 Tree Fruit Replant Program are now available on the BCFGA website,
www.bcfga.com.
Project applications (along with the required documents) will be received by November 30, 2019. Please avoid the last minute rush and get your application in early.
An horticultural advisor is required to sign individual applications for the 2020 Tree Fruit Replant Program. The following information will be provided to assist growers in completing applications.
a. A list of qualified advisors. b. Program operational policies. c. A series of reports on replanting and variety performance and selection are available and should be referenced when preparing a Tree Fruit Replant Program Application.
The Tree Fruit Replant Program provides funding for quality projects. Project approval is subject to funding availability and is allocated by the date of receipt of applications. Completed projects are verified by inspection and must attain minimum program standards.
The Tree Fruit Replant Program is a 7 year program, funded by the Province of BC.
LASER EQUIPPED & GPS CONTROLLED TRENCHED AND TRENCHLESS APPLICATIONS SUPPLIERS OF CANADIAN MADE BIG O DRAINAGE
Proudly supporting Canadian industry using Canadian product
BC FRUIT GROWERS’ ASSOCIATION 1-800-619-9022 (ext 1) email:
replant@bcfga.com
www.bcfga.com
VALLEY FARM DRAINAGE
31205 DEWDNEY TRUNK RD, MISSION • Fax 604-462-7215 604-462-7213 •
www.valleyfarmdrainage.com
Belted Galloways chow down on a fall treat of cull potatoes and carrots. ANNA HELMER PHOTO
spongy indeed. Talk about pressure. By the time you are reading this in November though, the struggle will be over and the root houses here will be filled with spuds and buttoned up tight for the winter, waiting for the first seed potato
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orders of spring. California will start it all off in January. There are enough seed potatoes grown here to theoretically give everyone in BC around five pounds each. Vigorous and virus-free seed such as what we grow in Pemberton can yield 10 times their weight, so if everyone really concentrated, they could grow 50 pounds and feed themselves. (The data is suspect: I probably over- estimated the conventional fertilizer-fueled yields – but I assume they’re as lavish as advertised!) I personally
believe that anyone with a heartbeat can grow potatoes. (You also need dirt, and for certain someone will suggest straw.) The conclusion is neat, though, isn’t it? The thought of everyone
growing potatoes has brightened my day. (Odd that, because who would I sell to then?) I’m not going to over- think this, but suddenly everything seems easier. Anna Helmer farms with her
family and friends in the Pemberton Valley and thinks it is possible that potatoes could solve most of our differences.
drainage is our specialty
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