FARM NOTES - LATE DECEMBER, 2008
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In This Issue!
Section I: Local Or Organic, Update on Farmers’ Market, Farm Season Finished, Thanks for Your Business. Not Giving Up, Yet!

Section II: What’s Happening Within the Organic Movement! Let’s Keep It Going! Agri-Adapt
Funding, ACORN’s Work in Atlantic Canada. Nominations for ACORN Board of Directors! Please Join ACORN! Thanking Beth, Jane and Mark!

Melba Rabinowitz, Co-Owner/ Organic Farm
Outgoing Board Member/ ACORN Board of Directors/ 2004 - 2008,
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Section I:
LOCAL OR ORGANIC?
What if you have the option of buying locally grown produce which is not organic or organics shipped from thousands of miles away? This can be a complicated question. If you are not shopping at the Farmers’ Market, most of the organics you buy will be shipped from thousands of miles away, because it is difficult for those of us, who grow organically to get into the box stores. We don’t have sufficient product and don’t meet the perfect vegetable requirements. For example, we had complaints that the long, English cucumbers which grew so well in the greenhouse, were too misshaped to fit like logs in the cooler.

What about Local?
Your choices around fresh and local will be just as limited because it is also difficult for traditional farmers to meet the quantity and packaging requirements of the larger box stores. In the St. John’s area, produce goes into huge warehouses in Donavan’s Industrial Park in the evening and out to stores before dawn. We have talked to a Sobey’s buyer. After he sent the paperwork and told us the quantities, packaging and labeling required, we didn’t get back to him. He also told us that the green peppers that come in from New Zealand go straight to the stores from the airport. We do truly live in a time of world markets which we don’t care to compete with.

When to Buy Organics
What if you cannot afford to buy everything organic? A Consumer Reports article, When It Pays to Buy Organic, offers clear advice. Here is an excerpt:

The truth is, not all organic-labeled products offer added health value. We found, for example, that it’s worth paying more for organic apples, peaches, spinach, milk, and beef to avoid chemicals found in the conventionally produced versions of those items. But you can skip organic asparagus and broccoli because conventional varieties generally have undetectable pesticide levels. You can also pass on organic seafood and shampoo, which have labels that are often misleading.

Organic or Green and Healthy!
You will also learn that there is a movement in the U.S. by large corporations to "water" down the organic requirements. One is that if they cannot find a certified organic pesticide, the producer can petition to use other, not as safe, chemicals. This has caused some of the true organic operations to opt out and start to develop their own brands and labels. Mike’s cousin, Rick Machdo, who started from scratch developing a small organic farm in Southern California twenty-five years ago, has abandoned organic certification because he feels it has been compromised. Instead, he posts what he grows and how he grows it on his website and talks to customers at the local Farmers Market. Business is thriving, especially his dried salad mix, which he now sells over the Internet. With new organic regulations coming into effect in Canada this year, based on the US model, we may also need to determine our own way of growing healthy food here at the farm.

Fresh and Local
You can find fresh and local at Lesters’ Farms, The Grand Little Farm, Churchill Square Farmer's Market, the new Farmers’ Market at the Lions Club Chalet, Belbins, Food For Thought and other smaller stores. Buying organic or fresh and local simply comes down to personal choice. Last week, I found local Newfoundland carrots at Easy Save in Churchill Square. I reached for them in preference to the organic carrots on the shelf above. The reason: Local farmers and local jobs! Last fall, when shopping for non-food items at Pipers on Torbay Rd. I came across a bin of Veggie Paks for the traditional Jigg’s Dinner. In this case, the bags of vegetables were from a farm in Markland. The bags were reasonably priced, less expensive than I would be able to sell similar organic produce. I bought several paks to donate to a local food bank as a way of letting Pipers know that we appreciate the fact that they buy from local farmers. And yes, I do buy apples from Nova Scotia in preference to Ontario, British Columbia and China.

Update on Farmers Market
Hopefully, each and everyone had an opportunity to visit the Farmers’ Market, at the Lion’s Club Chalet, behind the Re-Max Building on Bonaventure. If so, please join me in thanking the organizing committee for helping make this happen! It is hard to believe that it was only a little over a year ago when a small number of people organized the first Farmers Markets Collective at the Masonic Temple. Here is the Update! A call has gone out to Vendors at the Farmers’ Market this year to join a planning and development effort. This committee will review guidelines for the market next year, pursue incorporating as a cooperative, and begin to look for space for 2009. We are extremely appreciative and fortunate to be part of this well-coordinated group of vendors.

Farm Season Finished
The farm is being put to bed for the winter. The greenhouses were cleared of vegetation from the year’s harvests and planted with a few crops we hope will provide early greens in the spring.

The garlic is in the ground using a trenching device that opens a wide enough space for planting without disturbing the green mulch ground cover. The last of the Jerusalem artichokes and fava beans, two crops that weathered the fall well, are harvested. The old favourites, rhubarb and mint, which will be among the earliest vegetation we will see next year are weeded and mulched. Some of the edible flowers were moved inside the greenhouses to protect them from the cold and the hillside gardens that were overflowing with a dozen lettuce varieties are covered with snow.

Thanks All Around - especially to Louis, Sarah and Mike, who provided leadership throughout the season. Also, Joe, Vince, Mary, Diane, Oz, Toby, all our part-time staff, Katimivak, WOOFERS, other volunteers and weeders. We gratefully acknowledge the grant provided by the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador for developing an incipient bog for production and finishing the lettuce shed, as well as, Gerry Wicks, our regional Agriculture representative. You will find visuals posted elsewhere on the Website to reflect the tremendous amount of activity which took place during the 2008 season.

Thanks for Your Business!
We appreciate not only your orders, but also the informal exchanges and encouragement over the season. It is your inquiries, e-mails, visits to the farm, tips on recipes and new varieties that keep us from divorcing ourselves from this situation altogether. It is difficult to believe that we started out as a hobby garden to grow veggies for our family and got so hooked. At first, we were building our skills and knowledge; over the past ten years, the issue has become sustainability. This season was extremely challenging, due to many factors, especially the costs of organic soil additives that had to be shipped in from off the Island and of course, the impossible cold days in the spring and again in August.

Not Giving Up, Yet! - We expect to complete our seed inventory and begin ordering before the holidays. If you have a particular variety you are interested in, or know something you think we should know, please e-mail us.

Winter Break - We will be out of the province from January 12th through February but will have access to the farm e-mail. We have planned our time away, to end with the ACORN Conference in Truro, in late February. We will be in touch around mid-March to let you know how we expect the 2009 season to unfold.

Thanks again for the ongoing dialogues, e-mails and otherwise.

BEST WISHES TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES FROM ALL OF US DOWN ON THE FARM!!
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Section II:
WHAT’S GOING ON IN ORGANICS?
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Newfoundland Organic Network is Gaining Momentum!!
Last spring we held our first Organic Workshop with the help of Beth Mahon and ACORN (Atlantic Canada Organic Regional Network), with over sixty people attending. Jane White and other members of the Agri-Food Division of the provincial government were very supportive and provided space through St. James’ Church in St. John’s. It was a wonderful collection of people interested in helping to develop organics. Participating were home gardeners, consumers, organic producers and several "wannabe" organic farmers, as well as, an agriculture specialist from our provincial Department of Agriculture. Av Singh, Organic Specialist with the Nova Scotia government was guest presenter, along with several local presenters. In his workshop, Ross Traverse reminded us that in the old days, much of the soil building was organic, using kelp, seaweed and capelin.

Let’s Keep It Going!
Based on this interest, a core group began to hold a few telephone consultations with people in various regions of the province over the summer and fall. This was arranged through ACORN and its capacity to set up telephone access. In mid-November, we held our first in-province organic network meeting at the Organic Farm in response to an opportunity to hear Rupert Jannasch, an organic transition specialist from Nova Scotia. This was also arranged by ACORN. The Get-Together, which included a potluck, attracted 24 people from various regions of the province. We were fortunate to have Joyce and Frank Pye, who have been involved in organic farming in the Goose Bay area for over thirty years and who were in St. John’s on other business. What a tyme’ we had!! All that was missing was the kitchen party. Bill Coultas, who is developing a sequel to the Breaking Ground series that aired on television last year, and camera man, Michael Walsh, joined the party long enough to tape an interview with Rupert.

Agri-Adapt Funding
Agri-adapt is a funding agreement between the Federal/Provincial governments to support agriculture initiatives. Throughout the fall, we worked with Beth Mahon and ACORN to make application and write letters of support to Agri-Adapt to request funding for the growing interest in organics. Funding was approved in mid-December to assist a number of people to attend the ACORN Conference in Truro, Nova Scotia at the end of February. However, our momentum doesn’t end there; this is only the beginning. We hope to gain additional funding to plan and implement a number of workshops and consultations across the province in 2009.

ACORN’s Work in Atlantic Canada
Our ultimate goal at this time is to become affiliated with ACORN as a provincial organization and to involve the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador in a plan similar to those now in effect in the other three Atlantic provinces. For the past eight years, ACORN has offered a space for one representative from our province on the Board of Directors, with no strings attached. I have been that representative for the past four years. What I have learned is that the Governments of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island have signed an agreement to contribute some core funding to ACORN through a Memorandum of Understanding. In return, ACORN will provide workshops, regional and front line consultation, and access to online resources to support existing and emerging organic interests. Each of the other three governments also has a provincial organic specialist who sits on the Board of Directors as a non-voting member. It has been awesome to watch these teams working at the Board level toward mutually beneficial outcomes. I only wish that we, meaning our farmers and our organic specialists were there, at the Board table when these initiatives unfold.

Nomination for ACORN Board of Directors!
I have served two/two year terms, which means my term on the Board is up. Beth Mahon, ED has put out a call for nominations for the Board election to be held at the AGM which takes place at the conference. This is the first time that Newfoundland has had a process in place to determine in advance who is interested in the ACORN Board position. Stay Tuned! The results will be in soon.

PLEASE JOIN ACORN!
One of the ways you can help the organic momentum in this province is to become a member of ACORN. Individual membership is $30.00. Anyone who supports the Mission is eligible for membership. The more members we have in Newfoundland and Labrador, the more likely the provincial government will increase resources in the organic portfolio. Hopefully, this will include a future agreement to partner with ACORN to provide resources in a manner that is similar to that of the other Atlantic provinces.

THANKING JANE!
I can’t close this final chapter of my tenure as an ACORN Board Member without thanking Beth Mahon from ACORN, who has offered never ending encouragement for the stakeholders in Newfoundland and Labrador. Also, Jane White, Fruit Crop Development Officer, Provincial Agri-Foods Department, who stepped up to help with the workshop in April and has been at the other end of the phone line or an e-mail for the past several months. Also, our thanks to Mark Wilson, Newfoundland's representative on the newly formed Organic Federation of Canada board. He has provided feedback on behalf of producers during the process of bringing the Canadian organic legislation forward in 2009. He, Beth and Jane have kept the rest of us informed.

PLEASE STAY ON LINE! Whether you are a producer, a consumer, a community gardener or someone who wants to play a role in accessing healthy food from a Food Security prospective, YOU are in the right place. Stay In Touch!