ed and i went to the new england vegetable and fruit growers conference last week. it was in new hampshire, and we went for 2 days. i attended the vegetable sessions, while ed focused on fruit. it was a good conference, and i learned a lot. i got some very pertinent info about potatoes, tomatoes, peas, salad greens, about winter storage of veges, and other things. i plan to try some of the things i heard about in the field next season. it's always exciting to find something new you can do to better your production. this one man was talking about his potato yields, which are very impressive, 25 to 1 compared to ours which are only about 5 to 1 (and most other growers i know). so i learned a few things that i can do different next season, that hopefully will better things. i was also very excited to find two new seeders that we may buy. i do most of the seeding on our farm, and most crops do well with the earthway seeder we currently have. but some crops, like carrots, beets and lettuces, could use some improvement, since our current seeder seeds too densely. if we found something better it could save us a lot of time thinning.
there were also some inspiring things at the conference. one farmer who's been growing for over 20 yrs and has a successful CSA and business in general, urged all of us not to sell ourselves too cheap. there's always so much pressure from consumers and the market place to sell food cheaply, that it can feel overwhelming, and farmers can easily give in. but this man said that what we have to sell is food grown for its nutritional value and quality, not for shelf life, like the supermarket food. he said that we should feel proud of what we have to sell and not be ashamed to ask a fair price for it. this was not new to me, but it felt very affirming to hear it, so it was encouraging.
another interesting thing, which both ed and i learned but did not expect to, had to do with "organic". you know that i don't think all that much about organic, and i always caution people not to blindly trust the label. but hearing actual growers speak about their practices, really made it clear that there's little difference between conventional and organic. in particular, they both use chemicals to address weed and insect problems, and in that they espouse the same philosophy, which is to treat the problem, instead of addressing the cause. i was in several sessions, where basically they were saying: if you're conventional and you have cabbage moth, you spray this, this and this, and if you're organic, you spray these other equivalent chemicals. the two classes of chemicals are more alike than different, as far as i'm concerned; they both hurt other life forms indiscriminantely (beneficial insets like bumble bees and honey bees for ex). it was very sad that not one seminar spoke about one can do to encourage beneficial insects as a means of dealing with pests, or propose alternative options.
hearing about organic fruits in particular was scary, as far as how much and how often they are sprayed. ed was trying to find out if there's any way to grow fruit trees without spraying, but he wasn't able to get any answers for that.
we're planning to plant fruit trees next year, and we're not going to spray, just as we don't spray our vegetables. there must be another way. people have been growing apples for hundreds of years, and these chemicals have not always been around.
as long as we don't produce all of our food, and still have to buy at the store, unless i can speak to the farmer directly, i will have to choose organic over conventional. the only reason i have left for doing that with my current knowledge is that in the US at least, if you buy organic you're guaranteed that it's not GM (Genetically Modified); whereas when you buy conventional you just don't know because labeling is not required. GM is not something i want to support or eat, so i am grateful that the organic label can at least guarantee that, if nothing more...
so, after the conference i made myself a list of books to read, more info to look up, and actions to take in the field next year. i'm very excited about all of it, and am looking forward to learning more...
peace
