Research Library
EFAO’s research library is an open access resource where you can find all of EFAO’s research protocols, reports and publications, and other on-farm research guides.
To identify the best performing crosses of sweet potato for organic farming systems in the Ottawa area, Kate, Erin and Lise-Anne compared nine new crosses of sweet potato and one check variety (Covington) in a replicated and randomized trial across three farms.
In a Nutshell
- They identified three varieties that they think are definitely worth continuing to grow and observe, and another two “runner-up” crosses that are alsopromising.
Ryan et Isabelle ont testé si une culture de couverture sertie de seigle et de vesce velue réduirait le travail du sol, l’entretien de la culture et l’irrigation pour leur récolte de brocolis d’automne.
En Bref
- Par rapport au travail du sol, les résidus de culture de couverture ont fourni suffisamment de paillis pour réduire consid rablement le temps de d sherbage et augmenter l’humidité du sol tout au long de la saison de croissance avec 11% plus d’humidité que la parcelle de contrôle. Les pluies étaient suffisantes, de sorte qu’ils n’avaient pas besoin d’irriguer les parcelles de labour.
- Le brocoli cultivé dans le paillis créé par la culture de couverture serti avait environ la moitié du rendement commercialisable par rapport aux parcelles labourées.
- La perte de rendement combinée à l’absence de différence dans la main-d’oeuvre totale a rendu ce systéme sans labour, tel que testé, non viable pour la production de brocoli.
As a follow-up to their 2019 multi-farm trial, we compared 5 large tomato varieties and 4 cherry tomato varieties grown by grafting onto four different rootstocks and an ungrafted control.
In a Nutshell
- The best choice of rootstock was specific to the scion, with some rootstocks producing no improvement
or even reducing yield for some varieties of scion. - Compared to ungrafted plants, Caiman F1 large tomatoes had great yield and profitability when grafted DR0141TX rootstock.
- Preliminary data suggest that only Sakura cherry tomato may benefit from grafting on Fortanimo or Estanimo, but more replicates are needed to be confident.
- Preliminary data suggest that grafting “heirloom- like” hybrid varieties tested does not confer a yield advantage, but that open pollinated Striped German maybe benefit from being grafted onto Fortanimo.
Compte tenu de l’importance incroyable des champignons dans notre monde, Dianne était curieuse de savoir si les inoculants améliorent les rendements de la laitue et des oignons, ces deux espèces étant capable de grandir en relation avec les champignons mycorhiziens arbusculaires (AMF).
En Bref
- En 2019, elle a utilisé pour la première fois des inoculants AMF et a observé des laitues et des oignons particuli rement gros et sains.
- En 2020, elle a mené un essai randomisé et répété comparant deux inoculants à des témoins non inoculé s pour la laitue Ariana, Cantarix, Nevada et Skyphos et l’oignon Patterson. Bien qu’ils soient également grands et sains, Dianne n’a détecté aucun effet sur le rendement des inoculants.
- Elle se demande si la conception de l’essai était viciée parce qu’elle a inoculé et / ou ressuscité sans méfiance la communauté mycorhizienne de tout son jardin en 2019.
Eric compared five methods of preparing fallow land for vegetable production with respect to soil regeneration and cost to implement.
In a Nutshell
- Cover crops with micronutrient amendments increased active carbon, a sensitive indicator of soil health and soil regeneration potential.
- Micronutrient amendment alone did not increase active carbon; and Eric saw no added benefit with respect to soil health of adding chicken manure or woody compost with cover crops.
- Balancing cost and soil health benefits, Eric will focus on micronutrient application and full season cover crops in areas that require regeneration.
To prevent chlorosis in chestnuts, Derick compared broadcasting and localized application of nutrient amendments to no amendment controls. After a year of growth, he measured tree height and leaf nutrient status.
In a Nutshell
- Derick detected no difference in plant health or leaf nutrient status between the two amendment methods. Given the extra labour involved with the localized treatment, he will not broadcast any amendments moving forward.
- He detected higher leaf potassium levels in the amended trees, which is important for iron availability in the plant.
To reduce tillage for crops that are direct seeded, Jason tested different composts in a no-till deep bed system in one trial each of lettuce and carrots.
In a Nutshell
- The substrates for deep compost mulch differed with respect to growing lettuce and carrots, but bare ground control produced the highest seedling count for lettuce and the greatest yield for carrots.
- Optimizing the use of deep bed compost requires a systems approach since seeding depth and irrigation rate, etc. differ by substrate. It was not practical, however, for Jason to test each substrate in a systems- context which limits the applicability of these results.
Key Findings
Continuing our work that began in 2016, members of the SeedWorks Plant Breeding Club worked together to breed and release an early, blocky sweet red pepper with good flavour that is adapted to ecological growing systems in southern Ontario. We continue to select for a yellow sweet bell pepper for release in fall 2021/winter 2022.
This trial was multi-year. Earlier reports and protocols can be found using the links below.
Earlier reports
Earlier protocols
In a Nutshell
- Orford yielded the highest among the three varieties in the trial.
- Bullet had the highest test weight among the three varieties, although its yield was the most variable.
- The addition of N in a side-by- side unreplicated trial showed a promising return on investment among all three varieties but more work and replication is needed to verify and reinforce these findings.
NB: This report was updated January 2023.
Becky’s goal was to see if it was possible to establish land for cut flower production on existing perennial pastures using no-till methods.
In a Nutshell
- Poor germination across her replicated trial comparing cover crop mulch, deep compost mulch and tillage (control) resulted in no appreciable results to note.
- Becky had good luck growing sunflowers in two demonstration plots that she tarped for 12 months and 2 months.
- Becky recommends using tarps for 2-12 months ahead of planting into perennial pasture.
The growers’ objective was to document the best short season northern grain amaranth variety for production across different farms throughout southern Ontario during the 2021 growing season.
In a Nutshell
- Golden Giant, Opopeo, and Atitlan Dorado all performed well and were overall favourites among the growers.
- The Grain Amaranth from Richters Herbs was the growers least preferred variety and didn’t perform as well as the other varieties but ranked top in flavour for growers.
- Despite this, growers are interested in adapting this variety because of its good flavour, early flowering, and wide genetics which they hope means they can work with the population to create an ideal variety for their farm.
- Growers’ enjoyed learning about grain amaranth production and its story but more work is needed to determine if production at the small and mid-sized scale is feasible with the harvesting and processing labour time.
In a Nutshell
- Jeff found no difference in onion yield (weight) between the tillage treatments.
- Seeing no adverse effects from using only shallow tillage gives Jeff confidence to try more minimum tillage for bed preparation in the future.
- Yankee variety outperformed Norstar by an average of 20% more by weight.
In 2021, Dean assessed 6 varieties of quinoa under organic management practices. The goal was to choose the best suited variety for future large-scale production and direct market sales to local consumers.
In a Nutshell
- Quinoa is a slow growing, non-competitive plant that can be a finicky crop to produce!
- It’s hard to differentiate between closely related weeds such as lamb’s quarters during the first 8 weeks of production.
- In a direct seeded quinoa crop, traditional large scale organic weeding practices were challenging, and the use of a rotary hoe was deemed impractical.
- Buffy and Brightest Brilliant Rainbow were the best performers in this trial under 2021 conditions.
In a Nutshell
- He tested nine varieties, three of which were bred for organic management.
- He grew unreplicated strips of six of the varieties and, with excess seed, two strips each of three varieties.
- Michael observed relatively uniform growth and development among varieties, and yield was excellent in the trial and across the farm.
- Pioneer 9998, 9608, and 0157 had the highest yields (two replicates each), but P0157 also had high harvest moisture.
- Moving forward, Michael will continue to grow and compare Pioneer 9998 and 9608.
Based on observations from the 2020 growing season, Kristine wanted to test the efficacy of intercropping cauliflower with onions in their market garden.
In a Nutshell
- Kristine found that the green stem variety performed better than the white stem and Romanesco varieties.
- Kristine found no significant difference in yields or plant health between cauliflower planted alone (control) and cauliflower intercropped with onions (treatment) in either the spring or fall plantings.
This study aimed to find out whether adding biochar to an engineered green roof soil blend would ameliorate the soil in order to successfully grow spray-free vegetables at similar yields to the Farm’s older plots with more productive soil.
In a Nutshell
- Farmers found that vegetables grew well in both the control and biochar- amended plots when compared to crops that grew poorly in the originally installed engineered soil.
- However, biochar amendment did not significantly improve crop quality, yield, or soil health during the first year of application.
To find a system for growing consistent lettuce in the heat of the summer in eastern Ontario, Luke and Dana compared different methods of altering the microclimate for lettuce including black landscape fabric (control); white landscape fabric, and white landscape fabric with shade cloth.
In a Nutshell
- Luke and Dana did not have the statistical power to detect differences in lettuce yield among treatments.
- From their observations, they will grow more mid-summer lettuce to help increase quantity available; and they will grow it on white landscape fabric to help with quality.
- They will continue to use black fabric during the spring and fall.
- They also plan to continue to experiment with shade cloth for 1-2 weeks post transplant during peak heat.
Growers in northwestern Ontario wanted to identify which varieties of spinach are well-suited for seed production in their area.
In a Nutshell
- Matador and Popeye were among the growers’ favourite varieties, ranking high in most categories.
- Spinach planted in later fall (frost seeded) did not survive to produce seed in this trial.
- From unreplicated data, early fall plantings overwintered successfully and show a trend towards higher seed production.
- Giant Winter was the growers’ least favorite variety and was ranked lowest in almost every category.
The growers’ objective was to document the best green head lettuce for summer production across different farms throughout southern Ontario during the 2021 season.
In a Nutshell
- Nevada was the top variety with respect to vigor, flavour, longest harvest, disease hardiness, and germination in this trial.
- Muir was a runner-up to Nevada, but did have some germination issues and did not size up as well.
- Concept and Encino were the growers’ least favorite varieties this year.
- Overall, these results are consistent with the 2020 lettuce variety trial.
Suite à leur essai de brocoli sans labour en 2020 avec des cultures de couverture, Ryan et Isabelle ont testé du brocoli sans labour avec du tissu couvre-sol en 2021.
En Bref
- Le brocoli cultivé en utilisant le traitement sans labour du tissu couvre-sol avait un rendement inférieur et nécessitait plus de maind’œuvre.
- Malgré la faible performance du brocoli sans labour utilisant des paillis, Ryan et Isabelle croient toujours que le brocoli d’automne dans le nord-est de l’Ontario peut être cultivé avec succès dans un système sans labour, et essaieront probablement le brocoli sans labour sans système de paillis (culture de couverture ou tissu) en 2022.