No-till fall broccoli in northern Ontario 2020, 2019 Research Project Cover Crops
Description

Ryan and Isabelle tested whether a crimped cover crop of rye and hairy vetch reduced tillage, cultivation and irrigation for their fall broccoli crop.

In a Nutshell

  • Compared to tillage, the cover crop residue provided sufficient mulch to significantly reduce weeding time and increase soil moisture throughout the growing season by 11%. There was adequate rainfall, so they didn’t need to use irrigation in the tillage plots.
  • Broccoli grown in crimped cover crop mulch had around half the marketable yield compared to the tilled plots.
  • The yield loss combined with no difference in total labour made this no-till system as tested unviable for broccoli production.

Lire le rapport en français

Publish Date
August 11, 2021
Farmer(s)
Ryan Spence & Isabelle Spence-Legault
In search of short season northern sweet potatoes: Variety trials of new sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) crosses 2020 Research Project Seed Production, Selection & Breeding
Description

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.

Publish Date
August 11, 2021
Farmer(s)
Kate Garvie, Erin Richan, Lise-Anne Léveillé
Brocoli d’automne sans labour dans le nord de l’Ontario 2020, 2019 Research Project Soil Health
Description

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.

Read report in english

Publish Date
August 11, 2021
Farmer(s)
Ryan Spence & Isabelle Spence-Legault
Grafting for organic low-tech greenhouse tomatoes 2020 Research Project Seed Production, Selection & Breeding
Description

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.

Publish Date
August 11, 2021
Farmer(s)
R. Victor & Nathan Klassen
L’impact de l’utilisation des inoculants mycorhiziens pour sur les transplants de légumes 2020 Research Project Disease & Pest Control
Description

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.

Read report in english

Publish Date
August 11, 2021
Farmer(s)
Dianne Kretschmar
Regeneration of fallow fields for vegetable production 2022, 2021, 2020 Research Project Cover Crops
Description

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.

Publish Date
August 11, 2021
Farmer(s)
Eric Barnhorst
Assessing methods for nutrient application to prevent chlorosis in chestnuts 2020 Research Project Soil Health
Description

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.

Publish Date
August 11, 2021
Farmer(s)
Derick Greenly
Direct seeding into compost mulch 2020 Research Project Soil Health
Description

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.

Publish Date
August 11, 2021
Farmer(s)
Jason Hayes
Performance of Chantecler chickens on a reduced protein grower ration 2020, 2019 Research Project Livestock Feed
Description

Heather compared a standard protein ration with 16% protein to a reduced protein ration with 13% protein to see how her heritage Chantecler chickens responded during the grow-out period.

In a Nutshell

  • In 2019, Heather tracked the weight of three cohorts of chickens, taking more than 1,000 weight measurements of individual chickens.
  • There were no consistent differences in the weight of chickens on the two protein rations throughout the grow-out period.
  • There was also no detectable effect of reduced protein on finished live weight or dressed weight.
  • In 2020, Heather continued to use the reduced protein ration and would like to continue the trial over several seasons for more confidence.

Publish Date
August 11, 2021
Farmer(s)
Heather Newman
Efficacy of mycorrhizal inoculants on vegetable transplants 2020 Research Project Disease & Pest Control
Description

Given the incredible importance of fungi in our world, Dianne was curious if inoculants improved lettuce and onions yields, as these two species are known to grow in relationship with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF).

In a Nutshell

  • In 2019, she used AMF inoculants for the first time and observed particularly large, healthy lettuce and onions.
  • In 2020, she set-up a randomized and replicated trial comparing two inoculants to uninoculated controls for Ariana, Cantarix, Nevada and Skyphos lettuce and Patterson onion. While they were also large and healthy, Dianne detected no effects of the inoculants yield.
  • She wonders if the design of the trial was flawed because she unsuspectingly inoculated and/or resuscitated the mycorrhizal community of her whole garden in 2019.

Publish Date
August 11, 2021
Farmer(s)
Dianne Kretschmar
Southern Ontario participatory pepper breeding project 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017 Research Project Seed Production, Selection & Breeding
Description

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

2019 | 2018 | 2017

Earlier protocols

2019 | 2018 | 2017

Publish Date
July 14, 2021
Farmer(s)
Annie Richard, Kathy Rothermel, Greta Kryger, Rebecca Ivanoff, Kim Delaney and Arron Lyons
Shallow vs deep tillage in permanent beds for onions 2021 Research Project Soil Health
Description
To test whether permanent beds can grow onions well with only shallow tillage (1.5 inches) as compared to deep and shallow tillage.

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.

Publish Date
April 1, 2021
Farmer(s)
Jeff Boesch
Quinoa screening trial 2021 Research Project Seed Production, Selection & Breeding
Description

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.

Publish Date
April 1, 2021
Farmer(s)
Dean Orr
Organic field corn screening trial 2021 Research Project Seed Production, Selection & Breeding
Description
Michael wanted to narrow down varieties of organic field corn that are best suited for production on his farm.

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.

Publish Date
April 1, 2021
Farmer(s)
Michael Oeggerli
Does intercropping with onions improve overall yield for cauliflower? 2021 Research Project Disease & Pest Control
Description

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.

Publish Date
April 1, 2021
Farmer(s)
Kristine Hammel
Using biochar as an amendment for engineered green roof soil blend 2021 Research Project Disease & Pest Control
Description

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.

Publish Date
April 1, 2021
Farmer(s)
Ines Lacarne, Michelle Dang, and Sharene Shafie
Microclimates for summer lettuce 2021 Research Project Disease & Pest Control
Description

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.

Publish Date
April 1, 2021
Farmer(s)
Luke Sheldrick and Dana Moores
Spinach variety trial for northwestern Ontario seed production 2021, 2020 Research Project Seed Production, Selection & Breeding
Description

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.

Lire le rapport en français

Publish Date
April 1, 2021
Farmer(s)
Evalisa McIllfaterick and Janna van Blyderveen & Jordan Lees
Summer green head lettuce variety trial 2021 Research Project Seed Production, Selection & Breeding
Description

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.

Publish Date
April 1, 2021
Farmer(s)
Angie Koch, Ann Slater, Hilary Moore, Martina Schaefer, Roger Thiessen and Romina Bortoluzzi, Roger Rivest, and Sarah Judd
Brocoli sans labour avec tissu couvre-sol dans le nord de l’Ontario 2021 Research Project Soil Health
Description

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.

Read report in english

Publish Date
April 1, 2021
Farmer(s)
Ryan Spence and Isabelle Spence-Legault