Fresh, local and organic make up the hat trick that can move the horticulture game forward on the Prairies.
More than 90 percent of the fruit and vegetables eaten on the Prairies are grown outside of the region.
Of course, some of those, especially bananas and citrus fruit, can’t be grown here.
However, we can replace some imports with home grown vegetables such as potatoes, squash and root vegetables and home grown fruit such as sour cherries, apples, haskap and raspberries.
They are all grown on the Prairies and their importance in our diets could be expanded.
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Canadian Organic Grower recently hosted a series of Crop Planning for Vegetable Growers workshops on the Prairies featuring Daniel Brisebois, an experienced organic vegetable producer from Quebec.
Many farm workshops begin with how-to-grow information, but Brisebois’ approach was more like that of holistic management sessions.
He started with setting goals, suggesting that producers first need to decide how much salary they require from the operation. Doubling that will give them an estimate of what they need in gross sales.
In Quebec, average gross sales for top vegetable farmers are approximately $40,000 per person per season. New farmers can expect more like $5,000 to $10,000 in their first seasons.
The second step is to develop a marketing plan. Brisebois discussed two main methods of distribution: farmers’ markets and community shared/supported agriculture, in which consumers subscribe before the season begins and pay a specified price for a monthly or weekly share of the harvest.
This provides the farmer with start-up funds and shares the risk between farmer and consumer.
Brisebois recommends that new CSA farmers start slow, with five to 20 shares. Experienced CSA farmers can manage 30 to 75 shares per person.
Typical weekly baskets cost $15 to $45, but smaller baskets are often best. The more expensive baskets are harder to fill, and people feel bad if they receive more than they can use.
Whatever the size, farmers should strive for a few staples and perhaps one new product a week. Adding recipes improves people’s willingness to try new items.
Farmers can predict gross sales and determine the required volume by multiplying the CSA share price, the number of shares and the number of weeks.
Farmers’ markets provide less predictable volumes and revenue, at least at the start.
However, they allow producers to focus on niche products or to specialize in a smaller range of products.
Combining the two approaches allows farmers to supply the CSA and maintain a market for excess produce. They can also use farmers’ markets to recruit consumers into the CSA.
Brisebois said he uses modules of standard size when working out a field plan.
He finds that three rows, or five feet, work well as a bed width. It is roughly the distance between his tractor tires. Using this planting pattern, the beds are not compacted during field operations.
Brisebois plans his schedule by working backward from his desired harvest dates. Different schedules can be arranged by using varieties with different days to maturity.
He also works backward from his planting dates to his seeding dates for crops that are started in the greenhouse.
He groups crops into blocks of similar crop type, which allows him to maintain a rotation that considers nutrient use and disease.
He uses compost in plots with heavy feeders such as tomatoes, broccoli and zucchini. In alternate years, he plants light feeders such as mixed greens, beans and chard, and cover crops such as fall rye, oats and vetch.
He also watches disease and insect prone plants and never grows these in the same beds in successive years.
Is there potential to expand this model on the Prairies?
Brent Warner of the Canadian Agritourism Working Group says the Calgary Farmers’ Market is the largest food retailer in Calgary. He also said freezer purchases in the United States have risen seven percent while home appliances have fallen eight percent.
These look like hopeful signs for an alliance between market gardener and consumer to increase local production of horticultural products and consume more locally.
Brenda Frick is senior research and extension associate for Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada at the University of Saskatchewan. Contact: organic@usask.ca.
