SPUDS UPDATE!

Yes, our plants seem very happy about the lovely rain!

1) ALL ABOUT WATER:

Thanks to everyone who helped water the field while we were waiting on the cistern fillup, and thanks to Steve Ireland for making that arrangement for us while poor CharlieJohnston was recovering from his back injury, and to Peter Marshall and volunteers from the Fire Department for doing the deed!

The field was watered by hand a total of six times over the week to ten days prior to the filling on Wednesday, July 6th, and hopefully some of that water made it down to the roots where it was needed most during this crucial time of plant development. Many thanks to those who assisted and or provided water. Sheila Nopper's Lee Valley hose pump was especially 'back-saving', allowing Mike to fill wine bottles without continuing to lift heavy containers!



The generous donation of new, super lightweight dripline to SPUDS from Denman organic produce grower (and West Jet pilot) Dave Pick was very easy to install. It is elevated along the fence line before it hits the field, due to the fact that by the time it was gifted to us our potato mounds were far above ground level. Thankyou to Graham Hayman as well for his assistance positioning all the hoses. Mike and I anchored the hose to the mounds with found wire from the recycling centre, which we used along the fence as well to hold up the line. We split old cedar shakes to stake the mainline tightly in place. The water distribution throughout the field is very, very even...a big improvement over our former system due in no small part of course to our decrease in plant numbers.Our plants (totalling around 280) have been watered twice now by the cistern, which released the equivilant amount of water on the field in three hours that it took six whole field waterings by hand to accomplish. We LOVE the cistern! :)

Field Management Subcommittee member (and genius!) Dave Graf has just rigged up a buoy system for the cistern which will now allow us to monitor the amount of H20 we are releasing on the field per watering, without having to get up on a ladder with our long dip-stick. While we are hoping for an additional 6 or 7 waterings from the cistern before receiving a second filling from the Fire Department, the amount of time it actually takes to release water is increasing as the pressure in the tank drops.

Graham Hayman has kindly offered to monitor the next several waterings while all FSC members are off island on holidays. In our absence, members Ron Dobie, Karl Goodwin, and Fox will be taking turns turning on the tank every three days. Graham will be turning off the tank each time so one person can be responsible for keeping an accurate record of water levels and flow rate as the tank drains.

The FSC has also mulched the entire field with additional hay to help retain moisture in the mounds, since our drip line is on top of the potato hill and must wick down to reach developing tubers. Fortunately, the heavy rain on Wednesday penetrated the soil all around our potato plants, which doesn't normally happen because the ground in our pathways is so compact.

2) TUBER DEVELOPMENT:

FSC members removed all flowers from blossoming plants this past week, in order to help concentrate plant energy in the roots. We are NOT seeing tuber development in the mounds randomly checked, which could be for a variety of reasons...

i) everything is behind this year by 2-3 weeks due to our cold wet spring
ii) nutrient level in this quadrant is still depleted given that it has been previously planted and our new four year rotation and cover cropping regime was only begun last year.
iii) maybe we waited too long to get to our first hilling....
iv) the tubers are forming closer to the original seed potato beneath ground level (in addition to all of the above!)

In any event, we will keep our fingers crossed for a decent harvest by the end of August!

3) COVER CROPS:

The field was buzzing with a kazillion happy bees when our hairy vetch and volunteer pea were blooming last month! They did indeed catch up with the grass that is also thriving in the field, although we worried they might not! The clover crop has been far less successful in the upper half of the field, and a mystery plant dominated the lower end of our 2011 quadrant, but which has provided great ground cover mixed with our clover there!

We did NOT plant clover between the rows as proposed after final hilling...conditions were not conducive at the time. Additional hay has been distributed between the rows instead to act as weed suppressant and moisture mulch. it will be several years now before we plant potatoes in this area again, leaving us lots of time to boost soil fertility levels through ongoing cover cropping.

After harvest we will need to decide whether or not to till the upper half of the field again for a replanting of a nutrient rich cover crop that can perhaps better suppress the growth of unwanted grass in the area currently designated for our 2012 patch.

4) HARVEST:

Due to our earlier planting this year, we will be harvesting before the Blackberry Faire! Stay tuned for details, but the weekend of August 27th and 28th is likely, if we allow our plants to mature fully and die back naturally.

5) BLOG POSTING:

This year's photos are not all up on the blog...when I'm back from holidays at the end of the month I hope to have a great photo stream of our collective efforts from April on, finally ready for members to enjoy!

6) DENMAN WORKS GRANT and our WATER CATCHMENT SYSTEM:

Work on our water catchment cistern roof should commence around the beginning of August, by local builder John Tansley. Denman Works exists to promote community economic enhancement, so a portion of our grant is designated for materials and the remainder for labor costs. We have tried to source supplies as locally as possible, so some of the wood we are using will have been milled here on Denman. The job won't take long, and we'll be sure to document all progress, as Denman Works requires that we provide regular reports. Please see Dave Graf's draft design here on the spuds blog for general overview.

7) LUCKY SEVEN! If you've read this far, you are a perfect candidate for SPUDS Field Management Sub-Committee! This is just a reminder that anyone interested in helping coordinate field management is welcome and encouraged to participate. Mike and Fireweed, and Tanya and Dave have been meeting this year to coordinate and commiserate...some deliberations happen online, over the phone, or in the field! It's definitely a time commitment, so additional help is always welcome!

8) MEMBERSHIP: This year it was suggested that members commit to at least five or six work bees in the field per membership, in the interests of SPUDS Cooperative sustainability. It's always understood that not everyone can make it out to each and every scheduled event, so please get in touch if you'd like to be contacted to help with additional chores if you haven't been able to get to the field much this year. Every member is valuable, and we want to keep you onboard!

- We could use volunteers to sit with SPUDS display at the Blackberry Faire, and encourage interested islanders to join us!
- If anyone is traveling to the lower mainland, a pickup of our over-wintering cover crop seed from the distributor would save us a little cash over ordering it locally.
- fundraising ideas are always welcome too, including grant research!

9) PLANNING AHEAD: The FSC hasn't talked about a meeting of the whole membership after harvest, but hopefully we can plan ahead for 2012 with input from all members, sometime after the Blackberry Faire!

-Fireweed (for SPUDS FSC) Mike at home with all the blossoms from our 280 plants!

Hilling Party Saturday, June 4th, 2011

Susan Marie, Dave, Tanya, Kathy, and Mike and Fireweed danced between the raindrops and our gorgeous looking potato plants with our hoes on Wednesday nite. All the weeds (most, anyway!) have been dealt with, and Saturday's work bee can concentrate on our first hilling. We spent about 1 and a half hours on the job weeding, and the hilling should be even faster! Don't forget to bring a hoe, and/or rake, water and a hat. It's supposed to be warm, and we'll be under a high noon sun! See you at 11:00 am!

Weeding and Hilling: Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

Well, after the monsoon earlier today, the soil is going to be...damp out there! Wear your boots, maybe a rainjacket, and bring your hoe and rake and a paddle and we'll see you in the field! The potatoes are growing too fast not to do what we can tonite. Yes, yes, just kidding about the paddle, but we still nee an extra hoe!

SPIRING PLANTING 2011- April 9th!

Spring is upon us once again, and not a moment too soon! Please mark your calendar now, for 1:00 pm Saturday, April 9th, for gathering in the SPUDS patch for our 2011 spring planting.

Thankyou for responding right away to confirm your ability to attend, or otherwise! The weather is currently promising to co-operate next Saturday, so here's hoping we can get all our potato seed in the ground that afternoon.

PLEASE BRING : a shovel or two, a bucket if you have one, garden gloves, and water to drink. If you have a hoe, it might come in handy, too.

Since we're meeting after lunch, there won't be any veggie chili this year, but as is our custom, there WILL be some kind of treat provided for sharing in celebration after our planting is done! (donations of a loonie or two appreciated for our refreshments coffer)

THE PLAN: As reported earlier in the year, and vetted by the membership, this year's planting will be scaled back significantly- commensurate with membership numbers and water availability. We'll be planting a total of ten rows, three feet apart and 45 feet long. Not as much work as in the past if we have a good turn out!

FIELD UPDATE: Our cover cropping regime is in full swing, with much of the field greening up nicely. So rather than bringing a tractor in to till the field this spring, we are conserving fossil fuel use and tilling just the one quadrant we are planting potatoes in with a borrowed rototiller. Member Dave Graf will be doing this work on our behalf today, Saturday, April 2nd. Mike and Fireweed will be assisting at the field site, and anyone who checks email before noon on Saturday and is interested in coming out on this short notice with a rake and hoe to join us is more than welcome! We're meeting from 10 am till noon.

We are going to be able to plant our seed much earlier this year since we are working in a higher (drier) part of the field. This means we will be able to harvest earlier, and possibly avoid the driest part of the summer (and another drought like last year's, if we're lucky!) Stay tuned for updates on a planned water catchment system in the works over our cistern. The volunteer fire department will only be delivering us two tankloads of water this year, so adequate water remains our biggest challenge in the field. Fewer plants will mean more water availability to each plant for growing more, and/or bigger potatoes...we hope!

MEMBERSHIP: Thanks to Max and Ron for once again picking up our potato seed and delivering it to Denman (Sieglinde potatoes, once again). We have 12 active memberships this year, and 2 supporting memberships.

The Field Management Sub-committee (FSC) would like to encourage each membership to consider aiming for six working visits to the field over the course of the growing season, as part of our co-operative goal of achieving greater sustainability. We know it isn't always possible to make it to all scheduled work-bees, but there are lots of opportunities for chipping in, and we'll keep you posted! We already know there are a few members unavailable for the planting date, so hope the majority of others can make it.

As always, anyone interested in being even more involved by joining the Field Management Sub-committee (FSC), or Communications Team is encouraged to get in touch. NOTE: SPUDS Basis of Unity Statement is now available on a seperate page of this blog.

If you have yet to pay this year's membership fee, please bring it with you to the planting or call to make other arrangements. On a final note for now, a hearty welcome to our latest SPUDS members, Graham Hayman and partner Kathleen Holden!

SPUDS Newz - January 19th, 2010

Happy New Year Spudsters!

In the previous post on this blog please find the minutes from our end of the year membership meeting (November 28th, 2010)  for a long overdue update. The following communique was sent to members with those minutes attached.

Please take note that this coming Saturday, January 22nd, we have a chance to raise a little cash for our Co-operative!

I was asked to provide food for the lunch that is part of the Transition Denman initiative at their official launch this weekend, and have decided to donate all proceeds after expenses to SPUDS, in support of our desire to improve water access for the field by way of a rain catchment system for our cistern. 

The request  received was for bioregional fare, so of course my choice to include potatoes was a natural one. Hopefully you are already planning to attend the launch, but whether or not you can make it, please spread the word: our SPUDS fundraiser 'lunch for the launch' will be available between noon and 12:45 pm…then pause for a brief presentation in the Front Hall by visiting Green Party leader Elizabeth May.  I'm told food service can resume by 1:30 pm and continue to  4:00 pm (or until we run out of goodies) 

I have rounded up lots of great Denman veggies, so every item on the menu contains homegrown ingredients- beautiful beet borscht, potato and sweet pea samosas with local fruit chutney, crunchy kale chips, creamy squash soup, savoury potato and sunflower seed pate with basil pesto and roasted tomato puree on rye, pumpkin pie, apple spice muffins, hazelnut spelt squares made with blackberry/plum preserves, local apple juice, etc.

ANY VOLUNTEERS? I am hoping that a couple of other SPUDS members may be interested in lending a hand on Saturday for any length of time at all…the food will be readymade, but Mike and I will be serving out of both the front and back windows of the kitchen, so it will be a bit of a juggling act with just the two of us. It may or may not be busy, but I'm not sure how we'll be able to retrieve used bowls that don't come straight back to the kitchen, for example... if you are interested in helping out the cause, please get in touch asap! -Fireweed

OTHER SPUDS UPDATES

And now for news directly related to the field...

1) Today we received word on our potato seed order pricing for 2011's spring planting. The farmer who organizes a bulk purchase for Vancouver Island had to secure a 40 box order (2,000 pounds) before receiving a cost break, and has just announced that she was successful. Good thing, because the price for organic seed has gone up! Our order will cost $100 for a 50 pound box (up from $75 a case last year) plus $10 for shipping.

It was proposed at our last meeting of the membership on November 28th,  that we reduce our seed planting this coming spring, commensurate with membership labor availability, and our very limited water supply. Please refer to the  minutes (previous post!) from this meeting for conversation highlights, budget report, etc.

2) SPUDS welcomes new 2011 members Stephen Cooke, Dave Graff and partner Tanya Quinn (Dave joined last fall and is now a very welcome addition to SPUDS Field Management sub-committee), and Yvon Raoul. Yvon lives part time on Denman, so will be a supportive member 'at large', joining us in the field whenever he can. 

3) One other highlight to note that won't be in the minutes…SPUDS' request for a refundables bin at the Bottle Depot has been accepted. We now have the opportunity to raise at least $100 a year (the minimum amount required to maintain the privilege of having a bin) towards the cooperative's operating expenses, simply  by remembering to donate our recyclables …we must 'use it, or loose it', as the saying goes!

Minutes from Meeting of the Membership, Nov. 28, 2010

SPUDS MEETING of the MEMBERSHIP; November, 28, 2010

  

In attendance:  Ron Sakolsky, Sheila Nopper, Mike Nestor, Fireweed, Fox, Tanya Quinn, Dave Groff

 Facilitation: we were such a small group that we decided picking a facilitator wasn’t necessary. The following notes have been compiled by Fireweed

AGENDA

MEMBERSHIP:

Fireweed provided an update on our numbers, highlighting members not in attendance but who are also confirmed for 2011:

Veronica Timmins, Ron Dobie and Maxine Matilpi, Yvon Raoul (who will be a ‘member at large’, since he is only on Denman part time, Susan Marie Yoshihara, Bill Engelson, Vern Wright, Kevin Mitchell

…and 2010 members who won’t be participating in 2011: Charlie Johnston (to remain supportive, he has offered to provide a total of TWO refills for the cistern through the Volunteer Fire Dept. for 2011); Jan Murphy and Lyndsey Jennings (just way too busy with off island work and school); Herb Jones and Barb Heywood-Jones, Bob Vosburg, DeNeen Baldwin, Rae Eckel and Karl Goodwin (who are stepping back for health reasons but have offered to retain a family membership as ‘members at large’, remaining supportive with a standing offer to help with Karl’s truck whenever we might need the assistance)

Mike announced that our 2011 membership stands at 9 family, and 3 single memberships, noting that this total of 12 should be calculated as 10 ACTIVE memberships, since two memberships are primarily supportive, only. [note: newest member Stephen Cooke signed on for 2011 after this meeting, bringing our 2011 membership up to 13 as of mid January, or 11 Active memberships]

FINANCIAL REPORT:

Mike provided the following accounting info for 2010:

Income:

Memberships-  $420.00               (230.00 +190.00= $420.00)

Grant            -     200.00  Aug. 3, 10

Misc.            -        14.00

TOTAL               634.00

Bank Account:

Balance as of 11/26/10                                           231.01

Pending check from Yvon Raoul                          +50.00

                                                                                281.01

*Pending expenses                                                -208.67

                                                                                  72.34

*EXPENSES incurred by members of the Field Management sub-committee

Aug. 8, 2010     Pickseed-                   hairy vetch      63.42      Fireweed

                          (we split a bag with Ironwood Farm in Union Bay)                        

                                                                                                         

May 16, 2010                                    Austrian pea      79.99      Fireweed

May 16. 2010                     twine for row marking      14.41      Fireweed

July 3,   2010      Home Depot-   clamps for hoses        9.75      Mike Nestor

July 3,   2010     Courtenay Pump House- emitters       9.47      Mike Nestor 

Sept.15, 2010     South Country Feed-  clover seed     29.39      Fireweed

Sept. 24, 2010    DI Hardware-           flagging tape      2.24      Mike Nestor

                                                                                    208.67

Check to Mike Nestor for:                                            21.46

Check to Fireweed for:                                                187.21

                                                                                     208.67

SPUDS 2010 Expenditures in Total-

Jan. 20,   10      40.00-  Back Hall rental for Feb. 7 meeting

Jan. 29,  10     280.50-  Mary Alice Johson for 3 cases of Sieglinde seed ($75 a case,         

                                                               and .37/lb. shipping- $55.50)

Feb. 22,  10       15.00-  room rental at Old School for Feb. 21 meeting

May 17,  10       50.00-  Mike Lindsay  for tilling ½ the filed (May 8^th)

May 16,  10       79.99-  South Country Feed for Austrian peas for spring/fall planting

May 16,  10       14.41-  Home Depot for twine for marking rows

May  20, 10       40.16-  Charlie Johnston for hose valve for cistern

July    3, 10          9.75-  Home Depot for clamps for hoses

July    3, 10           9.47- Pump House for replacement hose emitters

Aug. 18, 10         63.42- Pickseed for hairy vetch cover crop (55.00 + 7.77 freight +.93 tx)

Sept. 15, 10         29.39- South Country Feed for red clover seed for ¾ field coverage

Sept. 24, 10       100.00- Mike Lindsay for entire field tillage

                          732.09

FSC  (Field Management Sub-committee) REVIEW of 2010:

Presented by Fireweed and Mike, with thanks to Jan and Lyndsey for their wonderful assistance on the FSC for the 2010 growing season, as well as Darek Tanneker for his knowledgeable support!

We had a very wet spring, and so the plough wasn’t able to get in to the field until May 8^th. The following weekend we planted one quadrant of cover crop Austrian pea in the quadrant where we are planting potatoes in 2011.

We planted our potato seed on May 22^nd, thinking it best to leave the turned over sod a couple of weeks to break down before the planting.

We had purchased 150 pounds of Sieglinde seed in a bulk order purchased through Mary Alice Johnson from Across the Creek Organics in Pemberton once again, and ended up storing it in Rod and Vlasta’s apple barn to slow down the sprouting that had taken place in Bob Parson’s barn, due to our need to delay planting.

There were about 300 seed per 50 pound box.

We planted 15.5 rows of approximately 60 plants per row, totaling about 900 plants

The rows were spaced 2 feet apart, and the plants 18 inches apart

We harvested over 750 pounds on Sept. 18^th, or approximately .8 pounds per plant.

The plants were in the ground for 120 days, and each family membership got 51 poudns of potatoes, the 2 individual membership got 46 pounds a piece…our appreciation pile, divided by 4 was 47.5 or 12 pounds per recipient.

Watering issues:

Because of our wet spring, our plants got off to a great start and we didn’t need to get our watering system down on the field till July 7^th. The cistersn was filled a total of  4 times, however, and the bul of our watering happened between July and Augst during the most severe drought in many years.

July 11^th was our first watering, July 19^th-22^nd our second watering, July 31-Aug 4^th our third watering, Aug. 7^th it rained, August 21^st we watered for a forth and final time. The field received no further water as the weather remained dry. We hoped that leaving the potatoes in the field for as long as possible might plump them up, but without rain any further growth was negligible.

Our plants received approximately 8 gallons of water over the entire dry season from the cistern (which received four fillings), or 2 gallons per watering per plant

Apparently our wire worm problem was shared by organic growers across BC- Ann deCosson said they had the same problem, and also had the worst potato crop in 30 years. West Piercy said his overall production was the worst in 60 years.

So we had a few problems facing us in the field in 2010…decreased soil fertility, which of course we are now well on our way to rectifying with timely and appropriate cover cropping, an unexpected drought right when our plants would have really benefited from more water, and wire worms!

COMMUNICATIONS:

Fireweed reported that thankyous and potatoes were delivered to Brian, Mike Lindsay, Charlie and the Fire Dept., and Derek Tanneker in appreciation for their support at the end of September. DeNeen Baldwin and Rae Eckel were also appreciated for their contributions to SPUDS Communications Team

Library Binder- Sheila provided an update on the binder at the Library, which she is continuing to maintain

Blog Updates- Fireweed mentioned maintaining accurate records on the blog for easy access and agreed to continue uploading meeting deliberations, photos, etc

Hermitage Contact- the new liason person for SPUDS at the Hermitage is Devin

New/additional SPUDS Communications Team members are encouraged!

PLANNING AHEAD:

Seed ordering-

Discussion ensued around what and how much to order for the 2011 growing season. It was suggested that given the reality of our water limitations at the field, and the fact that we can count on only half the quantity of water received in 2010 from the Fire Dept. in 2011, that we would be better off drastically reducing our next planting. Given that even cutting our production in half would not provide healthier, heartier plants if we have the same weather conditions in 2011, it was determined that planting a third of what we did in 2010 would 1) be a better use of available water, 2) reduce labor requirements in the field, commensurate with a decrease in our current membership numbers, 3) possibly result in a much better crop yield, per plant.

Fireweed advocated for planting Sieglindes once again, so we can keep track of how well they do under varied conditions. Ron proposed that we order one 50 pound box of seed. All present were in favor of this proposal for all the reasons under consideration.

[Note: as always, any member not in favor of a proposal is welcome to offer further input for consideration.]

Fireweed agreed to place an order and report to the group when it is confirmed, and to relay 2011 prices . Last year our order was made in December and confirmed on January 10^th.

Water Catchment-

The need for a water catchment system over the cistern was discussed, along with ideas about water flow and accumulation in general on the field during the rainy season. One idea made by Fox, was to invite a professional permaculturalist to assess and share their ideas on the site. Drainage ditching, swales, building up low areas, using low lying areas differently rather than altering the landscape, digging a pond- various ideas were touted for long range field management solutions. It was acknowledged that any major activity would require permission from the Hermitage. It was agreed that Fox would pursue permaculture input, and that fundraising for some kind of water catchment over the cistern would be appropriate for at least one filling independent of the Fire Dept. SPUDS members adept in carpentry are needed to volunteer for the construction of a catchment system!

Grants-

Everyone is encouraged to keep their ears open about grant possibilities for the catchment system.Mike will pursue another CVRD grant, due by the end of February. Veronica Timmins, Sharon Clarke, DICEEC and Freedonia were mentioned as possible sources of either grant information or funding in the case of Freedonia.

Mulch-

 It was stressed that we need to mulch over the creeping couch grass along the edge of the field before it starts to grow up again. And that anyone who can grab some large cardboard from town that is mostly ink free should do so. Last year we obtained about three truckloads of hay mulch, sometime in the early spring (it was suggested that we start asking around in February). Doug Wright, the Scrutons, Tom Dennis, and Dev Murti were mentioned as possible sources of hay.

Tilling-

 Mike Nestor will contact Mike Lindsay to inquire about spring tilling- as we make progress with our cover cropping our tillage requirements are reducing significantly and this spring we will only require one quarter of the field to be tilled if all goes well.

FSC involvement-

 Dave Graff joins Fireweed and Mike on the FSC. Welcome Dave! More members are welcome and needed to help out with  various aspects of SPUDS infrastructure and field management.

Membership involvement-

 Fireweed and Mike calculated that on average (and NOT including FSC work in the field) SPUDS membership clocked approximately 160 hours of activity on field tasks in 2010. This breaks down to about 12 hours per person (again, excluding FSC meetings, watering, checking on the field, etc). To be truly sustainable, we need to increase the time in the field expected from each member to more like 6 visits.

Of course a reduction in planting in 2011 will make a difference on how long tasks like planting, hilling, mulching, etc, end up taking.

Budgeting for 2011-

Mike estimated the cost of seed potatoes, field tillage, cover crop seed and miscellaneous expenses for the year as coming in anywhere between $200-$400. Miscellaneous expenses might include repairs on our drip irrigation system, or new hose; material needs for a water catchment would likely exceed this estimate.

Other-

 Mike will ask Rae if she would be willing to test the soil for us again so we can compare data.

Next Meeting: No other meeting date set at this time.

Thanks to Ron and Sheila for hosting!

Meeting of the Membership November 28th

All members are encouraged to attend this important planning meeting to help guide the Co-operative forward in  2011, and begin preparations for spring planting!

See you at 7:00 pm at Ron and Sheila's home on Wren Road, on Sunday, November 28th. Please call 1209 for info.