Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Whats Happening At Country Taste Farm


Hope every one had a Great Christmas and Happy New Year

My Granddaughter loves to help pick Raspberries

Starting Our New Year 2019, not New Year resolutions, But a list of what we do for “Food Safety”

Each week for the next 7 weeks we shall address how Country Taste Farm address “Food Safety”
1.       Soil Health
2.       Plant Health
3.       Employee Training
4.       Harvest
5.       Produce Sanitation
6.       Packaging
7.       Delivery to end user

Week # 1 Soil Health “Food Safety”

  Starting with the soil a major item that we address fertility, we use manures and compost as the base for our fertilizer requirements. Unfortunately, fresh manure can also contain bacteria that can contaminate vegetables and cause human disease.  Proper composting will kill these bacteria, but steps must be taken to ensure that the manure gets hot enough for a sufficient time during composting.  Storing manure in a pile will cause some death of disease-causing bacteria, but is not regarded as a reliable way to destroy them.  The risk of bacterial contamination from manure is serious enough that USDA National Organic Program (NOP) rules specifically address when non-composted manure can be applied to soil used for vegetable production.  The NOP rules state that if vegetables have edible parts that might contact the soil (either directly or via rain/irrigation splash), then manure must be applied at least 120 days before harvest.  For a crop like sweet corn, where the edible portion is not exposed to soil, the limit is 90 days before harvest.  We follow these rules to the letter. Manure and compost does not provide for all of the needs for our fruit and vegetables. We also plant cover crops such as field peas which will add nitrogen to the soil. We take soil samples and send them to be analyzed. The laboratory sends back recommendations to add nutrients that are lacking in the soil. We have a custom bend of fertilizers including micro ingredients, calcium, Lime and apply it to balance the soil for our plants needs.

Organic practices help reduce Chemicals residue, We are doing Much more for food Safety:


"Know Your Farmer Know Your Food"