I remember when I moved up here I was surprised at how much weather reporting there is. I guess it is obvious why that is.

You will never never stop thinking about the weather, speaking as a farmer's daughter. And you will never never be able to change it, except perhaps with your fancy greenhouses!

I have an organic farming question. I was talking to my dad, the farmer mentioned above, and he is very interested in your progress up there. Our question is, do you use manure as fertilizer and if so, how do you avoid E. coli on your produce. Florida has had a lot of problems with E. coli and has, I think, has restriced use of manure and sludge for fertilizer. Will I need to super-scrub the organic produce I get from my CSA program this summer?

I eagerly await your answer to Sheri's question, because I love the idea of not having to scrub and scrape my carrots when I buy organic ones (ok, it's usually Sheri who buys them).

Hi Sheri,

Yes, organic farmers do use manure as fertilizer, but manure use is strictly regulated. There are now federal rules governing what is required and allowed if you want to be certified organic from the USDA. In order to be certified, I have to apply, have an inspector come to our farm, and sign all these affidavits saying I promise to go to jail, etc., if I misbehave.

Under these rules, there are two ways that manure can be used, either of which involves composting to the point that pathogens should not be a problem. All of the organic regs can be found here. The most relevant section reads:

(c) The producer must manage plant and animal materials to maintain or improve soil organic matter content in a manner that does not contribute to contamination of crops, soil, or water by plant nutrients, pathogenic organisms, heavy metals, or residues of prohibited substances. Animal and plant materials include:

(1) Raw animal manure, which must be composted unless it is:

(i) Applied to land used for a crop not intended for human consumption;

(ii) Incorporated into the soil not less than 120 days prior to the harvest of a product whose edible portion has direct contact with the soil surface or soil particles; or

(iii) Incorporated into the soil not less than 90 days prior to the harvest of a product whose edible portion does not have direct contact with the soil surface or soil particles;

(2) Composted plant and animal materials produced though a process that

(i) established an initial C:N ratio of between 25:1 and 40:1; and

(ii) maintained a temperature of between 131 F and 170 F for 3 days using an in-vessel or static aerated pile system; or

(iii) maintained a temperature of between 131F and 170F for 15 days using a windrow composting system, during which period, the materials must be turned a minimum of five times.

So basically, the manure is either sheet composted in the field, or heated up in a pile compost system. And at least in Vermont, the effect of the 90 and 120 day time limits are to almost eliminate the use of raw manure in the season of harvest. Since our growing season is so short, there are very few crops for which a 90 or 120 day restriction would make any sense.

The effect of the temperature and turning restrictions on a pile compost system, is to create a custom compost industry. I bought off farm compost this year, created specifically to meet the organic requirements, for a price that was low enough that it may not be very cost effective for me to create my own (depending, of course, on how you count my labor). The real problem with the off-farm compost wasn't the cost of the compost, but the cost to have it shipped to our farm.

Anyway, hope that answers you question.

So, to answer your question, we don't scrub our organic produce. Personally, I think there are more negative health consequences from pesticide residue on convential crops than there is from bacteria on organic crops.

I am having a bad post day. The link for the organic regs did not register above. Here is the the link:

http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/standards/ProdHandReg.html

Peter may have more detail, but the short answer is that organic produce is very safe and you should still wash things.

The use of manure in organic agriculture is very strictly limited. The feds definitely erred on the side of consumer safety and consumer perception of safety on the issue of the use of manure.

Basically, you cannot use raw manure on any field in the year that you harvest vegetables from it. So one thing is you can put manure on a field, plant just cover crops on it for the year, till it all in the next year, and then plant veggies. Then the soil is very happy. (That's what we're doing) Or you can compost the manure, but there are there are tough rules (at least from a small farmer perspective) about having to turn the pile quite often and having to maintain a certain high temperature. So you are sure e. coli is killed. Also there are strict rules about where you can get your manure. Also you can buy compost as long as the compost maker is also certified organic and follows the rules about temperature and turning. (We are also doing that.)

So, your organic produce is going to be very safe in terms of e. coli. Of course, I still think you should wash your veggies because there could be germs (e. coli or otherwise) from other sources (like the last person who picked up the cucumber at the supermarket), so I wash. On the other hand, a lot of these biodynamic people I hang out with firmly believe in the value of eating some dirt -- for nutrients, bacteria, etc. -- so I would definitely say your organic dirt is much better than nonorganic dirt if you buy the some dirt is good for you argument. (I generally wash but don't worry if some dirt is left on carrots or potatoes -- except when I am cooking for others who I think might object to the crunch.)

You can find the actual regs here
http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/standards/ProdHandReg.html

Hope this is helpful.

I suppose great minds think alike. Plus Peter is a faster typer than me. Sorry for the redundancy. Also don't worry if you come to visit -- I do wash stuff. Especially for guests.