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Post by jerseycub on Aug 11, 2010 17:17:05 GMT -6
As some of you may or may not know Ruth and I have a CNG Certified Naturally Grown operation here in NJ. I have told some here that we have mulched with straw that was grown on a Certified Organic Farm in our area. Well I found out yesterday after having a problem with my tomato plants yellowing since early in the season, and threw many PM's to Phil and photos we had thought the problem was soil salts causing the yellowing. I had the county agent here on our farm and when I told him were the straw mulch was from and after his inspection he informed that that farm was fined for using an unapproved herbicide last season and his suspicions were that the straw had suspended herbicide in its shafts and that is what is causing the damage to my tomatoes   son of a "B" He also told me that the combination of news paper and straw mulch can cause mildew and spores to form in the damp soil so that is not a good practice either. I wanted to let folks know what has happened to me so they can be aware of what can happen when bring outside materials to your farm as mulch or compost even if the claim is Organic you have to check there certification for recent inspection, If I had asked I would have known they were in violation.  |
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Post by Rita on Aug 11, 2010 17:58:44 GMT -6
OMG that is SO not right Joe I am so sorry for you and Ruth! after all the hard work you have put in !! I am soo sorry for you both! I hope you both keep up the good work and make it work for you!! I am sure from now on you will both be checking on certifications!! AND violations
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Post by Christy on Aug 11, 2010 21:05:19 GMT -6
Man that so sucks JC! Thanks phor the warnning, Ill be asking before getting any hay!  |
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Post by Songbird on Aug 11, 2010 22:42:28 GMT -6
 Thanks for the heads up!
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Post by jack on Aug 12, 2010 3:33:07 GMT -6
Gidday
My heart bleeds for you. It takes years to get to where you are and have some bugger fouling the system and then your system too must be so devistating. Does this mean you lose your certification and if so how many years will this set you back?
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Post by Penny on Aug 12, 2010 4:49:19 GMT -6
So sorry to hear this, Joe.
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Post by jerseycub on Aug 12, 2010 7:57:55 GMT -6
Jack: Well here's the deal. Right now I'm only CNG certified and I don't sell tomatoes as CNG produce, but I have to strip that area of all mulch debris and have it retested as well as all my composting material before I can proceed with my Organic certification with the FDA.
The county agent who is a neighbor knows our farm well and knows we only used it on a few rows so he feels if we clean things up and take samples from several areas the average should be good...we will just have to keep our fingers crossed. The fella that got nabbed for using herbicide was duped by the company that supplied the material thinking it was OMRI certified, again not checking for labels... dumb ass move. Bottom line is, I have to grow my own.
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Post by klorentz on Aug 12, 2010 22:23:00 GMT -6
Good heavens Joe!!! That really stinks. Did you catch this in time so you maters do not get to damaged?
Kevin
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Post by jack on Aug 13, 2010 1:48:32 GMT -6
Gidday
Well mate I am not sure what CNG means but sounds like not fully certified. Even so it must be a huge setback to your programme and one that you sure as hell would rather have not had.
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Post by mogarden on Aug 13, 2010 5:26:52 GMT -6
I think it's probably just wiser for anybody growing food to raise as much as possible on-farm. Too bad we don't all start out with highly fertile soil that doesn't need any phosphate etc brought in.
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Post by jerseycub on Aug 13, 2010 7:49:08 GMT -6
Gidday Well mate I am not sure what CNG means but sounds like not fully certified. Even so it must be a huge setback to your programme and one that you sure as hell would rather have not had. CNG= Certified Naturally Grown; Not a huge set back because it is confined to one row and was only used as mulch in that area....well not exactly we also mulched one row of garlic which has been pulled and the ground was tilled, it's still not that devastating since it's only a residual thing, so at worst Ill have to plant a cover that can't be mowed or tilled in that area. Ill have to remove the cover and dispose of it. After soil test results come back we will have a better handle on things. There is a local Organic certified farm that had contaminated municipal leaves on his farm and they just made them remove the leaves and plant a cover crop to leave dormant for one season. They tilled the cover the following season and everything was OK. I think in our case the situation is much less of a problem. |
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Post by jerseycub on Aug 13, 2010 12:38:50 GMT -6
Good heavens Joe!!! That really stinks. Did you catch this in time so you maters do not get to damaged? Kevin I lost two plants the ones that were most effected were the plumbs they are sanmarzano. The Rutgers Ramapo were not effected at all. I learned a valuable lesson from all of this....don't trust anyone but yer-self,and then check twice. |
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