Winter 2012 · Down to Earth - Canadian Organic Growers

“Growing Strawberries Organically”
OTTAWA—Growing Strawberries
Organically is the newest handbook
published by Canadian Organic
Growers (COG) in its Practical Skills
series of technical manuals for organic
agriculture. The book and the
series continue COG’s commitment
to educating organic and transitioning
growers.
Consumer demand is pushing
organic production to be the fastestgrowing
sector in agriculture, and
this book will help all Canadian
strawberry growers enter this highdemand
market. This informative
handbook is also relevant to any
producer who wishes to reduce
chemical applications, thereby saving
money.
“Consumers frequently contact
us to find where they can buy organic
strawberries or u-picks, since
conventional strawberries rank very
high for pesticide residues.” said
Beth McMahon, Executive Director
of COG. “But there are large gaps in
the marketplace and many communities
across Canada that have no local berry production.”
6 · Down to Earth · Winter 2012
“Growing Strawberries
Organically” is based on farmtested
cultural practices and
includes the stories of several
Canadian growers sharing what
works and what doesn’t.
In organic systems, caring for the soil is key, both to provide growing nutrients and to
reduce pressure from weeds, pests and diseases. Growing Strawberries Organically is based
on farm-tested cultural practices and includes the stories of several Canadian growers
sharing what works and what doesn’t. The book also includes advice on topics as diverse as
cover crops, insect control, marketing and “weeder geese.”
The Practical Skills series and other handbooks are available from Canadian Organic
Growers on the web at www.cog.ca or by phone at 1-888-375-7383 (Canada) or 1-613-
216-0741. The cost is $22.00.
Growing Strawberries Organically was funded in part through adaptation programming
provided by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. We wish to acknowledge
the support of the following organizations for making this publication possible: the
Investment Agriculture Foundation of British Columbia, the Manitoba Rural Adaptation
Council, the New Brunswick Agriculture Council / Conseil Agricole Nouveau-
Brunswick, the Territorial Farmers Association and the Yukon Agricultural Association.
Canadian Organic Growers (COG) is a national charitable organization with members across
the country. Since 1975, COG has focused on advocacy and education for organic agriculture
in Canada.
Contacts
For images and to arrange author interviews:
Kristine Swaren, Project Manager Publications, kristine@cog.ca or 613-278-1226 (direct)
Canadian Organic Growers:
Beth McMahon, Executive Director, beth@cog.ca or 613-216-0741
C anadian
Find Your Organic Seeds
A New Tool For You!
Organic Growers Perth-Waterloo-Wellington has
developed a new resource for organic farmers province-wide
to make it easier to source certified organic seeds — a requirement
of organic certification.
The findorganicseed.ca search engine will greatly increase
the efficiency for farmers to find certified organic sources of
the varieties they want. They can search by variety or by seed
company, rather than pouring over dozens of separate seed
catalogues.
This resource will also help farmers to request exemptions
from their certifying body: If the seed database cannot find an
organic source for the variety a farmer is looking for, then that
alone can be presented to the certifying body, rather than a
farmer having to show the certifying body (s)he has searched
several seed companies to find a variety.
It’s time to start searching for your seeds. You want them to
be certified organic. So why not try out www.FindOrganicSeed.
ca!
Funding for this initiative comes in part from the Agricultural
Management Institute, part of the Best Practices Suite of
programs for Growing Forward, a federal-provincial-territorial
initiative.
Earth Day Canada’s Hometown
Heroes Award Program
Hometown Heroes is now accepting nominations!
The Hometown Heroes Award Program recognizes
everyday heroes for their extraordinary efforts in creating
greener communities across Canada with three
awards:
• Individual Award - a $10,000 cash-prize to donate
to a local environmental group/cause of their choice
• Group Award - a $10,000 cash-prize to support their
environmental work
• Small Business Award - permission to use the Award
and the Earth Day Canada logo for one year to market
and promote the business and/or an approved
product
For further information, please consult the following
website:
www.earthday.ca/hometown/
Heroes must be nominated by March 30, 2012 by contacting
steph@earthday.ca