As a community supported farm, we have the pleasure and privilege to share with you the abundances of our harvest with you. The Ferme du Roulant also wishes to be as transparent as possible about the challenges that can arise during a farming season. In that context, we wanted to share some news today.
Back in July, Virginie, the farm co-manager sent a sad-looking cherry tomato plant to the laboratory. The diagnosis: bacterial canker, a disease that attacks and burns the leaves, reducing the plant’s ability to photosynthesize. This hard-to-treat disease advanced quickly in one of our greenhouses.
We were crushed to learn that there are high risks of relapse for the next four years if we plant vegetables from the tomato, eggplant and pepper families. On the upside, it will still be possible to grow tomatoes in the field, and to use this greenhouse as an early and late season crops space. If rumours are true, field tomatoes are not only tastier but also fancier!
This situation has increased the importance of having better infrastructure at the farm like automated greenhouses to control temperature and humidity and better access to running water and electricity. The team is working hard to bring these important tools to the farm and preparing for 2020. We hope to be more ambitious in this new phase of the project, and still bring you an amazing quality of produce.
On October 26th, the farm team was happy to host five additional pairs of hands to help with some maintenance! Éric, Athanasia, Maurice, Nicolas and Nazmus rebuilt the base of the greenhouse and built shelving. A sparkling greenhouse, all set for 2020.
We thank you for your continued support throughout the seasons!