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Good Roots: Understanding the Differences Between Heirloom and Commercial Wheat and Barley Roots

The architecture of a plant’s root system has a strong impact on crop performance, and understanding the root structure is important for both plant breeders and farmers. Root architecture affects drought tolerance, nutrient and water uptake, and tolerance to mineral toxicity. For example, wheat and…

BC Seed Trials: Specialty Spinach Variety Trial 2016 (Brief)

The goal of the BC Seed Trials is to engage farmers in producing knowledge relevant to seed systems development in British Columbia. These variety trials aim to identify superior crop varieties for fresh market farming and seed production. Varieties were described as savoy or semi-savoy,…

BC Seed Trials: Specialty Beet Variety Trial 2016 (Brief)

Beet Variety Trial 2016 Full Report (BC Seed Trials)

This report covers variety trials conducted in 2016 at the UBC Farm and on a group of organic and conventional farms, primarily in the BC Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.

Lacinato Kale Variety Trial 2016 Full Report (BC Seed Trials)

This report covers variety trials conducted in 2016 at UBC Farm and on a group of organic and conventional farms, primarily in the BC Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island

BC Seed Trials: Lacinato Kale Variety Trial 2016 (Brief)

The goal of the BC Seed Trials is to engage farmers in producing knowledge relevant to seed systems development in British Columbia. These variety trials aim to identify superior crop varieties for fresh market farming and seed production. Lacinato (also called dinosaur or Tuscan) kale is…

KPU Southwest British Columbia Small-Scale Farm Enterprise Budget: Cabbage

This enterprise budget presents costs and returns for a 0.25 acre of cabbage grown on a small-scale mixed vegetable farm in southwest British Columbia, Canada.

KPU Southwest British Columbia Small-Scale Farm Enterprise Budget: Carrot

This enterprise budget presents costs and returns for a 0.5 acre of carrots grown on a small-scale mixed vegetable farm in southwest British Columbia, Canada.

KPU Southwest British Columbia Small-Scale Farm Enterprise Budget: High Tunnel Cucumber

This enterprise budget presents costs and returns for a 0.02 acre of cucumbers grown in a high tunnel on a small-scale mixed vegetable farm in southwest British Columbia, Canada.

Storage Rots of Table Beets

Table beets can spend as much time in storage as they do in the ground. Rots that develop during storage can be a significant source of economic loss, especially towards the end of the storage season (from February onwards). This resource describes general practices to reduce storage losses.

Red Beet Varieties for Storage in Lower Mainland BC

Commonly used red beet varieties such as Detroit Supreme, Red Ace and Red Atlas are solid performers for Fraser Valley growers. Recent variety trial work, carried out over the 2014 and 2015 field seasons, has focused on evaluating other commercially available varieties for storability and…

Fraser Valley Cole Crop IPM Newsletter (early May)

Growing Organic Small Grains in South Coastal BC: Comparing Heirloom and Commercial Cultivars

Nearly 65 per cent of Canada’s 3,500 organic farms grow cereal crops, including mainly wheat and barley as well as legumes and oilseed crops. The demand for organic small grains is increasing, but one of the challenges in meeting this demand is attributed to the lower yields in organically managed…

Barley–Pea Intercropping: Growing Crops Together to Improve Land Productivity

Growing barley as the sole crop in a field has impacts on land productivity by decreasing soil carbon and nitrogen. Sustainable nitrogen management is challenging due to the increasing cost of nitrogen fertilizers, the emission of nitrous oxide, and the potential of nitrates contaminating both…