By Nicole Sugerman
Tomatoes are in! I am excited after a spring in which I did not allow myself to think about how much I enjoy this beloved summer crop. I did not think about their juiciness, or imagine all the recipes I could make that feature this joyful fruit. On Monday, we had our first gigantic tomato harvest of the season—once they come in, they really come in—and I allowed myself to feel excitement over eating tomatoes for a long time to come, but also relief; we got tomatoes before late blight got us.
Those of you who are returning members may remember last year’s late blight. Brought in on seedlings sold at big-box stores from commercial greenhouses in the south, where late blight can overwinter, late blight devastated the tomato and potato crops of farmers throughout the northeastern United States. Late blight is named for the fact that it usually hits this region late in the season, traveling up from the south and thriving on cooler weather, but last year’s unusually cool wet conditions combined with its assisted travel to this area early in the season created the perfect conditions to foster a minor catastrophe. Many small farms make up to 30% of their income on tomatoes. While some farmers, like us, were able to keep their tomatoes alive and producing (with diminished yields and quality, in many cases including ours) for a while, some farms lost their entire crop before a single tomato ripened. I recently spoke to one farmer who operates a fifteen acre organic farm in New Jersey who estimates that he lost $30,000 worth of tomatoes last season; the tomatoes were all staked, tied, pruned, and ready, before late blight wiped out his entire crop.
We are all still a little traumatized. We still swap late blight stories, and strategize and debate about whether we will get it this year, and how we might avoid it; even though the weather is hot and dry, and the late blight was not supposed to be able to overwinter in this area, the late blight is still returning earlier than usual, with sightings already reported in western Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Connecticut. One farmer I know is letting all the weeds get big between his tomato rows to try to decrease air space for spore travel, which is how late blight spreads. Other farmers I know are spraying copper sulfate, an organic-approved fungicide, preemptively. Others are just stocking up on fancier, more efficient spray equipment so they can be ready if the late blight hits.
We had a late blight scare already this season. On our lowest row of tomatoes, we noticed spots that resembled the late blight lesions of last season. We concluded that we had the disease. Nina and I stayed at the farm until ten o’clock that Friday night, removing affected leaves from the plants and spraying copper to try to prevent it from spreading. We took samples of the leaves to send to Penn State Extension, which performs free diagnostic tests on plant samples sent to them by farmers, just to make sure, but we were sure our tomatoes were doomed for another season.
Luckily, we had misdiagnosed our tomato disease. Two days after we sent in the samples, I got a call from Penn State assuring me that the samples were late blight free—we had early blight, a common, not-very threatening early season disease for organic growers, and Septoria, a leaf spot-causing fungus. Both diseases can be controlled through crop rotation, increased air circulation, and cleaning up crop debris in the fall to prevent overwintering. While having disease is not good news, tomatoes, especially heirlooms, catch diseases very easily, so getting them is not particularly worrisome if they are not late blight! We were thrilled and relieved.
I have heard other farmers tell me the same story, with false scares and anxious tomato patrolling throughout the spring. While we could still get late blight, at least the tomatoes are in and producing heavily—so we can all enjoy the amazing taste of tomatoes for what I hope will be a long while. Even though harvesting tomatoes is no one’s favorite task on the farm (it takes forever, the fruits damage easily, and the plants make us itch!) we are all thankful for the privilege this year. Enjoy your tomatoes! We are happy to have them for you.
Showing posts with label late blight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label late blight. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
A Perspective on Late Blight
By Nicole Sugerman
Not fixating on late blight is difficult for me this season. As a young farmer riding an upward-trending high of local food enthusiasm and growing popular support, the late blight is a hard reality check. No matter how strong the local foods movement, chemical-free farming is risky work. Seasoned farmers, while struck by the severity of the late blight this season, have seen widespread blights and diseases before. For me and my young-farmer peers, this is our first. Sure, I have lost crops each season I have farmed, to insects, to diseases, to fungi. But this is far scarier, and while I have always known that farming is unpredictable and risky, this really proves it, rather unpleasantly.
Late blight travels fast and does devastating damage. Everyone can, and is, getting it, regardless of the health of our plants or the alertness of our watch for it. I keep fighting urges to whine unproductive accusations of unfairness at the natural forces that made this late blight possible; why did the blight have to be on tomatoes, the single most popular and highest grossing crop for so many small farms?
The story of late blight, though, is not just a story of “natural disasters happen to organic farmers.” Like most ‘natural’ events in the 21st century, this one was shaped and constructed in fascinating ways by human-made systems and set-ups.
Late blight usually does not get the chance to thrive quite so favorably. In the North, it is killed by cold winters, and in the South, the summers are too hot and dry to allow its spread. The story of 2009’s Late Blight is a story of large-scale agriculture; the blight was mainly introduced through transplants that were grown in the South, where the blight lived over the winter in warm greenhouses, then infected plants that were shipped and sold through Loews, Home Depot, K-Mart, and Wal-marts in the northeast. Only by raising transplants on a very large, centralized, scale could the late blight infect so many transplants at once, and only through an agriculture that has normalized the practice of shipping these transplants hundreds of miles could they have then been dispersed to so many different areas much farther North, therefore spreading quickly and efficiently.
The Late Blight tale is also one of large corporate chains versus small, local, nurseries and shops. Corporations’ critics have long noted that high turnover rates, low pay, and little skill-training often results in chain store staffs who have considerably less in-depth subject knowledge than the staffs of the stores’ independently owned counterparts. In a local nursery, plants with late blight would have been quickly identified and destroyed. In a Wal-mart or a Home depot, however, the breadth of products sold is so wide that many of the stores have no collective staff knowledge of plant pathology. Because more and more of the items we buy come from the same few chain stores, stores that often foster low worker wages and high worker turnover, specialized knowledge of many of the goods we purchase is lost. Thus, the late-blighted transplants were sent out to gardeners unnoticed, where the spores proliferated and infected more plants.
The last stage is the only ‘natural’ stage of the late blight saga. The summer of 2009 has been unusually cool and wet, creating a perfect climate for the Late Blight to flourish. This confluence of factors has led to an unfortunately damaging situation for vegetable growers. So far, we are successfully keeping our tomato plants alive by spraying with an organic-approved copper hydroxide fungicide. I hear differing accounts of the long term efficacy of copper sprays, so the best we can do is keep our fingers crossed.
The feeling I most associate with my thoughts of late blight is an overwhelming thankfulness to all of you for agreeing to support the “Henry Got Crops!” Farm in a way that is uncoupled to direct crop sales; while I hate the possibility of disappointing you, the shareholders, with a lessened yield of tomatoes this season, it would be far worse to go out of business in our first year of operation, as we might have if we were relying on strong tomato sales to carry us. And the best news is that for now, there are still plenty of big, juicy, heirloom tomatoes to go around.
Further perspectives on Late Blight:
Dan Barber, New York Times Op-ed. “You Say Tomato, I say Agricultural Disaster”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/opinion/09barber.html?pagewanted=1
MK Wyle, Civileats Blog. “Tomato Disappointment”
http://civileats.com/2009/07/28/battling-late-blight-in-the-north-east/
Not fixating on late blight is difficult for me this season. As a young farmer riding an upward-trending high of local food enthusiasm and growing popular support, the late blight is a hard reality check. No matter how strong the local foods movement, chemical-free farming is risky work. Seasoned farmers, while struck by the severity of the late blight this season, have seen widespread blights and diseases before. For me and my young-farmer peers, this is our first. Sure, I have lost crops each season I have farmed, to insects, to diseases, to fungi. But this is far scarier, and while I have always known that farming is unpredictable and risky, this really proves it, rather unpleasantly.
Late blight travels fast and does devastating damage. Everyone can, and is, getting it, regardless of the health of our plants or the alertness of our watch for it. I keep fighting urges to whine unproductive accusations of unfairness at the natural forces that made this late blight possible; why did the blight have to be on tomatoes, the single most popular and highest grossing crop for so many small farms?
The story of late blight, though, is not just a story of “natural disasters happen to organic farmers.” Like most ‘natural’ events in the 21st century, this one was shaped and constructed in fascinating ways by human-made systems and set-ups.
Late blight usually does not get the chance to thrive quite so favorably. In the North, it is killed by cold winters, and in the South, the summers are too hot and dry to allow its spread. The story of 2009’s Late Blight is a story of large-scale agriculture; the blight was mainly introduced through transplants that were grown in the South, where the blight lived over the winter in warm greenhouses, then infected plants that were shipped and sold through Loews, Home Depot, K-Mart, and Wal-marts in the northeast. Only by raising transplants on a very large, centralized, scale could the late blight infect so many transplants at once, and only through an agriculture that has normalized the practice of shipping these transplants hundreds of miles could they have then been dispersed to so many different areas much farther North, therefore spreading quickly and efficiently.
The Late Blight tale is also one of large corporate chains versus small, local, nurseries and shops. Corporations’ critics have long noted that high turnover rates, low pay, and little skill-training often results in chain store staffs who have considerably less in-depth subject knowledge than the staffs of the stores’ independently owned counterparts. In a local nursery, plants with late blight would have been quickly identified and destroyed. In a Wal-mart or a Home depot, however, the breadth of products sold is so wide that many of the stores have no collective staff knowledge of plant pathology. Because more and more of the items we buy come from the same few chain stores, stores that often foster low worker wages and high worker turnover, specialized knowledge of many of the goods we purchase is lost. Thus, the late-blighted transplants were sent out to gardeners unnoticed, where the spores proliferated and infected more plants.
The last stage is the only ‘natural’ stage of the late blight saga. The summer of 2009 has been unusually cool and wet, creating a perfect climate for the Late Blight to flourish. This confluence of factors has led to an unfortunately damaging situation for vegetable growers. So far, we are successfully keeping our tomato plants alive by spraying with an organic-approved copper hydroxide fungicide. I hear differing accounts of the long term efficacy of copper sprays, so the best we can do is keep our fingers crossed.
The feeling I most associate with my thoughts of late blight is an overwhelming thankfulness to all of you for agreeing to support the “Henry Got Crops!” Farm in a way that is uncoupled to direct crop sales; while I hate the possibility of disappointing you, the shareholders, with a lessened yield of tomatoes this season, it would be far worse to go out of business in our first year of operation, as we might have if we were relying on strong tomato sales to carry us. And the best news is that for now, there are still plenty of big, juicy, heirloom tomatoes to go around.
Further perspectives on Late Blight:
Dan Barber, New York Times Op-ed. “You Say Tomato, I say Agricultural Disaster”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/opinion/09barber.html?pagewanted=1
MK Wyle, Civileats Blog. “Tomato Disappointment”
http://civileats.com/2009/07/28/battling-late-blight-in-the-north-east/
The Chilling Story of Late Blight
Hearing the words “late blight” will send chills down a farmer’s back these days. Late blight is a fungus pathogen that affects (and kills) tomatoes, potatoes and a few weeds that are also in the Solanaceae family. It usually affects crops only sporadically, but this year it is sweeping far and wide, and striking early in the season! Late blight is especially strong this year because of all the rain we have had. It flourishes in cold, wet conditions. It is currently all over the north eastern US. Penn State Extension has reports of late blight in 24 counties as of July 27th. Monday morning we found late blight on our tomatoes! While it spreads easily and reproduces quickly, we have caught it early. With diligent care and a lot of luck it is possible to contain it.
We have ripped out about 5 plants and sprayed with a fungicide that is approved under organic standards. Simply ripping out the plants is not enough because spores from one plant can spread to another by wind.
The Latin name for late blight is Phytophthora infestans, which means “plant destroyer.” It looks like a black, greasy spot on the leaf or stem, which appears brown when it dries. One lesion can produce thousands of tiny, white spores. It can also appear in either green or ripe fruits. Under the right conditions, spores can travel miles and still survive to affect a new area. Once a lesion occurs on a plant, it can not be controlled. The only management that can be taken is to remove the affected plants and try to limit the development of new lesions. A lesion on one plant can start producing spores in 4 to 6 days. While late blight is hitting harder than usual this year because of all the rain we have had, even a morning dew is can create an environment for spreading.
Late blight originated in the highlands of Mexico, and was first recorded in the US in the early 1840’s. It traveled across the Atlantic on some seed potatoes, and caused the Irish potato famine in the 1850’s! It was common in the US until the 1970’s when an extremely effective fungicide was created. However, in the late 1980’s resistant strains of blight were found in Mexico. They spread to the US and now there have been serious epidemics in most areas of the US for the last few years.
Sources:
Steven B. Johnson, Ph.D.
Univeristy of Maine
“Update on Potato and Tomato Late Blight Control in Organic Production”
Beth K. Gugino
Penn State Vegetable Pathologist
Pennsylvania Weekly Vegetable Disease Update, July 27, 2009
What is Late Blight?
Cornell University, New York State Integrated Pest Management, http://nysipm.cornell.edu/publications/blight/
We have ripped out about 5 plants and sprayed with a fungicide that is approved under organic standards. Simply ripping out the plants is not enough because spores from one plant can spread to another by wind.
The Latin name for late blight is Phytophthora infestans, which means “plant destroyer.” It looks like a black, greasy spot on the leaf or stem, which appears brown when it dries. One lesion can produce thousands of tiny, white spores. It can also appear in either green or ripe fruits. Under the right conditions, spores can travel miles and still survive to affect a new area. Once a lesion occurs on a plant, it can not be controlled. The only management that can be taken is to remove the affected plants and try to limit the development of new lesions. A lesion on one plant can start producing spores in 4 to 6 days. While late blight is hitting harder than usual this year because of all the rain we have had, even a morning dew is can create an environment for spreading.
Late blight originated in the highlands of Mexico, and was first recorded in the US in the early 1840’s. It traveled across the Atlantic on some seed potatoes, and caused the Irish potato famine in the 1850’s! It was common in the US until the 1970’s when an extremely effective fungicide was created. However, in the late 1980’s resistant strains of blight were found in Mexico. They spread to the US and now there have been serious epidemics in most areas of the US for the last few years.
Sources:
Steven B. Johnson, Ph.D.
Univeristy of Maine
“Update on Potato and Tomato Late Blight Control in Organic Production”
Beth K. Gugino
Penn State Vegetable Pathologist
Pennsylvania Weekly Vegetable Disease Update, July 27, 2009
What is Late Blight?
Cornell University, New York State Integrated Pest Management, http://nysipm.cornell.edu/publications/blight/
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