Multi-Farm Farmer-Led Research Trials
Are you interested in participating in a no-till potato trial or a variety trial for grain amaranth, sweet peppers, okra, fava beans, iceberg lettuce, or radicchio?
Read about the trials below and indicate your interest to participate by Friday, March 4.
Fava Beans
Micheline Lalonde of Avling Rooftop Farm will be leading a new variety trial on fava beans. Fava beans, also known as broad beans or faba beans in English, habas in Spanish, fūl in Arabic, and baqella in Amharic, are an important staple in diets throughout the world. These beans prefer cool long days, and this trial will look at four or five varieties to determine which varieties are best suited for growing in southern Ontario. All farmers are welcome to join but we are especially interested in participation from other urban roof-top farmers!
Iceberg Lettuce
Kristine Hammel of Persephone Market Garden will be leading a new iceberg lettuce variety trial. This trial will evaluate six varieties of iceberg lettuce over three plantings (early, mid, and late season) to determine the best varieties for flavour and ecological production in Ontario.
Okra
Rav Singh of Shade of Miti will be leading an okra variety trial. This trial will assess six different varieties of okra to determine the best yielding varieties for ecological production in southern Ontario. Farmer-researches can evaluate their own additional varieties as long as they include the base three varieties of the trial.
Sweet Red Pepper
Mike Smith of the Guelph Urban Organic Farm at the University of Guelph will be leading a new red sweet pepper variety trial. This trial will assess approximately six varieties of sweet red peppers in both the hoop house and in the field to determine the varieties with the best marketable yields, and to understand if growers can get high enough yields through the fall in the hoop house to justify not re-cropping the space. All farms are welcome to participate in the variety trial and can choose to plant in the field, in a hoop house, or both.
Radicchio
Rebbeca Ivanoff will be leading a continuation of the CANOVI radicchio trial in cooperation with EFAO. This trial will look at five varieties of radicchio to assess which varieties are best for taste and ecological production in Ontario. There is limited seed available for this trial, so submissions will be accepted on a first come, first served basis.
Grain Amaranth
Phil Mount of Flat Earth Farm will be leading a continuation of the grain amaranth variety trial (screening trial in 2020; year one variety trial in 2021), initiated by Ronaldo Eleazar Lec Ajcot and Myriam Legault. This trial will assess at least four varieties of grain amaranth to determine which is best-suited for ecological production in southern Ontario.
No-Till Potato Trial
Karlo Bobinac and Matt Jones of Jones Family Greens farm are looking for farmers interested in participating in their no-till potato trial, which they are running after a year of trialing these methods less formally. No-till methods under assessment include using wood chip mulch and straw mulch compared to regularly hilled potatoes. The space needed for this trial is approximately 240 bed feet.