Farmhand Marjolaine using sawdust as mulch on a recently transplanted parsley in a soggy field on May 14, 2022. (Isabelle Morris)

By Jordan Davidson

Farmship hardship

‘The eternal spring:’ Nanaimo farmers pleading for relief from endless wet weather

May 16, 2022 | 5:26 AM

NANAIMO — As the region continues to deal with unusual weather, which includes a wetter and cloudier spring than normal, Island farmers are starting to worry.

Too much moisture and not enough sunny days are causing serious issues for farmers like Isabelle Morris, who operates Farmship, a cooperate which grows produce it then sells it to Island residents, local restaurants and at farmers markets.

Morris said the cooler than average temperatures, especially overnight, make a huge difference in plant growth on their Yellow Point property, with excess water also not helping things.

“It has been exceptionally wet as well, we’re having trouble getting the field ready. It’s still the winter weeds that are growing there because we can’t get the tractors on the field to turn things over.”

Calling it “the eternal spring”, Morris said they need a week of dry weather in order to start getting work done in their fields.

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Isabelle Morris comes back from her wet fields, which normally would have spring crops already planted. (Isabelle Morris)

Record-setting rain in the fall of 2021 along with snowfalls early on in 2022 helped set the stage for what feels like a very long-lasting and wet spring season.

“Weeds are thriving in this weather, and growing organically we can’t use any chemicals to control the weeds. But that comes at a cost, which means that we need to try and control the weeds by hand.”

They’re also having to hand-dig trenches on 14 acres of land in order to deal with pooling water.

Morris said in previous years, they spend the month of May making sure they have enough water, instead of trying to get it off their land.

The extra moisture also brings out wet-weather pests.

“A very wet spring like this, I’d do better in a snail farm or slugs. We’re getting a lot of pests that are different from hot weather pests, that’s also a challenge.”

Slugs like to munch on plants like romaine lettuce as it grows which damages the crop and reduces the quality and market value. (Isabelle Morris)

Slugs also enjoy eating lettuce, and she’s already lost an entire crop of carrots to the slimy culprits.

Normally at this time of year they would have about 10,000 carrots, whereas their current crop is closer to 200.

“Last year we put the tractors on those flooded lands in April. This year, I don’t think we’ll be able to put the tractors on until the end of June. And that’s all of our root crops go there usually, like potatoes and all that. So we’re not sure if we’ll be able to grow as much this year.”

When there is too much water for tractors to get into the field, farmers have little choice but to do what they can by hand. (Isabelle Morris)

This also affects their food box program, where people sign up earlier in the growing season to receive a weekly box of produce.

For their spring program, they have 85 people receiving weekly boxes, which Morris said has been difficult to fill.

“We’ve been scrounging a lot of material, asking other farmers what they have available so we can fill those boxes to their value.”

Luckily, they still have greenhouses, where they start growing things like plants like celery and onions, which they plant in February.

However, the greenhouse produce needs to be replanted out in the flooded fields, something which is normally done by now. Morris worries they won’t be able to replant them until June.

For more information on Farmship and its food box program, you can go to farmship.ca.

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jordan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @JordanDHeyNow