When it comes to food safety in growing fruits and vegetables, it doesn’t matter if you’re a commercial wholesale grower, hobby farmer, home gardener or direct marketer, the risk of food-borne illness is the same and the precautions that need to be taken are very similar, says Roy Ballard, Purdue Extension educator for agriculture and natural resources in Greenfield, Ind. Good agricultural practices should be implemented by every farmer, no matter the size of the garden or field.
“Most home gardeners are very cavalier about food-borne illness in the garden,” Ballard says. “People eat veggies right out of the field or rub off a tomato with a bird dropping on it and then eat it. Sometimes a gardener may side-dress crops with manure or manure tea or perhaps let a dog or cat or chicken into the garden. All of these habits have the potential to make you very ill. Some who are at highest risk could even die from related illness.”
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If you’re heading out to the field or garden, keep in mind these points for preventing food-borne illness in the crops you grow:
1. Manure Application
Do not apply manure to crop areas near harvest times. Several months should pass between manure application and harvest. “Ideally a fall application prior to the harvest the next growing season,” Ballard says. “Do not manure tea or manure side-dress.”…………
5. Harvesting Tools
Use clean, dedicated, sterilized buckets for harvesting, not ones that had hydraulic fluid or paint in them. Use clean knives and scissors when harvesting, avoid wounding produce at harvest, and discard any produce with damage or bird droppings. “If in doubt, throw it out,” Ballard says.6. Cleaning Produce
Rinse produce well with tap water. This removes soil and perhaps some attached pathogens, but does not guarantee safety. Store fresh produce in cool conditions to reduce microbe growth. ………..
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Article source: Hobby Farms
Image source: Charlotte Nature Museum