After decades of restrictions, potatoes are back in the fields at a Central Saanich farm. City’s Edge Farm, an organic-certified operation on three acres of leased land, grows a variety of vegetables for its community-supported agriculture program. Customers pay at the beginning of the growing season and receive weekly boxes of fresh produce. Owner and operator Sol Kinnis says the farm has plenty of flexibility when it comes to what it grows. “Over there we have some salad greens, kale and cabbage,” Kinnis said. But until recently, one familiar crop was off limits: potatoes. Restrictions on potato production in parts of Central Saanich were put in place decades ago after the discovery of the golden nematode, a microscopic roundworm that can remain dormant in soil for years and damage potato crops. Bill Zylmans of the B.C. Potato and Vegetable Growers Association says the pest was discovered on a single farm in the 1980s, leading to restrictions on a large area of land. “The golden nematode is a quarantined pest,” Zylmans said. Last winter, the broader restrictions were lifted. “It gives the farmers the ability for more diversification because that is the key to success in agriculture,” Zylmans said. City’s Edge Farm took advantage of the change this year, planting potatoes on a small scale. The crop currently accounts for about two per cent of the farm’s total sales, but Kinnis hopes to increase that to as much as eight per cent next year. For a community-supported farm, she says potatoes offer something particularly useful: they can help fill a gap when other crops are between harvests. “It is a crop that you can pull out of the ground and you still have it for a few weeks,” Kinnis said. “So when there is a lull in other things, you’ve got some potatoes to help fill the boxes.” This year’s crop turned out well, giving Kinnis another reason to expand her potato patch. “It is always good to have a range of crops,” she said. The change is welcome news for farmers in Central Saanich, although the area where the original infestation was discovered remains subject to restrictions. Zylmans says the original “hot spot” is likely to remain out of potato production because the pest can persist in the soil. For Kinnis, the change means having another reliable crop to work into her farm’s rotation and weekly deliveries. “Now I’m back in the potato game,” she said.
