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A ROBUST field of rye is evidence of the fertile soil local farmer Bill

_ Stories by Jeff Nagel

with poo?

77 It’s @ question that’s always
‘been with us. Human waste has
-hever been a glamourous sub-

~ ject ~ and even Jess so in our
‘20th century disposable culture.

* But with the planet's popula-
tion and pollution problems in-
creasing, it deserves another
look.

Local farmer Bill Hayes says

. the 400 pounds of sewage each

of us flushes away each year is
actually valuable.

: “Unfortunately society i is still
treating it like a nuisance | and

not a résoured, nan says.

“And that’s what ji
potential resource.”?
’ Hayes has installed a com-

soma

posting toilet in his house as

part of a system that keeps the
fields around his Old Remo pro-
perty lush without the need for

we

It goes without saying all

: Hayes’ produce is organically

grown — and the system works.
The near-mature stalks of
asparagus and green rye fields
are testament to the fertility of
the soil.

“Tes nutritionally superior, —

in my opinion. And we're pretty
well self-reliant. We graw
basically all our own food,’” he

’ says, adding the basic cost of

running the farm is hay for the
animals. “I don’t even know
the price of fertilizer any
more.’?

He calls the use of chemical
fertilizers wasteful and unsus-
tainable, .

“They're made from fossil
fuels, which are
non-renewable,"’ he notes.
“And fertilizing that way Is
simply not sustainable over the
long term — at best it’s short-

“Chemical fertilizers are
which are non-renewable.

made from fossil fuels,
And fertilizing that way is

simply not sustainable over the long term — at best

it’s short term profit.”

chemical fertilizers,

: “Ke’s called recycling -~

recycling on the farm,” he says.
With each flush — one cup of

- ‘water only, thank you — the

contents are sent into the com-
pact composting tank in the
‘basement. With two scoops of
peat moss added daily, the unit
turns regular sewage into grow-
ing quality manure. It also acts
as the household garburator,
accepting virtually everything
organic from coffee grounds to
vegetable peelings.

_ When Hayes cleans out the
unit every two months — the
only unpleasant part — he piles
the human manure in his large
compost heap, along with

manure from his goats and pigs, |

and any other organic vegetable
scraps and material around the
yard.

term profit.’?

Chemical fertilizers result in
depletion of the soil’s organic
matter, encouraging leaching of
nutrients. and eventually reduc-
ing production, he said. When
the nitrates of the fertilizers
leach out they contaminate
streams, causing algae blooms
in water bodies, which harm
fish stocks.

**What you're doing is

polluting your water. And when |

you rob our lakes and streams
of oxygen, you're taking away
what our fish live on.”’

But by instead composting
and adding manure, Hayes says
he is actually making the soil
richer by building up the
organic material in it.

Building the soil is also the
idea behind another method

that Hayes calls green com- _

weeds, and the field itself will become beneficial mulch when
Hayes is developing through various composting and organic Hayes tills it under in a few weeks. Then Hayes will plant a legume
gardening techniques. The rye field's deep roots rid the soil of

— probably clover — to increase the nitrogen in the soil.

reener growing |

A farmer fertilizes without the chemicals

‘ow REMO — What to do

PILING IT UP: Everything goes into Bill Hayes’ compost pile — both
human and animal manure, and vegetable Scraps and remains.
The temperature in the centre soars to more than 70 degrees
Celsius as the microorganisms at work in the pile turn it into a
nitrogen factory.

" posting.

By planting fields with rye _
which eliminates competing
weeds — and then tilling it
under, he adds organic material
to the soil. He'll then plant
clover or some sort of legume,
which adds nitrogen to the soil
through the root system,

Nitrogen -— one of the most
important elements to plant
growth —. is also the name of
the game in the compost heap.

Piling the material generates
considerable heat inside the
pile, encouraging the growth of
nitrogen-producing ‘bacteria.
Temperatures in the centre can
reach as much as 70 degrees
Celsius, Hayes said. The key to
composting is maintaining the
optimum ratio of manure to
vegetable matter in it.

He noted the composting

Farmer's Market grows.

she said.

TERRACE — Based ‘on the
first two weekends the farmers’
market could be heading for its
‘best season-ever, organizers say.

“We've got lots more people: .

selling things right at the begin-
ning than last year — which is
encouraging,” organizer Lena
' Chapplow said. last week. “I
don't think we've ever had this

{. many sellers carly in the.
season.”

Saturday was ‘the second

|. market of the year, and the

parking lot beside Lower Little

Park. was crammed: with shop-
». -pers..Chapplow said more than |
25 sellers turned up to ply their

Wares. ' :
: The. market — in its seventh

‘ yest’ —'is a strictly local affair.

No large commercial outlets are

: 7 in. ‘We only want local -
; sedi ™ y . people like eine : ; :

The only event of its kind | in

the Skeena valley, the market .
draws small rural farmers, arf
tists, beekeepers, and weavers mn
from throughout the northwest.
Chapplow said sellers are charg-

ed $50 per season,-or $5 per
single Saturday.

‘We make a. little. bit ‘of
money: — and keep.” out of

 “mischief,?? she sald. ‘For most
of us it’s really just for fun.??
In addition to the wide range . [|
of arts and crafts available, ‘she >
said many people come for the :.4-:
_ fruits and vegetables...)
“People love. to buy’. fresh’

produce,’’’.she said. “Ifyou

‘come hére.and buy the fruits
and vegetables, it-was. picked -”

yesterday or: even éarly today,»
so it’s very good quality. And

fa 433

Says.

but it’s tough.”

~ grown,

_ Organic. :

Set

toilet system could also be a
solution for. some rural
residents living on land too im-
permeable to permit septic
fields.

Other integral parts of his
farm include the animals, which
eat weeds and other vegetable
scraps, and other methods of
using border flowers as pest
controls and planting com-
plementary crops together.
“That's a whole different art
form or science that we know so
little about.””

Hayes said he believes society
will eventually have to redefine
its idea of waste,

“I really believe we have to
rebuild urban society,’ he says.
“TY can prove this system is effi-
cient — and I'll debate that with
anyone.’?

Stores can’t
buy local _

.. TERRACE — Many grocery stores can't buy organic pro- .
duce. from local farmers because. there's no way. to
- guarantes it’s organic, Safeway manager: Eric Johanson

Although many local farmers produce. organic crops, the
vegetables and fruits on most supermarket stores are ship-
ped in from the Lower Mainland or the U.S,

+... Johanson said the high prices of organic produce stems
largely from. supply problems. “It's all supply and de-
- mand," he said. “We're trying to carry as much as we can,

'. He said the store doesn’t buy organics from local
: farmers, because there’s no way to tell it is organically

.: "We can’t unless they come in With a certificate. What

- We, ‘buy comes from farms that ‘are inspected and certified

’ 88 strictly, organic. ‘That's the only Way: we can tell.”’

«| Farmers note that the rules on: what is’ ‘and isn’t organic
also Varies in different areas. Different time limits are set

“out defining how long land: must: be pesticide- and

chemical-free before a producer can call food grown on it

"Johanson said the demand for “organically grown pro-
luce isn't 2 as high in Terrace a ag. in other parts of B, ce

oa

Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 16, 1990 —- ~ Paar, M6

—LETTERS _

TO THE TERRACE STANDARD | och

‘managers cannot be persuad-
. ed that there are some very
‘good reasons why business
‘activity should be kept to a

‘Sunday shopping
decision liked.

Dear sir:

I would like to join in with
many other Terrace area
residents in a round of ap-
plause for the Terrace Co-op
for its decision to remain
closed on Sundays. -

This should remind ‘some
of us of the necessity of being
“friendly with our friends’
by throwing dollar support

. behind all co-operatives and

Owner-operated businesses
who face the task of standing
up to the multi-national and
B.C, corporations who have
spent hundreds of thousands
of dollars in court battles in
order to squeeze out their
competition by opening on
Sundays,

It-is ironic that the big

‘bucks spent in this litigation

comes from profits siphoned

out of cities and smali towns

all over B.C. .
Apparently, these absentee

minimum on Sunday.

’ Certainly our bodies need
a day of rest and recreation.
It is interesting that the Or-
thodox Jews in Israel who
keep the Sabbath enjoy a far
less incidence of heart at-

‘tacks than do secular Jews.

Since diet and other en-
vironmental factors were the
same, the scientists making
the study could only con-
clude that keeping the Sab-
bath is beneficial to the
health of our hearts.

As a former public service
worker, I can appreciate that
a certain amount of essential
service must be provided on
Sunday. In my own ex-
perience of working two out
of every three Sundays, I
missed out on a lot of family
activity during the crucial
years of my children's graw-.

Easy money ads
said misleading

Dear Sir:

1 would like to take this
Opportunity to present a war-
ning to the good citizens of
Terrace.

In the latest edition of The
Standard there appeared two
advertisements to ‘‘stuff
envelopes at up to $600 a
week,”'

This particular solicitation
is representative of an inter-
nationally recognized ‘boiler
room’’ type scam operation,

Anyone who answers the
ad will receive a carefully
worded invitation which in-
vites the participant to pur-
chase the money-making
program.

Only upon receiving the
progam and haying been
separated from their initial

It's a witch hunt

Dear sir:

Liberals are fond of cry-
ing, ‘‘witch hunt'*, except
when they themselves are
conducting such trials as in
the case of Terrace nurse
Isobel Brophy.

They need to be taught
some facts. First, there have
never been any witch hunts in
history. At least not witch
hunts involving real witches.
_ Thousands of Reforma- -
tion Christians in England

and Europe were branded as —

heretics and were burned at

worker to be absent ‘from -

mor support corporations:

business activity should

ing up.
For that reason, all union
members and family-minded
persons should refrain from .
uneccesarily causing “a

family togethiemess « on a Suin- \
day. ro
‘Lastly and most ‘impor:

tant, I will not Sunday shop”

who open on the Lord’s Day:
because I wish.to' obey our
Ged who told us to keep His
day holy and separate, ©. ~~
To those church goers who:
do not share my views as to’
the seriousness of breaking’.
the Sabbath, I can only point ]°
out that God regarded this
principle as being important
enough to be included as one
of the Ten Commandments: ©

There are some very
good reasons’ why

be kept to a minimum
on Sunday.

When we Christians keep
the Lords Days, we are pro-
claming to the world that we
have a God in whose word
we trust. By our example, we
are saying, “We don’t have
to work on Sunday: because
we have a Gad who provides
us with what we need and
like a loving Father wants us
to rest with him: on the
seventh day!!

This Sunday, Pu not be
shopping in the secular
temples of commerce, but
rather I'll be worshipping in-
the church of my choice,
hopefully part of a body of
man and women who prefer
the motto “born ~ again”
rather than “‘born to shop’.

Sincerely,
Tom Brophy

fee do the majority realize
the program is merely a self-
perpeluating advertisement
scam designed to separate a
large number of honest in-
dividuals from their hard
earned money,

There is absolutely no pro.
duct being deale with nor ser-

‘vice provided. A small
minority of individuals with
a bit of the con artist-in them
will perpetuate this scam,

I trust the citizens of Ter-
race will be wiser than certain
people from Ontario who
have chosen to search for the
easy dollar at the expense of
many,

Sincerely,
Gordon F, Schuss
Terrace, B.C.

Editor's note: The Terrace

Standard has pulled the ads.

the stake as ‘witches’
because they did not con-
form to the various
authoritarian dictatorships
that flourished 200-400 years
ago.

The disputes, as today,
were ones based on dif-
fezences in philosophy. The
. State run Church of England
was fond of sending forth
armed men to run the
Puritans into the ground.

cont'd AG

About

The Terrace Standard
welcomes letters to the editor

on all topics: All letters must».
. be signed and carry an. ad-:

dress and local telephone
number. Addresses or phone
numbers won't be printed
with the letter, but they are
necessary for confirmation
of the letter's authenticity
The: writer's name will be..
published. Requests for '
names to be withheld may be:

letters

granted in extraordinary cir-
cumstanices, .
Thank you letters should
be submitted to the ‘‘Card of
Thanks’ section of the
classifieds.
Letters containing libelous
or objectionable matter: will
-be edited or returned. to the
writer. All letters are run on
& space available ‘basis, with,
shorter letters likely to be

. af att ads a? at

Swab AD al lls llth

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