The fluctuating temperatures of autumn (typically dipping lower and lower) signal that it is time to wrap up our growing season activities. We harvest that crops that are still out in the field, we put everything into storage, and we clean things up.
Whether you are growing plants outdoors in the field, or indoors in a greenhouse, sanitation is a critical step in ensuring that you are able to continue to produce crops year after year.
Origins
Sanitation is an interesting word. You might think of garbage. You might think of cleaning and tidying things, putting them in order.
The origin of the word “sanitation” is linked to the word “sanitary”. Sanitary is derived from the Latin word sanitas, or “health” from the root sanus, which means both “healthy” and “sane“. Those old Latin folks knew what they were talking about. You’d be crazy to ignore the health that is associated with cleaning up.
The practical application of sanitation
You can practice sanitation on many levels when it comes to growing crops. At a basic level, once crops are removed from the field, you can do some basic field work to incorporate any debris, take another (last) whack at any weeds, and maybe put some organic matter back into the soil before things freeze up. By resetting the field, you leave it ready for the more rigorous preparations of spring. You also give yourself a chance to correct any issues that might linger on from year to year.
Cull and waste management
As we prepare to put crops into long term storage, or put plants to bed, we need to make sure that what we’re attempting to store is worth the time, effort, and cost. As I discussed in a past article (“The G.I.G.O. Principle of Storage”) you don’t improve products in storage, you just stave off the inevitable for as long as possible. Part of that process is selecting the best to carry forward. As anyone that has ever harvested carrots before will acknowledge, you get a lot of crocked, defective, and non-carrot-shaped carrots amongst the good carrots.
Culling is a necessary part of sanitation. We discard the damaged, the defective, and the unmarketable (if that is our focus). However, it is important to take sanitation and culling one step further. We need to sanitize the culls. Culls represent a potential pile of rottenness, or a springboard for future infections and infestations. It is important to recognize what sorts of pests can be carried over in a cull pile and then spread, bury, or otherwise dispose of them.
Disinfection
It is easy to think that once we’ve swept up a mess, or removed debris or materials from a site, that the job is done. However, if we want to properly remove any issues that are smaller than our naked eyes can see, we have to go further. If you are cleaning out a storage (before putting stuff inside), preparing containers for produce, or prepping a greenhouse for putting a new crop back in, you need to clean things properly. And that means disinfection.
The correct steps of disinfection are as follows.
- Do a clean sweep – get rid of the big and small (visible) debris)
- Scrub things down – get out the pressure washer and give things a good wash. Scrub things with a brush and a good amount of soap.
- Give it a good rinse
- Clean it again (if its needed)
- Disinfect
Really, applying a disinfectant (whatever it might be) to a surface that hasn’t been properly cleaned first, is just a waste of time and effort. And it is ineffective. So, clean, rinse, repeat, disinfect. That’s sanitation.
Disposal
Sometimes, some things just need to be tossed out. Keeping garbage (or junk) around just creates a clog point on your property. Once something is sitting, other stuff will collect, whether weeds, garbage, or machinery. Take the time to properly dispose of things.
Conclusion
You should really look at sanitation as an investment in a healthy and productive, sustainable crop production operation. If you make it a regular step in your various activities, you pre-emptively address many of the chronic issues that plague us year after year. It’s worth it. Trust me.