Safe gardening practices to avoid food-borne illnesses

Imagine a thriving home garden. What do you see? Juicy tomatoes and green lettuce, sustainable practices such as a rain catchment system or maybe homemade compost. However, what you may not see can pose a serious danger, namely the microscopic pathogens in your water or soil that can cause food-borne illnesses.

The following tips can improve food safety in your garden and reduce the risk of getting sick from your produce.

Many gardeners are creating their own compost from food, plant, or animal wastes, which improve soil health, nutrient availability and drainage. But these soil inputs have potential risks.

Manures can harbor potentially harmful pathogens, such as E. coli and salmonella in dairy and chicken manures, respectively. Thus, raw manures should never be applied while crops are growing.

If manures are applied, they should be incorporated into the soil before planting to minimize runoff and losses.

Also, allow 120 days between manure application and harvest for crops that contact the soil, such as squash and potatoes. Allow 90 days for those that do not contact the soil, such as tomatoes, tree crops.

Composting manures and other plant materials can reduce pathogen risks, but the composting process must be done properly.

The compost pile must reach high temperatures of 131 to 170 degrees Fahrenheit for three to 15 days in order to kill potentially harmful pathogens.

High temperatures can be attained by adding a mixture of “brown” materials, such as wood chips and dried leaves, with “green” materials, such as fruit and vegetable scraps and manures; maintaining moisture levels around 50 percent — damp to the touch but not soaked — and aerating the pile via weekly turning or aeration pipes.

Chickens, pigs and other feral animals are known to frequent home gardens and farms, cause crop damage and leave their surprises. Animal droppings are teeming with harmful pathogens, which can make their way onto fruits and vegetables.

If possible, keep animals out of your garden. This includes your pets, which may be our companions, but can pose food safety risks.

Should animals, such as birds, sneak inside and leave droppings, the next best option is to harvest only feces-free produce, leaving contaminated produce on site to be removed or composted during a non-harvest period.

Do not wash off bird manure from produce, as this can increase the spread of salmonella to your hands, sponges and equipment. Also, be careful of animal droppings entering water catchment systems.

=Do not use potentially contaminated catchment water on crops, especially edible parts of the plant.

Keep your water safe by removing overhanging trees to prevent bird droppings and incorporating filters.

Another major health issue related to animal droppings is rat lungworm disease, a debilitating disease that leads to nausea, fever or even paralysis. This disease is caused by the rat lungworm (Angiostrongylus cantonensis) that is spread primarily via snails and slugs that feast on infected rat droppings.

To avoid infection, there are a few safety steps you can take.

First, eliminate rats, slugs and snails from your garden via traps or barriers. For slugs and snails, also remove moist and shaded daytime hiding places, or arrange them so as to lure slugs and snails, allowing for easier elimination.

Avoid produce with slug slime or signs of damage, and always rinse fresh produce well with tap water, scrubbing with a brush to remove debris.

Lastly, one of the most important food safety practices is also the simplest: sanitation. Wash your hands for 20 seconds with warm water and soap before harvesting produce and after working with raw manure and other chemicals.

Always thoroughly rinse produce with tap water to remove soil, chemicals, pathogens and small animals.

Keep produce clean and animal-free by storing them off the ground and in sanitized containers. Don’t forget your tools too; sanitize tools before harvesting additional produce and after working with manure to prevent cross-contamination.

Joshua Silva is a junior extension agent and Master Gardener coordinator with the Kaua‘i Cooperative Extension Service in Lihue. Email him at jhsilva@hawaii.edu. Kylie Wong is a junior extension agent at the Maui Cooper- ative Extension Service in Kahului working with sustainable and organic agriculture and farm food safety. Email her at kylielw@hawaii.edu. Instagram: @Maui_SustainableAg