Submitted by Islandgal246
Today I was out shopping looking for some fruit to buy. My husband had tried getting some bananas earlier this week but was unable to do so. So I decided to go to Bridgetown to seek some fruit and I visited Cheapside market. I asked some vendors for some melons, cantaloupes, honey dews, pineapples, water melons anything that is called fruit. Many told me that they never see cantaloupes nor honeydews selling in the market and I must try Scotty’s across the street. I told them that these can be grown here so why aren’t we growing them? They said that they didn’t know. Now Scotty’s is an importer of melons and pineapples and I have frequently bought fruit there. I went in and saw a piles of fruit. Many apples, plums, pears, grapes, oranges, grapefruits all imported. I managed to get one of the last three honeydew melons and the last pineapple. I decided to go to Hanschell Inniss to see if I can obtain a cantaloupe. That was another disappointment. I was fed up and hungry so I decided to head home.
As I was approaching my driveway, I noticed a hired car parked in the driveway. I said to myself “like we have some visitors”. I unloaded the car with my precious fruit and made my way into the house. I heard some activity in the garden where I found my husband talking to some visitors. I remembered being contacted by someone from Canada who wanted to visit the garden. They had visited Barbados before and followed my blog. I was introduced to this very pleasant couple and we started talking about the plants and garden. I told them that I was in town shopping. The lady who is a doctor at a hospital in Canada, mentioned that she was in the supermarket and that she couldn’t find any fruit to buy. She wondered how people who live here can afford to buy food and how we survive with the high prices. I told her that I was on the prowl for some fruit as well and I had some difficulty obtaining some and I was fed up!
Yes I am fed up! So fed up that I will start growing my own melons! I then had to scold myself that it was my fault trying to buy imported fruit that we can grow here in Barbados. I had grown these before so growing is not a problem. I know I will have to wait three months to harvest but I am going to start TODAY. Where are the local fruit farmers? Is fruit a luxury in Barbados? Is that why a water melon cost $25.00 in the supermarket? In Florida tropical fruit farms are producing every exotic fruit they can lay their hands on. What are we doing here where we have suitable growing conditions. Yes fruit is seasonal, but why do we have to wait until mango season to get fruit?
Are there any fruit farms here on the island? Why can’t we plant short crop fruits? What is the Ministry doing to widen the varieties of fruit on the island. There are many delicious fruits we have never heard of that grow in Brazil and Guyana. Why haven’t we done trials to see how well they adapt to Barbados. Governor plums, Jaboticaba, Longan are a few that can grow here. I fed up of scrounging to buy fresh tropical fruit on a tropical island. Anyone growing unusual fruit here on the island please contact me. I am eager to hear about your experiences.
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