This space was created to discuss and exchange ideas about promoting good nutrition, food security and related matters – Blogmaster
710 responses to “Carmeta’s Corner”
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I forgot to mention the Italian parsley and the curled parsley seedlings that are still delicate but coming along nicely.
Never did hatch the onions, sage, coriander or dill. Nor the new lettuce.
Will do that next week.
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Ah boy, the joys of gardening and eating the food you grow. Sweet for days. Nothing beats a home grown tomato, carrot or beet. I plant my cress in two containers, not in the ground…slugs. I get a plastic contain and fill 1/3 with water, then I get another container with holes all around the sides which I fill with dirt and place in the water one. Then I sprinkle the seeds on top of the dirt and in 2 weeks I am eating water cress. The only person who gets some of my cress is my Canadian friend who watches my house and waters my plants when I am travelling. She also comes in and resets the burglar alarm if it goes off by power outages. She came Tuesday and helped me make my Christmas cakes. Two have been delivered already.
I made 24 conkies for Independence and have 4 left in the freezer. I will make some for Christmas.
Yes, that is the Gervais that we talked about. The first husband ‘Forde’ was our cousin. The last husband was Parris. She outlived three. I am glad for her. When I read it in Nation on line, I sent the link to my bros and sisters.
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Dame Bajans,
Joy indeed! Got some cress seeds too. Thanks for the tip.
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@ Donna December 10, 2020 1:36 PM “You just saved me the trouble of reseaching what was happening to my spinach.”
My experience is that spinach goes into a period of dormancy in the dry season, during which time most of the plants energy goes into producing seeds for next season’s crop. The birds, especially the “Gyanese pigeons” [the large grey birds with the very elegant flight pattern] will eat some but not all of the seeds. Those which fall to the ground will produce new seedlings when the rains start again next year. The “mother” plant may or may not survive. You may want to give it a little water in the dry season to help it survive [not thrive]
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Cuhdear,
Thanks.
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‘Grow more fruits’
Supermarket manager says lack of crop planning a problem
by STACEY N. RUSSELL FARMERS are being urged to grow more fruits, and not just vegetables, to help cut down on the high number of imported products on supermarket shelves.
At the same time, a traditional “adversarial” relationship between supermarkets and farmers on supply contracts through the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS) is being blamed for heavy imports of fresh produce and higher prices for consumers.
Charles Lynch, general manager of Massy Stores SuperCentre in Warrens, St Michael, said he believed a thorough crop plan was needed to avert the current issues.
“We need to plan our crops carefully. I believe we have enough land space in Barbados that with a marketing plan through the BAS – I will grow sweet potatoes, you grow eddoes, this body grows cucumbers – we could supply Barbados. But I find that everybody tends to do the same thing,” he told the DAILY NATION.
Price hikes
Lynch was speaking on how the COVID-19 outbreak had impacted the supermarkets and why consumers were seeing ongoing price increases. He pointed to the higher cost of imported goods that had a knock-on effect for buyers.
He admitted that fruits were “predominantly” imported; for example, pineapples typically originated from Costa Rica, and urged local farmers to grow more fruit.
“Locally, in terms of vegetables, [we have] a good percentage of local vegetables, once they’re available. What I would like the farmers to do is to try to grow more fruits. They grow vegetables, but they don’t grow a lot of fruits. I’ve been told and I saw articles in the paper where somebody was growing pineapples locally. Obviously, there is not enough to supply us so we got to bring them in.
“There is no reason why we should not be growing something like sweet peppers in Barbados. We grow green sweet peppers in Barbados, but when it comes to the red and yellow, I find that our supply is not as bountiful as it should be,” he said.
Chief executive officer of BAS, James Paul, agreed farmers had to plan properly.
“I believe that the farmers in Barbados registered with the BAS need to plan their crops. From my experience, it looks as though if you think that cucumbers did a good crop this year, then everybody wants to grow cucumbers next year,” he said.
However, he maintained farmers could not shoulder blame for the island’s high dependence on imported fresh produce because there was lack of communication between them and supermarkets, and more so, a lack of confidence between the two sides.
“In the past we’ve had too much of an adversarial relationship and what we need to see is some initiative whereby the supermarkets work more closely with farmer organisations such as the BAS to bring farmers into a structured process for the supply of vegetables.
“At the moment, the type of individualistic approach that exists in terms of the relationship between the supermarkets and the farmers is really one of the principal reasons why you cannot maintain consistency of production,” he said.
Specifically, he complained of supermarkets undermining contracts with the BAS, resorting to dealing directly with farmers, and the society being blamed when those deals fell through.
‘Uncomfortable’
On BAS being proactive in organising its members to plan and grow produce in demand by consumers, Paul said: “It has to begin with the supermarkets. I don’t think the supermarkets traditionally feel comfortable dealing with farmers’ organisations like the BAS; that is a fact . . . .
“Instead of dealing with the association, once they find out who the association’s members are, they go directly to the members instead of the association.”
But he acknowledged that some tearaway BAS members were “shortsighted” in resisting the commission set for them to pay on produce sold through the organisation.
“All we ask is that farmers pay five per cent on the produce that is supplied through them to the supermarkets. Our farmers baulk at that . . . . Once we have more farmers under our wings, we can then bargain for better prices from the supermarkets for the farmers. Once we get the cash flow up to the level that it should be, farmers can even be paid on a more timely basis for produce being delivered to the supermarkets.” -
Quite true about the lack of co-operation between farmers. They all tend to grow the same crops. This I know having worked with them.
On the upside, my neighbour has watched me picking and singing in my garden and is going to start his own with the help of my helper who has received many requests from being seen at the front and side of my house doing his wonderful work.
I love it when a plan comes together.
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And my pineapple is progressing nicely. The pineapple patch will be started next year.
We Bajans ought to be ashamed of ourselves importing pineapple.
Steupse!
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A Bajan friend of mine up here grows pineapple in pots in the house. She puts them out in the summer as they need a long season. She just takes the tops of the pineapple and plant it.
Now I am off to drop my cheques off at the Food Bank and the Salvation Army. The poor have to eat this Christmas.
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Yup! My pineapple top is in a pot outside. Next year I will buy a pineapple a month, cut off the tops and plant them until I have one for every month.
I never take in my Salvation Army envelope so they stopped sending them. I just drop money in the kettles whenever I pass.
Going out now to spray with neem. Four o’clock is the worms’ tea time. I am fifteen minutes late for tea.
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I have made two attempts to grow pineapples without any success. I suspect that my problem is I am cutting it much too close to the top.
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My pineapple top would be decomposing by now if it was not alive so I assume I’m good.
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@Hants
Excellent videoI planted two pineapples in pots this summer and they started to thrive, then I transplanted them to the garden. At the end of summer, I replanted them in pots and one is coming along slowly but the other one died. Pineapples are grown for local consumption in Antigua and a friend from St. Lucia tells me that his father also grows pineapples.
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Typical Hants! I’ll be sure to consult the video later.
A Bajan guy was featured in the newspaper a few months ago growing them. First time I knew they grew from cut off tops.
Mamoud Patel also grows them at Coco Hill. He has coffee beans, nutmeg and other crops we ignore for whatever reason. It is a tourist attraction as well.
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Sweetest sugar crop
Weir: Barbados to reap benefits from new export plan
by SHERIA BRATHWAITE
sheriabrathwaite@nationnews.com
THE 2021 SUGAR cane harvest may be the sweetest of this new century as Barbados makes the historic shift to producing for direct consumption from the traditional bulk exports.
Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir has not released this year’s harvest statistics, but is projecting that next year’s season will be historic, while the Barbados Sugar Industry Limited (BSIL) is predicting that 2021’s crop will exceed the last two years’.
“About three or four weeks ago, we shipped out our last shipment of bulk sugar, hopefully, never to return to that type of arrangement. We are no longer using the massa system to make sure all Barbadians can benefit from locally produced sugar, as previously, we were doing it a loss.
“We do not produce sugar on a large enough scale to export in bulk at a price that is substantially below what it costs to produce. So I took a decision to put an end to that and go the route of direct consumption. We were exporting sugar in bulk at $900 per tonne and we can now export Grade A sugar at $1 900 per tonne, or Grade B sugar at $1 300 per tonne. This would bring substantial savings and revenue to the Barbados Agricultural Management Company (BAMC) and it would also help reduce the cost of support to the farmers,” he said.
Weir said the United States’ Winn-Dixie supermarket chain was selling Barbados Reserve packaged sugar and from February, Walmart would also be carrying the brand. He said that collaborations with worldrenowned chefs and businesspeople in the food industry would help Barbados break into the exclusive markets.
Barbadians will also get the opportunity to own shares in the sugar industry when a new state-ofthe- art factory, utilising renewable energy, and outfitted with a sugar museum, is erected.
Chairman of the BSIL, Mark Sealy, said farmers were increasing their acreage and were well prepared for next year’s production.
“It would be best to start the crop early February, but we still have to meet with the union for negotiations. The farmers have put in their estimates, but due to the rainfall, we should be able to beat those estimates and have a good crop compared to the last two years. If you look around at some of the canes . . . you would see the benefits of the rainfall . . . plant cane and first ratoon cane look pretty good.”
Step in right direction
Meanwhile, Democratic Labour Party (DLP) spokesman for agriculture, Andre Worrell, said doing away with bulk sugar was a step in the right direction, but he insisted Barbadians should know how the island performed this year.
“It would be good for the minister to give more detailed information about the sugar harvest, and the agriculture sector on a whole, at this time where the tourism sector is not performing as expected,” he said.
Former Chief Agriculture Officer Lennox Chandler said sugar was the most reliable source of foreign exchange and there were many ways the industry could be further developed.
“We are not certain about tourism, offshore this and that or international business. The only thing that is sure is that if we produce X amount of sugar, somebody somewhere will buy it. When I attended international conferences, it was always said that sugar is still the preferred sweetener; so there is a place for sugar. I am not saying sugar would return to its glory days, but I can still see a place for a modern sugar cane industry with a modern factory set up to produce a variety of by-products.”
Efforts to reach deputy general secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union, Dwaine Paul, regarding labour’s position on the developments and the negotiations for 2021 were unsuccessful.
Grinding halted at Portvale Sugar Factory on May 22 and sources close to the industry revealed that more than 90 000 tonnes of cane were delivered to the Blowers, St James factory which produced just over 7 900 tonnes of sugar. It took about 11 tonnes of cane to produce one tonne of sugar.Source: Nation
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To all the gardeners and wannabe gardeners, MERRY CHRISTMAS. Bought a pineapple yesterday for $1.88 and will be planting the top.
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PAHO caution on food safety
WASHINGTON – The Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) has issued what it described as “five keys” for food safety in the Caribbean and other places in the holiday season amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“During the holiday season, food is prepared in large quantities and quite ahead of time, which increases the risks of [Food-borne Diseases] FBDs,” said PAHO in statement.
“This holiday season will be atypical due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
In order to keep families safe, PAHO urged Caribbean and other nationals to use “the five keys to prevent FBDs”.
• Water and food are safe
when they do not contain dangerous microbes.
• Make sure that both you
and the place where food is prepared are clean.
• Raw food, particularly
meat, chicken, fish and their juices may contain dangerous microbes.
•It is very important to
cook food thoroughly.
• And microbes multiply
rapidly if cooked food is left at room temperature for more than two hours.
PAHO said bacteria, viruses, parasites or fungi, toxic chemicals or foreign physical agents, such as soil, hair or insects, are “a risk for our health.
“A safe food is also referred to as innocuous,” it said. “Safe water is that which has received a purification treatment that removes microbes and toxic chemicals, making it safe to drink or use for food preparation.
“Washing our hands frequently not only prevents FBDs but also COVID-19.”
PAHO said dangerous microbes are in soil, air, water, animals and humans, and that these germs are transferred through hands, wipes or soiled cloths and kitchenware, particularly cutting boards.
“During the season holidays, it is common to cook with our family and/ or our friends,” it said. “This year, if possible, do not follow this tradition; and, in case you do, wear the mask when preparing and serving food; limit the number of guests, and restrict the access to the areas where food is manipulated. Practise social distancing to prevent infections.”
PAHO advised to keep raw food separated from cooked food in order to prevent the transfer of microbes and to avoid cross-contamination.
In addition, PAHO said “it is very important to cook food thoroughly in order to kill the dangerous microbes it may contain. (CMC) -
A belated Happy Christmas and a healthy New Year to Dame Bajans and to all of the other gardeners.
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@Simple Simon
Have you chased away Dr. Lucas or is he suffering from Trump withdrawal.
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I am not sure. I respect his science, but not his politics.
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Still 24 more days for those who love Trump and his administration to enjoy.
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Still 20 more days for those who love Trump and his administration to enjoy.
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“Still 15 more days for those who love Trump and his administration to enjoy.”
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Sometime in May I had a yam in the kitchen as as yams do it started to grow. I cut off most of it and was left with a “yam head” that is about 3 ounces from the top of the tuber. I decided to stick it in a hole in the back garden at home. It grew on the fence and produced truly beautiful foliage for many months. Yesterday I harvested about 4 pounds of yam, so I estimated that the “return on my investment” is about *1,600%, and in addition I will get to eat my investment and share some with my planting buddy. There are some other yams on the “plantation” so by mid-month I will see how those have done.
*64 ounces divided by 8 months which is an increase of 200% per month, multiplied by 8 months equals 1600% My math is probably incorrect but I’ve never claimed to be good at math.
For Donna: Yams are mature when the lovely green leaves start to turn yellow and brown. Plant yams in early May, even if it is still dry, as the yam plantings are pretty drought tolerant and the young leaves wil emerge in a month or so just Bout the time the real-real starts in early june. Harvest early December to early January. The harvested yams will keep without refrigeration for many months. Our main source of carbohydrate was always yam from January to August. No pasta, no rice. Traditionally my parents planted on May Day because on that day there were many little willing hands, and harvested on New Year’s Day for the same reason. But harvesting is “tough guy” work, so a couple of really good male agricultural laborers were always hired to help with the harvesting.
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Dr. Robert Lucas has forsaken us?
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Planted some “string” beans at home and at the “plantation” few weeks ago. They are in bloom now and I expect to be eating beans in about three weeks. Beans seem to prefer the slight “cooler” weather. Cooler meaning Barbados cooler, that is under 29 Celsius for most of the day; so I planted some more yesterday to stretch out my harvesting period.
I should add that I hate beans, but I will eat them never the less.
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Farmers support cancellation of Agrofest
Some livestock farmers are supporting the Barbados Agricultural Society’s (BAS) decision to suspend the biggest agricultural calendar event – Agrofest.
On Monday, chief executive officer of the BAS, James Paul, announced that the annual exhibit, which usually takes place on the last weekend of February was cancelled due to the recent spike of COVID-19 cases.
Yesterday, well known rabbit farmer Frederick “Freddie” Butcher said he agreed the exhibition should be cancelled.
“I have no problem with the decision, things happen,” he said.
“We didn’t expect that the virus would have travelled this side of the world and given the
increase of positive cases at the turn of the year, we have to put the health of the country first.”
‘Right decision’
Farmer Ronaldo Fields, whose animal copped the prize of Best Beef Heifer last year, said he also supported the move. He said: “I think it was the right decision because with the COVID situation you wouldn’t want to put anybody at risk. We were not officially told that this was going to happen but based on all that occurred last year, we were in doubt that a show would be held this year.” (SB) -
The majoram grown from seed is finally behaving itself and growing nicely. I am hopeful that I will have a good crop after all.
Gave away some leaf garlic, basil, sweet potatoes and okras today; and some sweet potatoes and okras yesterday.
Had a nice curried chicken with a St. Joseph breadfruit today, with sides of my homegrown okra, beans and pumpkin. A glass of orange juice afterwards settled things nicely.
Will do 2 hours of gardening before sunset.
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Kamla: Food crisis looming
PORT OF SPAIN – Leader of Trinidad and Tobago’s main opposition United National Congress (UNC), Kamla Persad-Bissessar, has called on the administration of Dr Keith Rowley to expand the list of basket items that are exempted from value added tax (VAT) in an effort to prevent a “possible food crisis”.
In a message posted on social media on Saturday, the Opposition Leader said there could be a price hike of 35 per cent on all foods in the near future due to issues related to the overvalued currency.
“This is a disaster waiting to happen and the longer the government sits on their hands and ignore this looming crisis, the deeper the hole becomes. With this imminent food crisis, the government has yet to state any new measures that aim to directly address this problem.
“Everyday citizens continue to complain about the increased prices of basic food items at the supermarket while the government sits on their hands and does nothing about it.
“This PNM administration reduced the VAT from 15 per cent to 12.5 per cent but at the same time, they reduced the number of items that were once exempted from the tax. Their tactic
was one of “giving with one hand and taking away with the other. That will not work as citizens are dealing with numerous challenges.”
The former Prime Minister said that the current administration had promised a stimulus investment of TT$500 million into agriculture in the last budget.
“But we are yet to see anything concrete from that allocation.”
(CMC) -
Uh-oh! Missed all the greetings! Healthy New Year to Dame Bajans, Cuhdear Bajan, Hants, David, Robert Lucas and any others who visit this corner.
As usual, thanks for the tips, Cuhdear Bajan. Do you soak your yam heads in any solution to protect it from ants? I was told I should.
My marjoram is doing well too, finally. Trial and error have taught me. Haven’t got the fine thyme right yet though. One day of overwatering seems to be enough to kill that off. Got some seedlings coming again. Going to keep them in the window in my eyesight.
Got about forty crops coming. Everything I eat except beans and corn.
Hants,
Thanks for the video!
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Good stuff Donna!
#keepingitgreen
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@Donna January 18, 2021 7:31 AM “As usual, thanks for the tips, Cuhdear Bajan. Do you soak your yam heads in any solution to protect it from ants? I was told I should.”
I don’t, although perhaps I should. My father however used to soak his in a whitelime and water solution for a day or so before planting. My father generally planted an acre at a time to feed us his many children, so he was serious about getting it right.
Today I ate some of the single one which I planted on my fence many months ago. The tiny head yielded 3 yams. The one which I kept for myself is enough for about 6 to 8 servings.
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Now there are beans on the vines and I expect to begin harvesting within 5 to 7 days.
I like dried cassava better than fresh so yesterday I pulled enough to share with a couple of cousins, and enough for me to begin preparing dried cassava which I began doing today.
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Picked my first beans at breakfast time. Ate them at lunchtime.
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I just started my sweet potatoes and my seasoning peppers (pimento). Will start my tomatoes in the middle of February. the remainder I will plant from seed or seedlings.
Good luck to you gardeners who have year round sunshine and occasional rains. -
Still harvesting sweet potatoes and cassava.
Panted some cassava today. Will continue on Monday. Still light rains most nights, so I am hopeful that they will be strong enough to survive the extra dry period which typically occurs from mid_February to mid-April. We use irrigation for the “soft crops” but not for the cassava which is indigenous to Barbados and the region, and wonderfully drought tolerant.
Now I remember that I must pick beans later today Sunday, so maybe I’ll have some of those for lunch.
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Today I am having oxtails, cooked them half way last, put outside for the fat to harden on top, removed fat this morning. With red lentils in rice and stir fried bokchoy, gai lan, sweet onions (vidalia) and orange sweet pepper. Followed by mango cheese cake and Foursquare rum. Later I will soak my bajan spinach seeds for planting in pots tomorrow.
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“Cooked them half way last night”.
wish there was an ‘edit’ button on this site. -
Dame Bajans,
So do we all wish for an edit button but David says it is not available on Word Press.
Cucurbits are hard to keep fungus free, I have found. My Rasta cousin used colourless dish washing liquid to remove it but the leaves took a beating. I think he did not dilute it enough. Next time I will be sure to check the underleaf daily before it spreads.
But… the plants are still alive and I am removing the old leaves gradually.
The aphids are attacking my cucumber leaves despite the neem. The ladybirds have not returned since I pulled up the old vine. The problem with the neem is that you have to be careful with the strength of it as that too damages the leaves. I am hatching more basil to plant amongst the vulnerable crops. Going to hatch some marigolds next week too.
Still, I am still able to reap cucumbers, got honey dew melon coming and squash.
Planted some onions out back away from the chives as directed. A few have germinated and risen above the surface.
The eggplants are still overwhelming me!
Crops still going apart from those above – cassava, sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, radishes, pigeon peas, sugar baby, cantalope, tomatoes, sweet peppers, celery, parsley, chives, garlic chives, sage, dill, coriander, cabbage, chinese cabbage, chinese greens, lettuce, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, okra, majoram, thyme, lemon grass, pumpkin and one pineapple being tried. Spinach seedlings springing up without my help.
Banana, paw paw, sugar apple and pomegranate still going well. Still awaiting the others that were promised.
Sweet lime hedge underway.
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Forgot the oregano.
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And the bunching onion!
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Donna, there is a small yellow and black beetle that eats the young cucumber and squash leaves. If the Neem not working use dish detergent and water or Safers Soap. Up here we buy plastic or netted food covers and put over the plants until the leaves get bigger. I use row covers on most my young plants. Try Carters, they are reusable and they allow the rain and sun to get through. If row covers are not available, go to one of those cloth stores on Swan street and buy yourself some fishnet. You can buy landscape pegs or staples to hold it in place. Works like a dream and probably cheaper than the row covers. My Jamaican friend bought a bolt of fishnet for her cabbages.
There use to be a large hedge of sweet lime on Beachmount corner When the Bowrings owned the house, dont know if it is still there.
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Calling Dr. Lucas, come in Dr. Lucas. Gardeners to Dr. Lucas, we cant hear you.
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@Donna, lol. I actually planted nuff Lemon Basil among my tomatoes and String Beans and was amazed at how good they grew without any pest. Have ample I can leave some with security at GG for you. Just google my contact info and send me an email so I will know when to leave as de young old boy never leaves home other than to visit de farm.
Plenty duckworms abound on my lots while the other 29 farmers all use a copious amount of chemicals I pull my grass, wack and use cover crops quickly as soon I take out a crop.
Flowers to attract bees are employed to help with pollination.
@BU David, perhaps we can have post on Food Security and Sovereignty. Every year we have much wastage due to a lack of food processing and a lack of easy to market research. Agriculture in Barbados is chaotic and disorderly.
Met Carmeta, had many days chatting with Carmeta Fraser in her office in Wildey and Searles. Sam Lords Sunrise Salad was a salad concocted by the late food genius.The late Professor Oliver Headley, shared his knowledge with me on constructing Solar Dryers for drying crops and had one at Searles Plantation by the airport. Its a pity his notes are not available to the wider public.
We need to start producing value-added products and not just grow crops. BMC needs to be refocused to be export and product driven by local agriculture by products.
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As some Barbadians were flocking to supermarkets on Wednesday, others went to the fields to pick their own food.
https://www.nationnews.com/2021/01/29/bajans-stock-ground-food/
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Hard working Bajans. Hope they get help from the big ups.
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