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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Keely wukking?
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This is good news. Very good news.
100 more acres for food crops
Barbados’ food production is likely to receive a boost in the next few months as 100 acres of arable land at Bath, St John, goes into production.
For close to 30 years, the land was overrun by bush and river tamarind, but yesterday during a site visit, Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir said that the area would be divided and leased to farmers.
So far the Ichirouganaim Council of Rastafari and Pan Africanist group Alkebulan have each been provided with 20 acres where fruit trees, vegetables and ground provisions will be grown.
Weir said he wanted the farming district to have its own farmers’ market, outfitted with a canteen to sell ital food and natural juices.
He said Government was supplying the inputs to get planting started, storage and other facilities and providing irrigation.
Manager of Area Two at the Barbados Agricultural Management Company, Anderson Eversley, said two tractors retrofitted with tipping trailers would be used to help remove rocks from the land allocated to the Rastafarian community and the group would also receive advice from a food crop agronomist.
He said that planting should begin next week.
Head of the Agricultural Services Unit, Arlie Connelly, reminded the farmers about the various rebate programmes the ministry facilitated.
Alkebulan member James “Rudy” Greenidge thanked Government for the assistance, adding that 60 per cent of what the group planted would be sold to raise funds to purchase more planting material and other farming necessities. The remaining produce would be donated to the vulnerable.
(SB)Source: Nation newspaper
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Taking agriculture to next level
By Gercine Carter
gercinecarter@nationnews.com
Keeley Holder was in the process of laying the academic foundation for a career in medicine when she was derailed by an accident that landed her in the agricultural field.
As Barbados’ first female and youngest ever chief agricultural officer, the 41-year-old St Joseph resident is excited about the new mission she has undertaken. Her only downside about the “rear-ender” that has resulted in her accepting a job that gives the opportunity to execute agricultural policy for Barbados, is that she continues to suffer the physical pain and discomfort 11 years after that accident.
Like her father, she was born with joint hypermobility (commonly known as “wring-joint” – the ability to move joints around beyond the usual range) and as a child, was amused at seeing her father demonstrate biting his toenails. But there is no joke in suffering the excruciating pain of myofascial pain syndrome which was exacerbated because of the “wring-joint” condition.
As Holder explained: “After the accident I had this muscle-type pain and the doctor was saying that for some people they don’t ever seem to recover and I seemed to be one of them.”
Forced to quit
The pain was so bad, it was affecting her studies to the extent that she was forced to quit her Phd programme.
Already holding a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and computer science, she was at the time studying for a doctorate with a view to pursuing a completely different career path.
“I did not have agriculture on my list. It was only because the accident forced me to evaluate my idea of going overseas and studying biochemistry. I wanted to study cancer.
“But I said, ‘What am I going to do with my life,’ because my doctor said I would get two to three exacerbations a year. I told myself I can’t live my life not being able to work, because I would be in so much physical pain that I would have to crawl down the stairs backward. I could not even walk.”
She immediately began thinking about how else she would use the biology and computer science degree and reasoned: “Agriculture is applied biology, how hard can it be,” all the while mulling over the idea of a career in agriculture.
Utilising skills from the training she had already received in the Phd programme as well as her research skills, she devised her own Phd strategy “as if I were doing my own Phd – and planning how she would go about learning everything about agriculture in a very structured way”.
That led to the idea of starting her own farm.
A “country girl at heart” she set out from her rural home on a drive to Bridgetown one day in 2007 when she noticed along the way, several greenhouses being set up in a rural area.
“I approached the owners and applied for a job. I told them this is most of what I was studying (plant biology) at UWI Cave Hill. And I said a lot of the work we had done was plant-based work and he hired me as his integrated pest management specialist.”
In the course of the work she got welcome “hands-on experience” in “a pretty low-impact job where I would go around and assess the plants for pest and disease problems; troubleshoot and solve any problems with the plants” in the company’s 4.2 acres of green houses.
It was valuable exposure to the business of cutting edge green house hydroponics. The experience led to a scholarship to Israel’s Galilee College, considered one of the leaders in the world when it comes to agriculture.
She holds a post-graduate diploma in crop production and water management from that institution, but more valuable in her estimation is the exposure, knowledge and experience afforded by her visit to a country regarded as one of the leaders in agricultural development and techniques in the world.
“I was able to visit all of the top firms in Israel, interview them, tour their operations and see what world-class looks like.
“The thing I learnt about Israel is that there are no bad lands, there are only bad farmers. I saw firsthand how they were doing phenomenal things on all fronts. I saw what they were able to do with desert land that was producing richly. It turned my thinking on its head,” Holder said. She was then in her late 20s. Stirred by all she had seen in Israel, Holder quit her job on returning to Barbados and began working on her own business plan for her own $100 000 farming project. She had no land but had no problem finding a willing investor who saw the plan and was immediately sold on the
idea. She received that financial support when she leased 25 acres of land in St George and started her farm, planting butternut squash as the signature crop during what she recalls was “the worst drought” Barbados had suffered in 100 years. The yield enabled her to dominate the local butternut squash market for three consecutive weeks.
That success was followed by other crops, only to be deluged by the water devastation caused by Tropical Storm Thomas which hit Barbados about two weeks before harvest time.
That experience has put Holder in a position where she now says: “I understand farmers’ pain because I have been there.”
She wrote two more personal business plans and got land for one, but meanwhile, she had begun to spread her wings, getting involved with farmer organisations; being invited to conferences; receiving requests for consultancy work, writing papers on aspects of agriculture. She was a technical officer for the Caribbean Farmers Network (CAFAN) making valuable connections through this association that provided the opportunity to see best practices in agriculture around the world.
It all set her thinking about Barbados’ position in agriculture even then. “I started to build out models in my head; how would I transform Barbados’ agriculture; what are the things that are practical for Barbados?”
She was given the opportunity to put those thoughts into action with her appointment as chief agricultural officer on February 1. For Holder, it is the mandate to get involved at governmental level in “the thing that excites me”.
Policymaking
“I am a technocrat; I know the science behind agriculture; I have been a farmer so I know the practical aspect of it; so now that I am a part of the policymaking, I am almost like a translator. I get to hear everybody’s position and now I get to articulate it in one form or the next.
“Everybody talks about the fact that I am young,” Holder noted, “but I say to people that is because I am standing on the shoulders of giants who have come before me who have mentored me, who shared their stories and I listened, because that is how I learn. There is a place for old systems that can be married because there is so much value in what we have done in the past,” Holder said.
Her voice conveyed the excitement when she added: “Agriculture plays a multidimensional role. Agriculture is a business; agriculture is a basis for subsistence, for innovation. It has all of these roles and part of the problem has been that very often we are trying to build out a model to address one aspect where sometimes there are several aspects involved. Sometimes when we are not clear about what it is that we want to do, we are trying to do too many things at once and we do one part well and we do not do the other part well.”
Her approach, she said, would be to give an ear to all sides and to consider all the dimensions of the issue.Source: Nation
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So yuh call de monkey hotline, then what?
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“Spring” is here.
Plenty of blossoms and some “baby” fruits on the mango, pear and breadfruit trees.
The spinach plants which had “died off” have started to put out tiny new leaves, so I cut off all of the dry bits and added some new soil and fertilizer to the roots.
The yams, even those in the baskets in the kitchen waiting to be cooked have started to grow vines, which means the yam wants to be planted outdoors.
Still it is the dry season. Although we are still getting a few very brief showers most nights.
The rainy season begins in 10 weeks.
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My sweet potato slips are 6 inches and have been transplanted to small pots where they will grow for the next 6 weeks. My ginger all have shoots. Put them outside to catch some rain will bring them back in tonight to evade the -2C. The tomatoes are thriving under the grow lights. The Bajan spinach just put out shoots. Everything looking good for this May’s planting.
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Good going Dame Bajans.
I’ve never planted plum tomatoes before, but I checked today and baby tomatoes are beginning to form, so far just as big as the tip of a little finger.
I’ve read that in order for a sweet basil plant to continue flourishing and not go to seed that the flowering buds should be pinched out. I did NOT do so, and a couple of days ago I noticed that the flowers are attracting plenty of bees. I am glad to have the bees to help in the pollination of the cucumbers, tomatoes, and string beans so I will not pinch out the basil flowers. I’ll just plant a new basil and leave the old one to keep the bees happy, as I’ve found that basil is so easy to grow.
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The Dame is well ahead of me. Good for her. I have no where protected to store seedlings. If I can grow basil anybody can!! lol
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@ NO; I have a slim table near a south facing window where I place my seedlings. I also have a ‘heat pad’ that I use when I am starting the seeds. My house was built in the early 80’s when the walls had to be 6 inches thick, so I have wide window sills that I also use when I transplant to pots. The large garden centre in my area closed last fall, so I have to start many plants.
@Cudhear:
I have a basil plant on my front window seat (I have a box window with a 16 inch seat) since last fall. Every two weeks I have to pinch flower heads. I let some mature and harvested the seeds which I will sprinkle in the herb garden later. When I pinch the flowers the plant sends out more branches. So, I have had to prune it back, too bushy. I have the leaves drying. -
I have plum tomatoes so sweet and plentiful that I started biting into them as a snack like I did during childhood before they became almost tasteless.
Fresh is best for sure!
Got sweet cherry tomatoes too!
Got sweet potatoes so pretty that the breadman joked that I must have painted them.
Lawson sure got it right when he named me Eggplant Whisperer because the same eggplants are bearing like rabbits again. They have not really stopped for months and months and months.
Got pigeon peas, squash, lettuce, cabbage, sweet pepper, bananas, carrots. Enjoying my lemongrass tea.
The celery is taking over the bed and crowding out the parsley. I had to start giving it away. Giving away some kale tomorrow. There’s too much of that too. Giving away spinach seedlings and banana suckers. Too many of them and they are flourishing and growing like weeds. Got one pomegranate only and one honey dew melon so far. Got pumpkin, string beans, cassava, cucumber, okra, beets, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, chives, garlic chives, sage, thyme, marjoram, basil, oregano, dill, bunching onions, onions, coriander, pineapple, radishes, chinese cabbage all coming along nicely and some ready for use.
Going to plant some ginger, garlic and sorrel. The yam in the kitchen basket is sprouting. Time to plant it out. Bought me another pineapple. Going to plant the top. Trying to figure out where is the best place to plant the corn patch.
No blossoms on the old mango tree as yet. Old sour sop catching itself after pruming, fertilising and watering which I never did for all of the 17 years it’s been mine. Old coconut tree still bearing. New sugar apple tree growing slowly as well as the lime tree. The wind burnt the larger pawpaw tree leaves until I had to pull it up. The smaller one lives on just barely with only a few leaves. I get the strong salty air straight off the Atlantic. All the leaves are feeling the burn.
I am growing basil between my plants now. I’ve been pulling off the blossoms but the bees do love them, it is true so perhaps I’ll leave them as well. Not many bugs attacking my plant leaves. I have even been able to ease off the neem spray.
Discovered only this week that a cousin of mine has taken up beekeeping. He is bringing me a hive. He will tend it and share the honey with me fifty:fifty. All I am providing is the space for the hive. So that queen bee that keeps disrespecting my garden by sending only one or two bees at a time will be out of business.
Kick restarted two of my cousins by sending my Rastaman cousin to fork up their beds. He is going to mix some cow dung in. He says once he does that he has no need to fertilise after planting. Going to get him to hatch whatever seedlings they want. I’ve got about forty packets of seeds of just about everything. Hatching for another cousin and the cousin of a cousin right now.
I have realised that my mother’s family loves growing produce, raising livestock, fishing, diving for shell fish and now beekeeping. Sooo many of them! Now I think about it I realise where it all came from with me. It’s in the genes.
So much planting going on up this side you would not believe!
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Oh David, why is my innocuous garden comment awaiting moderation?
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This morning I had to deal with a tobacco worm/Manduca sexta, as big as my little finger munching my tomato plants so I’ll have to keep a sharp daily watch on them. Tobacco is indigenous to Barbados, so I expect so is this pest.
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@SS
use Btk, it is safe and effective. Those little buggers (and their cousins) love cabbage and broccoli too, and can do a job on peppers too. -
Cuhdear Bajan,
You dealt with one and I dealt with twenty in one day. Did not know that’s what they were. Just looked them up online. After that I checked my tomato plants four times a day. Killed a few more and that was that.
Now going to look up Btk in case they ever return.
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Thanks Northern. I’ll add Btk to my shopping list.
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[…] Carmeta’s Corner […]
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Bajans rush for flying fish
For the Easter weekend and Lent, fish is usually a hot commodity on the market.
For the past few days, flying fish was the number one seller at the Bridgetown Fisheries Complex on the Princess Alice Highway.
On Tuesday, before the market could open at 8 a.m.
scores of people were gathered outside waiting to get in. At some points, tempers flared, with people venting their anger about the length of time it was taking to get in.
Members from the Royal Barbados Police Force were summoned to calm the situation and enforce the physical distancing health protocols.
Around 10 a.m. the confusion was over but the police officers remained on the scene.
Fish vendors said fishermen were bringing in flying fish in bountiful supplies. They said the Sargassum seaweed was affecting the habitat of flying fish, adding that for the past two to three seasons, fishermen were finding it difficult to source the fish and people were glad to see it back on the market.
‘Selling out’
They said the crowds at fish markets also had to do with the upcoming Easter weekend.
“From last Friday we were getting a lot of flying fish and we don’t have enough for the customers,” said fish boner Paulette Noel. “Right now we are getting them at $130 for 100 whole fish and selling to customers for $10 a pack (of ten fish). But they are going really fast and most of us are selling out before the end of the day. Last Thursday I bone and sold 500 fish in less than six hours.”
Fish vendor Esther Beckles described the situation as a “mad rush”, adding that it would help get things back on track for the vendors, who were home during the February 1 to 28 lockdown. (SB)Source: Nation
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Heard a humming so loud this morning I thought I already had a hive in my palm tree! My bees are back full force Saw a ladybird last week. I guess they will also return. Butterflies on the decline at present. Less prettiness but fewer devoured leaves as well. I get to ease up on the neem spraying.
The spinach seeds have gone so the birds have taken to my plum tomatoes and sweet peppers big time. Had to put a net over the tomato plants. Gotta find something for the sweet peppers.
Found out that my old mango tree has tricked me AGAIN by bearing on the high and far side. There are not only blossoms but also mangoes. On closer examination I discovered that the old soursop tree has put out a soursop as well.
The banana plant is leaning with the weight of the bananas. Had to cut some of the bananas green. Got to prop the plant up.
Checked my last post and realised I forgot to mention the carrots.
The lawn man remarked that I hardly needed the market. I replied that that was indeed the plan.
“I love when a plan comes together!”
Hannibal Jones ( The A Team)
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Uh-oh! Got my Smiths and Joneses crossed!
The Pooping Prowler is disturbing my rest!
Last time I saw him was three weeks ago at 5.30 a.m. when I did not have my guttaperk in hand. Instinctively, I charged at him like a bull before he could make his deposit. The big bad dog that scares other people took of like scaredy cat.
But… he ain’t no elephant so he was lured back by the smell of freshly cut lawn.
He left his calling card yesterday just as I slipped inside at 6.15 yesterday morning when dry taps foiled my attempt to water the garden.
The bull is ready to roll again!
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Correction- took OFF
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Surely, the dog has an owner that you can complain to or there must be an SPCA that you can call.
Was that a purchased gutterperk or home made.
Sounds as if you and cuhdear are living the good life. Keep it up.
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TheO,
The dog is a big dog that the owner, knowing the average Bajan’s fear of strange dogs, is allowing to roam free against the law. That dog is most likely not pooping at home. There are not so many vacant lots in his area. We can already assume that the owner does not give an RH. I am not about to walk all over the place trying to find out who the owner is just to discover what I can reasonably deduce.
I could call the dog pound but the dog may end up being put to sleep.
So instead I wake up at four, drink my own lemongrass tea, commune with God and Nature, read the news, do some crossword puzzles and word coach, listen to some wonderful music I had forgotten and do my gardening early. And dance while I garden, to the amusement of the early morning walkers. Nice interactions.
Seen some beautiful sunrises, heard all the delightful animal sounds magnified and without the interference of mechanical noise pollution.
MADE LEMONADE FROM DOG LEMONS!
My brain fog will clear up after my body adjusts to my new and improved schedule.
P.S. I got lazy and bought the guttaperk. It is made of sturdy material and looks like a keeper.
I just read a news report that says the AG demands that we STAY INSIDE between 9.00pm and 6.oo a.m. now adjusted to 5.oo a.m.
If that wording is correct, it means I am breaking the law.
I do not step outside the boundaries of my property. I ent going inside when a police car passes or if the Acting Inspector passing here to head home because…..
I would love to test that one in court!
Dem would have to be RH drunk!
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The Barbados Water Authority (BWA) wishes to advise customers in St. Philip and Christ Church that today Monday, April 5 it is carrying out repairs to a ruptured 16-inch main in Fairview, Christ Church.
https://barbadostoday.bb/2021/04/05/bwa-reports-burst-on-large-main-in-fairview-christ-church/
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@ Donna and Cuhdear Bajan. Plant a Bajan Cherry tree.
” Acerola (Malpighia emarginata DC.) is one of the richest natural sources of ascorbic acid and contains a plethora of phytonutrients like carotenoids phenolics, anthocyanins, and flavonoids. There is an upsurge of interest in this fruit among the scientific community and pharmaceutical companies over the last few years. The fruit contains an exorbitant amount of ascorbic acid in the range of 1500–4500 mg/100 g, which is around 50–100 times than that of orange or lemon. Having a reservoir of phytonutrients, the fruit exhibits high antioxidant capacity and several interesting biofunctional properties like skin whitening effect, anti-aging and multidrug resistant reversal activity. Countries like Brazil, realizing the potential of the fruit have started to exploit it commercially and have established a structured agro-industrial based market. In spite of possessing an enriched nutrient profile with potent “functional food” appeal, acerola is underutilized in large part of the globe and demands greater attention”
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My aunt has a cherry tree growing at the end of her drain before it goes into the gully. The tree bears year round. I never knew that before. There was one at the back of Edgewater Hotel that grew the largest cherries I have ever seen. they were sweet even when green. In St. Vincent I saw some growing wild. They call them bird cherries and don’t eat them. I picked some and my friend did as well.
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I don’t have a cherry tree. Planted one once but it did not thrive. I may try again. However a cousin in my natal village has one. It hangs over her fence nearly into the road. She tells us “help yourself, don’t ask me.” It bears so abundantly that even though it is near to an elementary school, lol! we still get plenty.
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Put a check on crop and livestock theft
Wed, 04/07/2021 – 5:00am
Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS), James Paul, is again raising concern about praedial larceny in this country, expressing the desire of the agricultural sector to see it brought under control sooner rather than later.
Paul, contending that praedial larceny continues to cut into the profits of the farmers and is putting the sector in jeopardy, stated that if allowed to go on unabated, not only could it discourage those interested in getting into agricultural production from doing so, but it could very well put those already operating in the sector out of business. He spoke to this while pointing out to The Barbados Advocate, that even during the various periods of lockdown that had been introduced to help curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus, crop and livestock thieves did not let up, and remained focused on profiting from someone else’s hard work.
He is therefore of the strong belief that steps have to be taken to ensure that those who are selling various agricultural produce in this country are in possession of them by legal means. He made the point while noting that the vendors themselves may not have stolen the produce, but may have purchased it from someone who did and so, Paul is adamant that a paper trail is imperative in safeguarding the livelihoods of local farmers.
“We need to put in place a stringent system where we monitor the persons who are selling in the farmers’ markets, wherever they are located, to try to get a better understanding as to how they are sourcing the produce and where they are sourcing the produce from. Certainly, this is not a system that calls for any rocket science. All it means is that we need to have people who are frequently going out there checking the persons who are selling produce in the various market areas, because we know that stolen produce can end up at these locations, and the public then unwittingly buys stolen produce,” he stated.
In that vein, Paul is appealing to Barbadians not to buy stolen produce, by verifying from vendors where the produce has originated. The BAS’ CEO made the point while noting that the loss to farmers when produce is stolen runs into the thousands of dollars. He commended the Royal Barbados Police Force for the work they have been doing to bring the culprits to justice, but he frowned on the way that the court system continues to handle these matters, contending that a mere slap on the wrist for those caught red-handed, was a slap in the face for the farmers and their businesses.
“When you take into consideration that sometimes you could lose a whole field of crops like cassava, let’s say that is 1,000 pounds, but it is usually more than that, with a market value of $2 a pound, that’s $2,000. If you take a crop like onions that could be $25,000 if they lose an acre and that’s just the value of the produce. Remember you also have to look at the preparation of the land – so it is not just the value of the crops, but the inputs, time and energy that went into growing those crops,” he stated.
Paul maintained that greater willpower is needed to get a handle on praedial larceny in this country, contending that failure to do so could see a reduction in local agricultural production, which would no doubt have a direct negative impact on the country’s food import bill and put our efforts to achieve food security in jeopardy.
Source: Nation
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Hants,
My grandmother had one growing next door years ago and it grew the biggest and sweetest cherries I ever had. It was irrigated by water from her shower drain pipes.
Place is rented out now so I don’t know if it is still there. I must ask my brother.
I had actually forgotten about cherries. I will surely plant one soon.
Meanwhile…. I just saw a beautiful sunrise and I am off awatering.
Planted some ginger, turmeric and yam yesterday.
Feeling irie!
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I went to the garden yesterday and checked my garlics. They are all up. I removed some of the mulch and left it betwwen the sprouts. Today I am going to fertilize them.
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Planted beans on February 25th. Began harvesting on April 13.
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Inspirational.
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My asparagus has burst the surface. Cant wait to eat some.
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Now more than ever, we need to know what is in our food, say youth
Sun, 04/25/2021 – 5:15am
THE Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC) is calling for there to be clear and visible front-of-package warning labels on products, so individuals would be more aware of the nutritional content of the foods they are purchasing.
To get this message across, the HCC’s youth arm, Healthy Caribbean Youth, yesterday staged a Call to Action in front of the Frank Walcott statue.
Standing silently at the Culloden Road, St. Michael location, participants wore shirts and held signs which read, ‘High in Sodium’, ‘High in Sugar’, ‘High in Fat’ and ‘CARICOM Leaders We Need Warning Labels Now, Why? Now More Than Ever, We Need To Know What Is In Our Food.’
Speaking to the press, Technical Advisor with HCC, Pierre Cooke, gave background about the activity.
“The idea is for us to send a signal and show in a very visible way the need for front-of-package labelling. It is to create the healthy environment for children and just Barbadian people in general.”
He added, “The idea of the front-of-package warning labels is that they help to signal to persons in the supermarket when they are buying stuff that this food product is high in sugar, high in fat, high in sodium and we have seen models of this that have worked in Peru and Chile. Just to signal to persons that they need to take better control of their health and we know that it is the duty of the Government to necessarily put systems in place and create that enabling environment in order to live healthier lives.”
Meanwhile, HCC’s Project Assistant, Kerrie Barker, stated the location was selected because of the establishments in its vicinity, two of which are the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the National Insurance Department. She reminded that “NCDs have a significant burden on productivity and life in Barbados, which does affect our economy”.
Beyond the day’s activity, the representatives of HCC will continue their lobbying. Cooke indicated they “have been having conversations and meetings not only in Barbados, but across CARICOM. So this type of action was not only done here. It was also done in Antigua and it is to signal not only in this country but across the region, there needs to be a change in consumer behaviour. The incidences in childhood obesity and diabetes are not only particular to Barbados, but we have one in three children being obese across the region and these need to be addressed”. (MG)
Source: Barbados Advocate
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Had some showers yesterday morning AFTER I had just watered. This time the dark clouds meant something. The forecast said there was only about a 3o % chance of rain.
Dark clouds again today. This time the forcast is more promising. Almost certainly it will rain.
Had some homegrown cabbage last week. Boiled with a tiny pinch of salt and eaten only with some homegrown carrots and I enjoyed it!
Fresh is definitely best!
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Planted my potatoes two days ago and we are supposed to get 20 mml of rain today. What a blessing.
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Still harvesting beans. I am washing, drying, slicing and freezing the surplus. Beans freeze well.
Started harvesting the plum tomatoes last week. They didn’t turn out as well as I expected, not as many and not as big. I must admit though that I neglected them a bit and discovered “blossom end rot” which my reading tells me is caused either by insufficient calcium in the soil or inconsistent watering or maybe by both. My watering was indeed inconsistent. Anyway most are good and even the ones with blossom end rot can be eaten once the browned part has been sliced off. I’d never seen blossom end rot on the common small tomatoes grown here. I’ve planted some of those as well. They are definitely more heat tolerant and have a deeper more tomatoey flavor than the imported plum tomatoes, so I think that I will stick with those.
The cassava is thriving, in spite of dry periods and the volcanic dust, or maybe because of the dust there is plenty of new growth. I have about 125 plantings and hope to get about 10 pounds per planting. There is still some cassava flour and some frozen grated cassava left over from last year. So cassava is the easy go to crop in this climate.
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Cuhdear bajan
Cassava is high in starch, so eat it sparingly, because too much does a job on the pancreas, though we need the carbohydrates for our energy.
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Oh dear! I have stumbled upon another lecture! Is there no safe space left on BU?????
Out to the Garden of Peace! Leaving the phone behind.
I bet the rain yesterday and the volcanic ash has greened the place overnight.
Tuning out..
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@cuhdear, @GP, @older guys
Getting older is scaring the hell out of me.
Aging cannot be a avoided, but for me it is like an arriving train sounding a warning whistle. Even though I have medical insurance, I have avoided doctors and even routine examinations.
The past year, I have been running to two specialists, an urologist and an infectious disease specialist. Nothing nasty or caught from anyone, but for some reason I seem to be getting urinary tract infections. Each time, we think the problem solved and then it reappears.
One bad outcome is my use of google for self-diagnosis. Scaring myself with thoughts of prostate cancer, bladder cancer or testicular cancer are often mentioned in results of my search.
My BS (blood sugar) and BP are well controlled, but this reoccurrence of an infection has me apprehensive of the future. I am afraid of what is coming down the pipeline.
Now where is GP when I would like to hear him.
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Google is the doctor of last resort.
I am now drinking cranberry juice and taking cranberry tablets. I have done the ginger, beets and garlic routine.
My greatest fear is now that I cook up a poisonous stew without realizing it.(Just thought I would put aside being a joker for a few posts, but the clown is now on duty).
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Theo:
I am no doctor, and you need not take my advice, but you might want to try half a pint of water every half an hour for a few days. You will need to be near a bathroom at all times.
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During waking hours. No need to torture yourself by setting a clock to alarm every half an hour during the night.
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TheO,
Worrying never helps.
You will have the strength to deal with whatever it is. Your lovely wife will lend you some of hers.
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New project to push small farmers
By Sheria Brathwaite sheriabrathwaite@nationnews.com
Barbadians interested in kitchen gardening or backyard farming stand to benefit from a new programme the Ministry of Agriculture plans to launch.
The Project Care initiative is aimed at supplying them with the tools needed to get their planting projects off the ground during the current pandemic.
In a recent interview, Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir told the Sunday Sun that the programme was developed to create a resurgence of community farming so people would grow more of what they eat.
Weir said this would give parishioners access to healthier options, an opportunity to create a small business, and generate additional means of income.
“Project Care is a carry-on from the care packages programme,” he said. “It is targeting kitchen gardeners and community farmers. People can grow their own food for their own consumption and to sell within their neighbourhoods.
“We are doing this to provide an opportunity for people to make a living or generate additional income at the community level. We are also using it as an opportunity to deter people who may otherwise . . . get involved in praedial larceny.”
Weir said the ministry would be providing tools, fertilisers and cultivation services. He added that extension officers would go around to each small farm to ensure the correct husbandry techniques were being applied and to provide technical assistance.
One of the fruits Weir said he wanted people to start growing more widely was pineapple, which was mostly imported. He said the fruit could be grown here once the right growing medium was utilised.
Following a visit to a pineapple farm in Orange Hill, St James, he said he wanted more Barbadians to replicate the technique small farmer Devon Slater was using to grow pineapples as it was an effective method.
For the past six years, Slater has been growing pineapples in buckets and drums using a special soil mix from Portvale Sugar Factory.
More than 300 plants
To date, he has more than 300 plants in about four to seven varieties.
Slater said Barbados did not have the correct soil type to grow the fruit and he had to find another medium to grow them. He added that the plant could take a year or more to produce but the soil mix from the factory could grow a plant that produces in less than 12 months.
At first he grew the fruit for his household and to sell at the community level, but after being highlighted in the media last year, he said scores of people were visiting his farm to purchase the fruit and to seek knowledge so they could grow them as well.
Slater explained that growing pineapples was easy and affordable. He said simply remove the fleshy part of the fruit from the crown, prune the leaves and place it in the soil mix.
However, he said he could only guarantee success if the soil mix from the factory was used. He said that mix had the correct nutrients and was the best soil type for the fruit.
Portvale factory manager Michael Armstrong said that more people were learning of the byproduct the factory produced. He said that since the demand for it had grown tremendously a decision was made to label and market it. In the near future, he said the product would be available in hardware stores and other distribution centres. -
Got the land ploughed today.
Moving forward…
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@Theo
The treatments will alleviate the symptoms. However, to get a cure, you need to lay off beer, barley, wheat, etc. and any product with those ingredients for a good month after all symptoms are gone and continue the cranberry fix for good measure. After all, Prince Phillip had battled those infections for years and I may be wrong but with the best treatment available he still kicked the bucket. Racist ole bastard.
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@Cuhdear
I am tilling my allotment on Saturday. $50 for the daily rental, so we will be doing mine and two friends. As soon as it is tilled I will be spreading the chicken shit and planting the brassicas. Got my broccoli plants today. After the periodontist tomorrow, I will plant my water cress. Finished pulling all my weeds yesterday.
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Another woman to be admired.
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