A NEW WAVE of healthy living has taken over the Ministry of Agriculture’s Graeme Hall site. Paul’s freshly prepared fruit-flavoured smoothies, Rosemary’s beets and lettuces, Lisa’s organic chicken and Dorian’s natural juices were on sale when EASY visited the site early last week Saturday morning.
With ample space for parking and stalls, buyers and sellers didn’t have to jostle for space.
The initiative is the brainchild of the Organic Growers Consumers Association (OGCA) whose farmers markets started on April 8.
Rosemary Scantlebury’s stall had trays of juicy red tomatoes, lettuce parcelled into transparent bags, a few beets covered in mud as though they were just taken from the earth and cucumbers with different shades of green.
The small farmer, who tills three quarters of an acre of land, said she sells every Saturday with the help of her daughter, who was fast alseep after having been up the night before preparing for market day.
Scantlebury said she grew more vegetables in addition to what she presented at her stall.
“I try to do a lot of little exotic stuff. Right now I do radish, kale and chard especially for people in this market because they like exotic and unusual things,” she said.
She described the atmosphere of the market as beautiful. “The ambience is exceptional,” she said. “I like working out here. It gives you a break from the farm and you come out here and meet your customers and interact with them. And I find that in this market that is what customers like – the interaction.”
Further up the marl pathway is Lisa Browne who sells organic chicken in a large white cooler.
Browne said she started poultry farming about a year ago. She said she switched from small-scale farming to organic meat because she was “experiencing problems with the crop because of the drought. It is very dry up there (St Philip) as no rain, so I had to do something. So I said let me do some chicken in the meantime.”
She explained that organic chicken are fowls that mostly consume plant-based food. “ I feed them sargassum seaweed, they love that. They eat the little bugs in it, there is a little shrimp like worm that jumps around if you look close, and they love that. I let them eat the weeds in my garden. I feed them water beads from the spring, all the green stuff.
“I feed them fruits and vegetables, sometimes I chop up seasoning and put in there, whatever is left back from inside the house like peels, cucumber, pumpkin, I put them in the food processor and grind them up and feed them and sometimes coconut oil.”
Browne explained that organic chicken farming meant that she could raise only a small amount of chickens at a time. She is currently raising 1 000 chickens.
Although she admitted that this field of work could be strenuous sometimes, the lady with a passion for all things organic said “Everything I do is about organic because there is no other choice for me. I want healthy food so what I want for myself I want for others too. It protects the environment and feeds our children healthy food and feeds the country, that’s how I see it.”
Lennox Rawlins of Ade natural Products sells natural soaps and oils made from locally sourced products. On his table were soaps made of green tea and cucumber, spinach and cucumber and goat milk. His local Castile liquid soap is a big hit.
“This is a family business of a year. We are public-demand driven. We do our research and manufacture what the public asks for, mostly to help skin conditions.”
Chef Michael’s pepper sauces are a hot commodity. He has been selling at the location for two months. It is all local pepper – cayenne, scotch bonnet and cherry – blended with herbs planted in his own garden. Lime juice, lemongrass, mint, tumeric and a special “ingredient”are then added.
“I have absolutely no tap water in it. I stay away from the chlorine.”
Another family business is being run by Vernon Thomas and his mum. He has an electrical and maintenance business and the produce helps to supplement the family income. They have seven acres in Union, St Philip.
“We do a variety of produce and when we don’t have a certain produce we buy it from other vendors and resell,” he said.
“I like the Graeme Hall location. It has a lot of traffic and the customers are very nice.”
