Better together

Several members of a St James community have taken the initiative to boost their food security by transforming a plot of land in the area for crop production.

At the same time, the 13-bed community garden created by about 12 residents of Santa Rosa Drive, Husbands, most of whom are retirees, provides the opportunity for them to interact with each other and get some physical activity.

With permission from the requisite authorities, the garden group affectionately known as Neighbours in Boots has made worthwhile use of a quarter-acre spot in a section of the under-utilised recreation park.

So far, they have reaped several pounds of okras and cucumbers. Other crops being cultivated include peppers, okras, pumpkin, cassava, peas, and beans. There is also a “wellness bed” that is specifically for planting herbs.

“There has been so much talk about food security and . . . that it was very important during the [COVID-19] lockdown,” said Maria Joseph, lead on the project.

She told Barbados TODAY that while the idea to plant the vegetables and herbs was formulated during the first national lockdown in April 2020, it was not started until a year later.

“This was a recreation ground. It is a big area, and I was talking with my neighbour Beverley about it and she said, ‘yes, it is a good idea that we can think about doing something like this; it will give us exercise, it will give us food and also, it will bring the community together’,” recalled Joseph.

“Afterwards, I took the idea to Minister Sandra Husbands and she got back to us coming on to the end of that year and we identified where we wanted to cultivate. We officially started in June 2021 when we got the area ploughed,” she added.

Joseph thanked all those who made the project a reality, noting that it was “a lot of work” to get it to this stage.

She said the community garden project has also helped to build friendships, noting that before it started, the residents who are now involved would not have reached out to each other daily.

“We don’t only do gardening, but every three to four months we do something. The last time we had a documentary done by my daughter and we showed it right here on the recreation ground. So, that was an event and that evening we served things from the garden – farm to table,” Joseph pointed out.

The team leader said that through the project, several elderly people in the community had something to keep them active, as she pointed out that gardening is therapeutic.

“They are gladly doing it because they are retired. They might not have 40 hours a day, but they have some hours that they come and work in the garden,” Joseph said, stressing that COVID-19 distancing protocols are maintained when group members work in the garden, so that they can feel safe and comfortable.

“It is more about coming out here and doing some work and feeling good and having a fun time while seeing the seriousness of it being our food supply.”

Joseph said the type of community should not matter when setting up some level of farming, since “we all have to eat and we go to the supermarkets and purchase the same products to eat”.

“And in terms of the non-communicable diseases and the different things, this is working for us. We are coming out here and having a sweat. You are actually sweating and moving without the expense of joining a gym. When the gyms were closed, we were open,” she added.

Currently, the crops are shared among several people in the area and when there are surpluses, a community chat is notified and the produce is sold.

Declaring that the community garden was there for the long haul, Joseph said the vision was to get it to a stage where products were shared with more people in the neighbourhood.

However, she said they needed an adequate, more sustainable water supply. The entrepreneur said that while neighbours have been very helpful in providing the resource, what is needed is a water tank or a pipeline running to the location.

“We are struggling for water so we are not getting the production that we truly should get from the vegetables,” said Joseph, who currently takes water to the location in bottles.

“We have tried to get our own connection and paying for it, but to date that has not proven to be successful, but we are still trying with that . . .. It is nice to see them grow but we know they can yield better, we just need water. When we don’t get enough water it is a real struggle.”

Joseph said she was hopeful corporate Barbados would come to their rescue so they could expand and improve the project.

She also encouraged other communities across the island to embark on similar projects if they are serious about food security and healthier eating.

marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb