If the music didn’t draw you, the fragrant aromas wafting down from the Bordeaux tennis courts surely worked their magic, as folks filed expectantly into the 14th annual Bordeaux Farmers Rastafari Agricultural and Cultural Food Fair Saturday, as though led by the pied piper.
The expectations were more than met at first glance by the energy, the color, the steel band music and the booths abounding in all manner of fresh produce, as the Bordeaux farmers proudly strutted their stuff.
Honoring the legacy of Haile Selasssie, the show’s theme was "Sowing seeds that heal the nation, respect your farmers in 2011." Saturday was the first of day of the weekend event.
Walking past the St. Croix stand, farmers Teresa David and Mary Payne show off a mountain of pumpkins, some weighing up to 57 pounds, along with bright bottles of scotch bonnet peppers, orange, yellow, red.
But one thing is missing: the pumpkin johnny cakes. "We’ll have some tomorrow," the ladies promise.
No matter. It’s a total impossibility to go hungry, with the clay cooking pots filling the air with familiar scents as heady as ever – basil, mint, garlic, onion, soups, stews, everything from a simple tamarind stew to falafel fritters, brown rice, steaming collard greens drawing the hungry throngs.
Culinary advice abounded.
"Oh, did you try the roasted cauliflower?" "No, too spicy." "Then, try the ginger beet ice cream." "Can’t. I’m still filling up on peanut punch.”
More than 60 vendors plied their wares this year, while the energizing notes of the All Stars Steel Band poured forth. And it looked like a banner year, with more than 1,000 filing in before 2 p.m.
The bountiful stalls full of fruits and vegetables are produced by the members of the Bordeaux farmers collective We Grow Food, which hosts the event. Benita Samuel and her husband, Lucien "Jambie" Samuel of pumpkin soup fame, are original members of the farming collective which was originally conceived as a means of introducing Bordeaux and showing what can be grown on some of the most difficult land to farm in the Virgin Islands.
In fact, Richard Pluke, senior agronomist and entomologist at Fintrac, an international agricultural-development firm with headquarters on St. Thomas, who has worked with the farmers for several years, called it, "some of the worst land for farming I have ever seen."
In a 2009 interview, he said, "The soil, the lack of water, the hills – all of these things work against the farmers."
Intensely aware of these conditions is 2011 Farmer of the Year Ingrid Powell James, who was busily selling the products of her labors Saturday while dispensing some diet wisdom Saturday – as if she weren’t the star of the day.
"No," she says, "I wasn’t surprised at the honor. I know how to work the earth well. I’m a farmer. I farm the soil."
To illustrate, she holds up a couple huge yams, one weighing seven and a half pounds. Looking at the almost bare counter, she says, "It was piled high this morning – collard greens, mustard greens, tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli," she says. "My husband’s gone home to bring back more."
The potatoes, still covered with soil, provide a stark contrast with James’ immaculate appearance. Dressed in a deep avocado green brocade silk dress with matching headdress, the mother of six indicates her beautifully manicured finger nails. "I was on ‘Face to Face,’ and they asked me how could I be a farmer with nails like this,” she says.
"I have to feel the soil," she says. "I can’t use gloves. When I come in at night, I rub them with olive oil."
James says she and her husband, Eustace Kamahoo James, also a former farmer of the year, lost lots of crops last year in the rains, but, "I give thanks to the most high God," she says. "He dispenses the rain, the sun. That’s why I have success."
James, who moved here from St. Kitts 20 years ago, still has problems in their four and a half acre farm, "just over the hill, way farther out," she points west. She says deer are a huge problem on the farm, as well as irrigation. "We need water. There’s a dam, but it doesn’t supply enough. The government needs to understand farmers need water to grow food. Kids in school need to know more about agriculture."
Charlie Leonard spoke about James, while busily dispensing fragrant basil, squash, collard greens, and Sweetman homemade honey.
"She deserves the honor," he says. "She is incredible. I’ll see her selling on the side of the road, even if all she has are some genips. You don’t usually see a woman do that. Her husband’s a great farmer, too. You know what they say," he says with a smile, "behind every great man…."
For a complete list of activities and performers, click here.
