As St. Thomas taxi and tour drivers off-loaded their shopping-hungry charges at Emancipation Garden Tuesday morning, a small group of representatives from another island industry was waiting for its own customers.
Farming may be a long way from replacing tourism as a cash crop, but this is National Agriculture Week, and representatives from the Agriculture Department and the Cooperative Extension Service of the University of the Virgin Islands are out in force throughout the territory trying to bolster its small farming industry and to encourage more residents to take up home gardening.
Tuesday, they were set up at the Garden’s gazebo, offering low-cost seedlings and free expert advice. For a dollar you could get a basil starter. Also available were kale, parsley, collard greens, beet, bell pepper, tomato, cucumber, and lettuce plants.
Alexandrina Anthony, who works an extensive garden in Estate Dorothea, had set up her own table displaying a wide variety of vegetables, as well as a few dried loofah. Like a cucumber, which it resembles in both color and shape, the loofah grows on a vine and is edible when young. When it dries, it takes on the appearance, and the utility, of a sponge.
“Everything is locally grown, by me, and they are organic,” Anthony said. Early in the day, she said, business “is not that fast. But I can’t complain. I’m blessed.”
Albion George, Agriculture Extensive Service Assistant, said residents had been trickling by in spurts, some with questions, and some with plants needing help. A common problem is the whitish scale which settles on the underside of leaves hiding from unwary gardeners. If left to itself, scale can badly compromise a plant and it’s likely to spread in neighboring plants.
“Some scales travel by themselves, others go by ant,” George said. The best way to eliminate scale is with soapy water. Scale, aphids and white fly are some of the most common pests on St. Thomas, George said. “They do a lot of damage.”
Attention shifts Thursday to St. Croix where Agriculture will host an Open House on the department’s grounds, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. It will feature a Youth Farmers’ Market with produce from school gardens. Students will learn about box gardening and drip irrigation systems.
Agriculture Commissioner Louis E. Petersen Jr. said in a release that the department is focusing especially on youth this year, attempting to grow the farming industry, but everyone is welcome. Activities will include a demonstration of hay baling, and presentations about veterinary services, forestry, nurseries, farm machinery repair and abattoir services.
This year’s theme is “American Agriculture: Feeding the Future, Filling the Gap.” Organizers are stressing that even amateur gardeners can save money by growing some of their own food. They also want to raise awareness of agriculture as a business and highlight some of the career opportunities that it offers.
