Buy and Eat local Fruits and Vegetables in Anguilla
My Anguilla Experience continues … Saturday was a beautiful, hot day in Anguilla. It was also the day I said goodbye to Hanna who turned a two week stay into a 1 month stay. It was great having her around for so long and I know many persons in Anguilla had the opportunity to meet her and fall in love with her passion, energy and contagious laughter. Hanna I miss you but I am certain you will be back to Anguilla soon. Thanks to the management and staff at La Vue for making Hanna’s stay so comfortable and spectacular. You went above and beyond and she now considers ‘South Hill’ home.
After seeing Hanna off, I picked up my sister Sherise and we headed to the Agriculture Department Open day (Fair).
The aims of the Open Day were to:
- Create a greater awareness of what is happening in Agriculture in the Valley.
- Encourage more persons to get involved in Agriculture
- Encourage persons to eat more of what is grown locally and grow more of what they eat
- To give the public a greater insight into what goes on at the Department of Agriculture
The theme for the day was “Grow what you eat and eat what you grow.”
Locally grown fruits and vegetables – Stall at Agriculture Department Open Day
Sherise and I walked around the grounds and oohhed and ahhed with the children and other adults at the numerous birds on display.
Peacock at Agriculture Department Open Day in Anguilla
Macaw Agriculture Department Open Day in Anguilla
In the background we could hear live string band music from Anguilla time and the Jolly Boys from St. Martin and we tapped our feet to the beat and sang along when a popular song was played.
We then wandered over to the tables where local farmers had their food displayed. I was impressed with the beauty of the tomatoes, eggplant, green pepper and the size of some of the ground provisions.
I didn’t buy any local items because I had already purchased local fruits and vegetables for the week from Jerry Richardson of Island Greens (another young local farmer and a past school mate). Jerry sells local foods opposite public works every Saturday morning. I bought local eggs, eggplant, mint and tomatoes from Jerry. This weekend I tried a tomato and eggplant recipe and it was quite tasty! There is certainly a level of satisfaction and feeling of superiority which comes from eating local food!
Sherise and I didn’t leave the Open Day though without buying some fry cakes (how ironic) and conkie dumpling (yummy). All in all, it was a great Saturday morning.
Nash and I inherited some local fruits and vegetables trees when we moved. These include banana trees, hot pepper, peas, coconut and soursop (which the birds won’t allow to ripe (any remedies?). We also have flower trees and other local trees.
We will also be attempting to grow some more of our own food and we are excited about this! Nash will do most of the planting, watering and weeding and I will do everything else (eating). We are a great team!
Well, if you haven’t started growing your own food or eating local yet, I certainly encourage you to. For your health and Anguilla;s sustainable future “Buy Local and Eat Local!
