INSISTING that everybody knows him as ‘Pine Man’, the man with the cart full of fruits piqued my curiosity a long time ago.

He is one of the shy ones, but is a constant presence outside the Vreed-en-Hoop branch of the Republic Bank six days a week. After some coaxing, I learn that ‘Pine Man’ is a 48-year-old father of three, who has lived on farms or had been involved in farming his whole life.

‘Pine Man’, as he is known, plies his trade outside the Republic Bank at Vreed-en-Hoop.

Living at Bonasika since he was five years old, he was born to parents who were both farmers, and is the youngest of twelve children. When he came of age, he bought a six-acre plot at Bonasika and proceeded to clear it himself. He brushed this off as nothing, telling me: “It nah hard to do.”  Farming, though, is another matter, and he said that in his farming days he worked very hard to get his loads to the Parika market; but insists that he is “too old” for that now.
Another discouraging factor for him is the mysterious ‘dry sick’, which he tells me affects suckers (young banana and plantain plants) and citrus fruits. This sickness, he says, has no known remedy. It stops the plants from bearing fruit, and thus citrus fruits are expensive, or some, like lemon, are scarce due to the sickness.
These days, he makes daily shopping expeditions to Georgetown for the produce he sells. As can be inferred by his moniker, he sells a lot of pine sliced in bags with salt and pepper, as well as watermelons, water coconuts, genip, awara and whatever is in season.
And that brought an end to our conversation, as ‘Pine Man’ decided that he had said quite enough.