Pandemic unleashes hidden skills in gardening

By Wendella Davidson

IT has long been appreciated that women, in particular housewives, find unique ways of utilising their spare time and ward off some boredom, or as a form of physical exercise.
Before, gardening was merely to beautify the home with exotic flowers which sometimes saw a healthy competition among neighbours. Kitchen gardens comprised of herbs, pepper and thyme, where the homeowner could have gone to, should they run short and need any of those items.

However, recently with the advent of COVID-19, it has become quite noticeable in the city and other communities that there is increased emphasis on the planting the kitchen gardens, by reducing the size of flower gardens to accommodate a larger patch for the planting of vegetables.
While some persons visit the Nursery Division of the Ministry of Agriculture to purchase the young plants and seedlings, others prefer to visit the popular Caribbean Chemicals store on Croal Street, where packets of a variety of vegetable seedlings are available for purchase.

According to Mr Martin Lopez, Agriculture Manager and Chief Agronomist at Caribbean Chemicals, there has been a marked increase in the purchase of packet seedlings in particular by both male and females. Among the most popular are ochro, bora, celery, eschallot, pak choy, peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, calaloo and cabbage. There has also been a huge demand for kale, Lopez explained, while noting that there are farmers who engage in large scale farming and would purchase seedlings in bulk.
Guyhoc Park resident Margaret Clarkson, who has made a name for herself with cakes and other delicacies has for years been cultivating potted flower plants that she offers for sale, in addition to greens and vegetables for home use.

Margaret shared with the Pepperpot Magazine that since she began planting her kitchen and reaping the bountiful harvest, there is hardly any need for her to buy vegetables from the municipal market.

“Planting is a hobby for me, it is a joy to plant as it is a form of exercise for me and my satisfaction is being able to reap the fruits of my labour. For me, it is a garden to table situation as every day I am assured a healthy and nutritious meal. I don’t have to worry about the health factor because all of my produce are organic. Among the plants to be found in my yard and from which I have already benefitted are limes, soursop, peppers, parsley, fine thyme, celery, tomatoes, Boulanger, cabbage, lettuce and cherries- the latter known to be a good source of Vitamin `C’, “ she stated.

Not only has the COVID -19 pandemic brought out the planting skills of women here in Guyana but further afield, as is evidenced by Atlanta-based Joycelyn Merchant.
Joycelyn told this publication that she used to have the occasional house plant, but after reading about the coronavirus pandemic and seeing the deadly impact of it on the television and the internet, she started producing some of the vegetables she eats. And, while she is disappointed that she is hampered to be able to plant in a yard space because she resides in a gated community, she nevertheless uses containers that she placed on her patio.

Joycelyn, who describes the garden she started in May as “my quarantine garden” added, “I am in lockdown and can’t go anywhere so I started to make myself useful at home. I am loving it, every morning I get up I go sit on my patio and have a conversation with my plants. I have already harvested and continue to harvest to my personal satisfaction.” The plants she has now are tomatoes, boulanger, rosemary, and thyme called (married man pork).
“Who knows – had COVID-19 not surfaced I would have still been planting flowers, not realising that I can do vegetables and reduce the need for me to go to the vegetable market for certain foods. Of the produce I reaped, I shared with close friends and have some in the freezer to be used later. My next move is to try my hand planting other vegetables,” she added.