JUST by looking at her, you may never know that she is a farmer in her community, who sells her produce at her roadside shop at the head of the West Watooka Main Access Road. But Karen Wallace, better known as ‘Aunty Karen’ in her village, is a respected resident, who is a female farmer, toiling alongside her husband.

The 37-year-old is well-known and has six acres of cultivation of various crops including, ground provisions. The mother of eight related that from time to time when the workload gets too much for herself and spouse, they would employ young men from within the village to assist.

She has a roadside shop vending fresh fruits, vegetables and ground provisions daily, except some Sundays, which is often for family and a bit of relaxation when she is not on the farm. Wallace has a very effervescent personality that is contagious and she is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to farming.

She is always smiling but smiles even more when she gets money in her hands and she would try to meet the needs of customers, even if they have short money and her business has grown over the years from a makeshift shack as a shop to a newly built, well-painted structure.

“I start off small and over time I saved up and began doing more to make my small business a success, because it makes no sense doing something then it flops,” she said. Between farming, her shop and family that is enough to keep Wallace busy and she has no time to waste.

She would use her bicycle to get from her home to her farm and to her shop and that is how she divides her time daily. Her shop has been in operation since 2008 and during the last heavy rainfall she suffered many losses when her crops were destroyed by floodwaters.

Like most farmers, Wallace intends to keep going and with upgrading of the drainage and irrigation system within the village she is hopeful it will be of benefit to all farmers.

The Cane Juice Vendor/Organic farmer
His ingenious way of thinking caused him to open a small business utilising his own farm-grown sugarcane.

Troy Ross is also a resident of West Watooka, Wismar, Linden and he is an organic farmer of coconuts and sugarcane. The 51-year-old told the Pepperpot Magazine that he has three acres of coconuts, three to five years old, bearing nuts and sugarcane.

It, however, dawned on him what to do with the crop of sugarcane and then the idea of making his own sugarcane juice was conceptualised. Ross stated that he went to the city and bought a sugarcane juice extractor and then he custom-made a stand and placed it at the roadside by the West Watooka Main Access Road.

He began using his own sugarcane to make juice which he bottles for just $200 each and he would ensure that he has ice to have it cold for the customer and stores it in a cooler. Ross said he began the small business this February and so far, it has been going fairly well and would have his nephew by his side to assist.

Making sugarcane juice is a process in which Ross has become an expert. First, he would wash the sugarcane then using a cutlass he would scrape off the skin then place it into the juice extractor, which extracts the juice which flows into a clean container.

He then would strain the sugarcane juice and place it into a clean bottle which is stored in a cooler. The sugarcane husk is burned and placed on the beds for farming and on the roots of coconuts and sugarcane plants.

Ross would source ice from a resident in the village and when he is not at his sugarcane juice stand he is on his farm tending to his cultivation. “I started alone and still farming alone, because I find it to be what I want to do for a living and I cleared the land and started my cultivation many years ago and today I can have a side hustle as well,” he said.

Ross opens his small business on Mondays to Fridays and on weekends he would use the time for farming.