Sir Howard examines a noni tree (at left), the 'Chinese jimbelins' (centre) and samples a 'Chinese jimbelin' on the King's House farm.
-Junior Dowie photos
Cynthia Wilmot, Contributor
JAMAICANS MAY argue about cricket, politics, religion and whether beer tastes better hot or cold, but everybody agrees that home-grown Jamaican vegetables and fruit are the world's best.
Send a Jamaican to New York and he'll complain with reason that mangoes from Mexico can't compare with those from Manchester. Transport him to Toronto and he'll scoff at what grocers there call "bananas" and dream wistfully of St. Thomas and Portland.
But strangely enough here at home most of us eat imported produce; in fact one has to play Supermarket-hide-and-seek to find an onion or carrot fresh from country!
So where have all the good foods gone? The short answer our farmers can't compete with the American produce unloaded on the Caribbean last year's crops long held in cold storage, otherwise ready for dumping.
On a recent visit to Havana I saw front yards no bigger than a table top bursting with plaintains and pumpkin vines, scallions shyly poking their tops through hot pepper bushes - and was told that more than two thirds of the fresh produce consumed in that metropolis was grown within the city itself. Are Kingston, Mandeville and MoBay folk so far removed from their roots that we can't do likewise?
Wait a bit!
This week, reading the biography of His Excellency Sir Howard Cooke bylined by that excellent journalist Jackie Ranston I discovered that Sir Howard and Lady Cooke have a garden no, let's be fair, a five- acre farm right on the grounds of King's House. I phoned the ADC to arrange a visit, and was told, "His Excellency will show you around the farm himself!"
But go back a bit. The story really begins back in l939 when a handsome young teacher named Howard Cooke exchanged vows with a pretty young teacher named Ivy Tai. Skip the years at Mico, the travels abroad, the active politics (good reading in Jackie's entertaining book) and fast forward to the arrival of the new Governor- General and his wife at King's House. Previous incumbents had made attempts to beautify the grounds with ornamental plants and trees but Howard and Ivy had farming in their blood.
"The topsoil had been removed to Devon House some time ago, and we had to build it up again," says Sir Howard, "and at the same time, that first year we planted more than a hundred fruit trees."
The soil is enriched by a series of mulch pits, where vegetable cuttings and manure from the farm's 50 cows is placed, covered with grass cuttings. Three months later, according to farm manager Spencer Jarrett the mulch is transferred to vegetable beds. "Artificial fertiliser? We don't use it." We meander among brilliant green beds of callaloo, pak choy, cabbages, sweet and hot peppers, past thriving paw paw and gungo peas. Sir Howard pauses to point proudly. "These are Neem trees," he explains. "We chop up the leaves, steep them, and use the liquid for spray."
ORCHARDS
"No artificial insecticides," adds Mr. Jarrett
We are in the orchards. Noni trees are bearing, so are jimbelins, tangerines and mangoes. There is even a stand of sugar cane. As I leave I am given a huge scandal bag of garden fresh fruit and vegetables. Where does all the produce go? Mostly to the tables of King's House residents, their staff, and visiting dignitaries If Missus Queen dines with Their Excel-lencies she will discover what REAL food tastes like!
The farm at King's House is perhaps the most spectacular in the Corporate Area but it is not alone. Go through upper St. Andrew, and see fruit trees planted among the bougainvillaea. Go down the humble lanes of the inner-city communities and glimpse tomato plants and peppers flourishing in old Milo tins, peak into a tiny back yard and discover a rabbit hutch.
"In the country," says Sir Howard, "every child is given a goat or rabbit to care. Even in Kingston a child could raise a rabbit and turn a flower pot into a garden."
The two teachers, Mas' Howard and Miss Ivy, are still teaching valuable lessons!
