“Arlene is her father’s own child,” remarked Hyacinth Josephs, mother of this week’s featured farmer, Arlene Josephs. “Before Daddy died, he used to plant and plant and plant,” she shared. “He was a real cultivator, but he didn’t get to plant anything at the back after we erected a long concrete wall.
The foot of the wall was pure stones, and when Arlene moved back home, she took on transforming it with such determination that now we always have something to eat from the open-air pantry the LORD helped her to build.”
As she walked with me through the garden, Arlene was all smiles, disclosing how her grandparents, who were farmers, motivated her to learn farming, as she used to spend time with them in the country. She admitted that it was years later, though, in 2008, that she finally branched out on her own gardening journey when she relocated to Spanish Town.
“God knows why He charted my life the way He did,” she reflected, “He wanted me to see what I was capable of achieving on my own since He knew I would need this as inspiration. So, no, I wasn’t at all daunted when I saw nothing but a high wall in the backyard with stones at the base. I knew the Lord would give me a strategy.”
UNBLOCKING ROADBLOCKS
And so He did! He instructed her to get some soil, enhance it with manure from the chicken coop that her mother had, and little by little, establish a garden bed along the length of the wall. She got some stones to border it, and soon enough she began planting all manner of crops.
Arlene’s God-given creativity is on full display in the flourishing garden. She covered three old wooden ladders with mesh wire to make a trellis for cucumbers, and repurposed an old bed spring for some red Jerusalem peas and red sugar beans to canter on from their bucket beds.
Everywhere you look around the yard and against the house, there’s a colourful bustle of various produce growing – some planted directly in the soil, while others are in containers – pak choy, lettuce, cucumber, okra, callaloo, spinach, cow peas, string beans, gungo peas, scotch bonnet peppers, sweet peppers, cabbage, corn, coco, pineapple, pumpkin, tomatoes, two types of sweet potatoes, sorrel, and chocho.
START AN OFFICE GARDEN
Arlene revealed that there are times she has to use chemicals for some unrelenting pests, but “only when the natural can’t really manage the issue being caused.” However, she relies on organic fertilisers to feed her plants. Her favourites are dried-out chicken manure, kitchen vegetable scraps, and ripe banana skins to make a potassium tea especially for the tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers.
The enthusiastic gardener frequently gifts seeds and seedlings to others and encourages them to start their own gardens as a way to keep down their grocery costs. “I always say that so many spaces are just going to waste; even some corporate businesses can use areas on their compound to plant things and share with staff,” she suggested.
“We don’t even buy eggs at home. My mother bought a few layers, and when there was an egg shortage the other day, we never had a problem,” was her wise comment as she pointed out several yam vines that are her mother’s speciality.
ENTREPRENEURIAL SEAMSTRESS
Arlene has three cautions for rookies:
1. Plants need close attention.
2. Some plants need more sunlight (e.g., tomatoes, cucumbers, string beans, and peanuts) than others (e.g., ginger and turmeric).
3. Don’t overwater.
An entrepreneurial seamstress by profession, Arlene mostly sews items for persons in the food area of the hospitality industry, like chef jackets and hats, aprons, tablecloths, and household articles for decor purposes like cushions, curtains, etc.
“How I find time to do gardening is sometimes spontaneous,” she confessed. “Sometimes, I just happen to go outside, and I end up attending to something in the garden. I enjoy being outdoors and learning from other gardeners on YouTube, although I must admit that I don’t really follow the moon as some people do, though. I just plant and pray.
“In 1 Cor. 3: 6, the Scripture says that Paul planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. This has been working for me, and I wouldn’t exchange it for anything else.”
