“Beverley’s Backyard Oasis”
By L.A. Nicholson
Once you mention the word “farming,” Beverley Stewart’s eyes will light up, and she will proceed to tell you of the love she has for the soil, inviting you, if you’re near, to view her efficiently-structured backyard garden.
Throughout the year, you will find staple items growing in her garden like scallion, thyme, okra, callaloo, tomato, spinach, and corn. Sugar-cane is embedded in her hedge, and her neighbours smile at the sight of the yam leaves peeking over the wall between them.
Stewart started her backyard garden during COVID-19, when she was stuck at home with an immense amount of time on her hands. “It was not a difficult process for me,” she explained. “My daughter was a big encouragement, too, as I was always telling her about my early years in Trelawny, where my mother planted food. Our meals were mainly from the earth, and all my siblings, scattered across St. Ann and Trelawny, continue to this day to engage in farming.”
Stewart, a security specialist in the import/export sector, said that when she saw what was happening during COVID: the long lines outside supermarkets, no movement days (which also impacted farmers and vendors in the markets), tremendous disruption in the global food supply chain, and delay after delay at the ports, she quickly recognised that securing her own food was of paramount importance.
“I started buying garden tools, seeds, seedlings, top soil, etcetera, and before long, I ended up with a nice little garden. Neighbours, co-workers, and friends—all have benefited because, you know, you plant one seed and God gives an exponential increase, plus my family is not as large as the one in which I grew up, so there is always excess to share.”
She testified, “Getting my hands in the earth in the cool of the morning also helps to strengthen my relationship with God, as I usually converse with Him at that time. He has been very good to me with the garden. I live in a gated community where the rain doesn’t visit much, but the vegetables have been preserved without many problems, and the soil right now is excellent. Everything is organic, as no form of insecticide is used. My only insect problem are the little green, smelly bugs, but they are no threat to me,” the security expert laughed.
For Stewart, gardening is very therapeutic. “It helps to keep me calm and my mind clear,” she confessed. “I get tremendous pleasure sowing and growing, reaping and sharing, and would encourage all Jamaicans to plant a seed today.”
