What's a Girl to Do?
The need to plant and grow some of what you consume is a lesson I learned at a very young age with a father who believed that we children (all 8 of us) should be able to find snacks and food in and around our yard at any given time of year. I grew up on a sizeable plot of land in the heart of the country which was home to at times, sugar canes, ground provisions, herb beds and all manner of fruits.
As the years progressed, the land was used up for housing an aging and visually impaired relative and after the death of the gentle man Mr Philip (so many funny stories I have of him) who helped my mother with much of the work on the land, we resorted to just growing fruit trees.
And we nurtured a beautiful orchard around us. I recall picking; limes, cherries, gooseberries, shaddocks, soursop, avocado, pomegranate, golden apple, coconuts, ackee (not the Jamaican version), mangoes, plums, bananas and passion fruit, and as the years went by things were added, removed and the cycle continued. In recent years, my family has even added sweet tamarind, moringa, bayleaf, coconuts, breadfruit and Jamaican plum, and still has room for more additions. More on that in a later post! (smile)
Now with a family of my own and in light of food security issues worldwide, I looked forward to planting my own little orchard on my limited urban plot. Four years ago, I sowed some soursop, avocado, sapote, pomegranate and mulberry and have reaped from the latter two repeatedly. I was so excited last year to finally see two soursops emerge on the tree. I painfully recall checking on the two beautiful and weighty fruit late one evening reassuring myself one more day on the tree and I'll harvest them.
Well after pouring my cup of tea the next morning I headed out to check on my babies only to find this!
I WAS DEVASTATED!!!!!
Since then the tree has blossomed multiple times and nothing survives the mystery attacker. Ever so often, I'll wake to find blossoms scattered under the tree but no signs of bat droppings, rat droppings, nothing to indicate who the predator is. My friend KJ had been suffering a similar fate at the hand of monkeys but surely she lives in the woods and this is to be expected. Why are pests bothering me in the middle of the city?
Well she suggested newspaper which worked for a little while (not long enough for me to eat anything..lol), then she said she heard somewhere that CDs would work. The premise being the reflective light will scare pests away. Well let me tell you that I am now convinced my protagonist is a monkey and he has a CD player because the CDs have been disappearing!....WT*!!!!
And its not just the fruit. They have dug up my chives, eaten my kale, increase peas..........
My confirmation arrived one Saturday evening as my partner and I sat in our little hangout spot in the yard chatting. After hearing much commotion, we look up to see a rather bold monkey sitting on my neighbor's roof staring right at us. It showed absolutely no fear and was in no way phased by our shooing.
I soon learned the island now has a monkey population of over 40,000 and I guess with more of their habitats inland being used for housing that I will be seeing more of them in my neck of the city.................................WHAT'S A GIRL TO DO????
As the years progressed, the land was used up for housing an aging and visually impaired relative and after the death of the gentle man Mr Philip (so many funny stories I have of him) who helped my mother with much of the work on the land, we resorted to just growing fruit trees.
And we nurtured a beautiful orchard around us. I recall picking; limes, cherries, gooseberries, shaddocks, soursop, avocado, pomegranate, golden apple, coconuts, ackee (not the Jamaican version), mangoes, plums, bananas and passion fruit, and as the years went by things were added, removed and the cycle continued. In recent years, my family has even added sweet tamarind, moringa, bayleaf, coconuts, breadfruit and Jamaican plum, and still has room for more additions. More on that in a later post! (smile)
Now with a family of my own and in light of food security issues worldwide, I looked forward to planting my own little orchard on my limited urban plot. Four years ago, I sowed some soursop, avocado, sapote, pomegranate and mulberry and have reaped from the latter two repeatedly. I was so excited last year to finally see two soursops emerge on the tree. I painfully recall checking on the two beautiful and weighty fruit late one evening reassuring myself one more day on the tree and I'll harvest them.
Well after pouring my cup of tea the next morning I headed out to check on my babies only to find this!
I WAS DEVASTATED!!!!!
Since then the tree has blossomed multiple times and nothing survives the mystery attacker. Ever so often, I'll wake to find blossoms scattered under the tree but no signs of bat droppings, rat droppings, nothing to indicate who the predator is. My friend KJ had been suffering a similar fate at the hand of monkeys but surely she lives in the woods and this is to be expected. Why are pests bothering me in the middle of the city?
Well she suggested newspaper which worked for a little while (not long enough for me to eat anything..lol), then she said she heard somewhere that CDs would work. The premise being the reflective light will scare pests away. Well let me tell you that I am now convinced my protagonist is a monkey and he has a CD player because the CDs have been disappearing!....WT*!!!!
And its not just the fruit. They have dug up my chives, eaten my kale, increase peas..........
My confirmation arrived one Saturday evening as my partner and I sat in our little hangout spot in the yard chatting. After hearing much commotion, we look up to see a rather bold monkey sitting on my neighbor's roof staring right at us. It showed absolutely no fear and was in no way phased by our shooing.
I soon learned the island now has a monkey population of over 40,000 and I guess with more of their habitats inland being used for housing that I will be seeing more of them in my neck of the city.................................WHAT'S A GIRL TO DO????
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