Anybody visiting the grounds of the Department of Agriculture, in The Valley, will be amazed at the demonstration plots and pot cultivations of vegetables on display there.
It is all in preparation for the upcoming agricultural exhibition on the week-end of May 3 and 4 – and the Director of Agriculture, Mr. William Vanterpool, and members of his team, have been excitedly talking about the event.
“The exhibition should have been on April 5 and 6 but, in honour of our former boss, the late Mr. Leslie V. Richardson, whose funeral is on April 5, we postponed it,” Mr. Vanterpool explained. “Then, we had to postpone it again because it was clashing with the date for Festival Del Mar. The new dates are now Friday and Saturday, May 3 and 4 respectively.
“That also gives us more time for our exhibition produce to be at a more advanced stage with our plants actually bearing. They are now almost to the point of flowering so we have an additional month to showcase our products.”
He further stated: “For our exhibition, you will see really nice gardens using for planters – local materials such as pallet boards, tyres, buckets as well as newspapers and grass for mulching. We are showing persons how they can do backyard gardening the inexpensive way. For instance, we have a drum, with all the vegetables you can cook. You can have it either in your backyard or on your porch. You don’t need soil. We have the drum and the buckets on concrete, as well as PVC pipes showing that you don’t need soil in your yard. Come by us and we will show you how.”
Mr. Vanterpool said that his department would also have animals and other exhibits on display. He is urging members of the public to have their own exhibits, including produce and animals, at the exhibition as well.
He has also spoken about tours in vehicles to nearby cultivated fields, owned by farmers on the department’s farmland. According to him, the exhibition promises to be an exciting affair and should not be missed.
