The Cayman Islands Grand Cayman newest Agritourism attraction - Plantation House Eco Site will open at 5pm, Saturday, February 27 with a tour of the Gardens followed by a casual Reception on the Porches and Terraces of the House. Visiting Chefs will work magic starting at 6pm converting fresh herbs, vegetables and fruit from the Gardens right before your eyes. Aged rums will be available for sampling and cigars will also be available for those who wish to sit aside and enjoy. Please contact caymanfarms.com for more information.

Welcome to caymanfarms.com!  - Connect directly to organic farmers in the Cayman Islands! Farmers Database is Updated Jan 2010

Click to listen! -- Dj Mouse on the Caribbean Roots Radio Show - Click to listen to the DJ Mouse on the Caribbean Roots Radio Show ONE HOUR -This Week - The history of Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago Jan 31st 2010 Radio Webcast - Recorded. -Click to listen!

Listen to WEBCAST Live! www.kumd.org

Sunday's 11 am CST or 1 pm Caribbean Time

Pirates Punch

Mix together and garnish with orange wedge and cherry.

Vegetable Gardening at 20 Degrees North: Thinking Upside-Down

A. Joel Walton, Plantation House Eco Site  www.plantationhouse.blogspot.com

Caymanians have historically tended year-round “grounds” filled with the traditional starchy crops including cassava, yam, sweet potato, pumpkin, and banana/bottler/plantain suckers. Other crops including seasoning pepper, hot pepper, papaya, watermelon and coco-yam were also grown side-by-side. Not-so-traditional crops such as tomatoes, cucumber, peanuts and corn were often times grown at the “best times” by the more adventurous farmer.

Vegetable gardening of the more “non-traditional” crops such as beetroot, turnip and leek in raised beds in backyards or on allotments (starting every spring) was not popular for Caymanians but for some of our new residents who hail from temperate climates, this has been their tradition. Many of these new persons to our Islands are from strong gardening cultures but are used to far different conditions than that found at 20 degrees north.


Kitchen gardens, or potager, are easier to tend because they have clearly defined raised beds and permanent pathways.

We can successfully grow many of the same vegetables here as are grown farther North with some notable exceptions being asparagus, globe artichoke and rhubarb. In exchange, we have many more growing options such as okra, aubergine, watermelon, true sweet potato plus the usual suspects including tomato, cucumber, sweet pepper, cabbage, carrot, radish, and beetroot. This is a benefit of Cayman being located smack in between the Tropics and Subtropics – our growing palate is seemingly endless. I enjoy growing peach and strawberry and leek and mizuna as much as I do mango and naseberry and okra and tropical spinach. All are possible here at 20 degrees north.

But there is one simple challenge and often times I get asked the question: why is it that my tomatoes do not bear fruit? In response to this question I will often ask: when do you plant them? Not surprisingly, 9.99 times out of 10 the response is “I planted them in the spring and summer”.

Thinking upside-down, Rule 1 of 1: Our main vegetable growing season for “non-traditional” crop starts in the autumn and not in the spring or summer. Please note that there are many more reasons for this other than cooler days and nights but that discussion is for another article.

Our soils are in the main, very alkaline, shallow, salty (in many cases) and devoid of organic content: classic conditions for composting? Sure, and this is strongly encouraged, particularly in raised bed systems where soils can be modified and developed over a period of 2-4 years to almost perfect growing conditions. Hurricanes also provide an endless supply of green materials which can be readily mulched and used as soil amendments as well.
Compost (either purchased or homemade) and mulch are both natural ways to lower your soil’s ph (most vegetables prefer a ph of around 6.8), increase its organic content; water holding capacity, aeration and its depth. Another naturally occurring mineral, gypsum (which incidentally was the primary basis for the development of the Little Cayman Railroad) will reduce soil saltiness whilst simultaneously reducing soil compaction and providing additional calcium for the soil.

Compost is one of nature’s best mulches and soil amendments and you can use it instead of commercially manufactured fertilisers. Compost also loosens clay soils and helps sandy soils retain water. Adding compost improves soil fertility and stimulates healthy root developments in plants. The organic matter provided in compost provides food for micro-organisms, which keeps the soil in a healthy balanced condition. The 3 main plants nutrients: nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus will be produced naturally by the feeding of micro-organisms, so few if any soil amendments will need to be added once a healthy balance has been achieved.

Gardening at 20 degrees north, Rule 1 of 1: Add, add, and add.

Cayman Island Orchid House and Orchid Farms - Orchid species of the Cayman Islands and the Caribbean
I have been collecting and growing Orchids for over 26 years. At present I am operating a 3000sq ft shade house, filled to capacity with Phalenopsis, Cattleyas, Dendrobiums, some Vandas and other warm growing species. We also maintain a small collection of a few Cayman Species. I also grow Tropical Fruits such as Mango, Sapodillas, Papayas, Bananas, Plantains, Peppers, Pumpkins as well as many vegetables during the growing season (November to April). I am also actively engaged in the conservation of native Orchids. I am presently the President of The Cayman Orchid Society.

Plantation House Eco Site Grand Opening - Grand Cayman Island Organic Ecotourism and Agrotourism Vacations in the Cayman IslandsVacations in the Cayman IslandsVacations in the Cayman IslandsVacations in the Cayman IslandsVacations in the Cayman IslandsVacations in the Cayman IslandsVacations in the Cayman IslandsVacations in the Cayman IslandsVacations in the Cayman IslandsVacations in the Cayman IslandsVacations in the Cayman IslandsVacations in the Cayman IslandsVacations in the Cayman IslandsVacations in the Cayman IslandsVacations in the Cayman Islands

Jan 2010

This year, we planted our usual beds of carrot, radish, beetroot and, for the first time, turnip and parsnips. Cucumber, eggplant, spring onion/scallion, watermelon, pumpkin and okra continue to be harvested from our summer plantings. All of our tomato (several varieties), sweet pepper (3 varieties), watermelon, cantelope (6 varieties), mushmelon, and various salad leaves have all been planted out. Some fruit continue to also be harvested including papaya, mango (Keitt), june plum (golden apple, pomme cythere), guava, bilimbi, chella mella, and ju plum.

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Join the Cayman Farms FORUM - **NEW**

SPEAK OUT!  - Meet new friends in the Cayman Islands - Upload Photos

DOAM - Dominica Organic Agriculture Movement

Cayman Islands  42 annual Agricultural Show- 02/25/09

which was held at the Stacy Watler Pavilion was a great success. All who attended were surely pleased with the showings of the local farmers. Impressive displays of fruits and plants and animals of all sorts were a hit!

Cayman Farms

Joel Walton - Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits and fresh expresso coffee

Joel Walton - dewilligo@hotmail.com, plantationcaribbean@yahoo.com

Kirk's Orchid House, Grand Caymam, Cayman Islands

Organic & Beyond

The Rodale Institute's Organic Transition Course is a 15-hour online program designed to help you understand the National Organic Standards and use them as your framework for making the transition to organic production.

It's perfect for farmers who are ready to make the complete transition to certified organic, and for those interested in simply integrating more sustainable methods into their current farming system. Just want to learn more about how certified organic farming works? The course can help there, too.

Network of magazines on low external input and sustainable agriculture
Welcome / Bienvenido / Salam / Bienvenue / Bem-vindo / ?? Welcome to the LEISA Network 
Success stories from small-scale farmers are often hard to find. They do exist, and there is much to be learnt from them. They can help improve productivity, generate income, and empower farmers. The LEISA Network finds and publishes these stories, and exchanges knowledge and information on sustainable, small-holder farming around the world.

AGROMISA- KNOWLEDGE CENTRE FOR SMALL SCALE SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
Agromisa was established in 1934, and is linked to Wageningen University and Research Centre. Our aim is to exchange knowledge information on small-scale sustainable agriculture and related topics. Our target group is the underprivileged population in rural areas. Agromisa's main objective is to strengthen the self-reliance of the target group and to improve their livelihood by sharing experience and knowledge. Agromisa's role in this is a supportive one, which implies that we are not a donor organisation, nor do we finance projects directly. It is Agromisa's belief that the gap between formal (scientific) knowledge and informal (farmers') knowledge should be bridged. To achieve this, Agromisa wants to collaborate with intermediary organisations.

Conservation agriculture
Conservation agriculture (CA) aims to achieve sustainable and profitable agriculture and subsequently aimes at improved livelihoods of farmers through the application of the three CA principles: minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and crop rotations. CA holds tremendous potential for all sizes of farms and agro-ecological systems, but its adoption is perhaps most urgently required by smallholder farmers, especially those facing acute labour shortages. It is a way to combine profitable agricultural production with environmental concerns and sustainability and it has been proven to work in a variety of agroecological zones and farming systems. It is been perceived by practitioners as a valid tool for Sustainable Land Management (SLM).

Agroforestry.net - Publications available for free download
Agroforestry Net, Inc. is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing educational resources about agroforestry, trees, and sustainable stewardship of land and water. We are recognized by the IRS as a tax-exempt 501 (c)(3) organization. The information provided by Agroforestry Net, Inc. is available to the public at agroforestry.net. Our activities are supported by donations from individuals.

World Agroforestry Center
In 2002 the Centre acquired the brand name the ‘World Agroforestry Centre’. The ‘International Centre for Research in Agroforestry’ remains our legal name and we continue to use the acronym ‘ICRAF’. The new name reflects the fact that the Centre is now recognized as the international leader in agroforestry research and development. Realistically, however, the Centre cannot possibly provide expertise on all conceivable dimensions of agroforestry—nor do we wish to do so. There are advantages to specialization, which is why the Centre engages in strategic alliances with a range of other institutions. Some of these partners are centres of scientific excellence in specific topics of relevance to agroforestry; others specialize in the effective delivery of research results to farmers fields.

Market Gardening, Mini-farming, Mini-ranching 
Through free enterprise and micro-entrepreneurship both urban and rural mini-agriculture applications have been proven to produce substantial income on surprisingly small acreage. There is unlimited opportunity in mini-agriculture whether rural or urban. Mini-agriculture can provide a comfortable income, a quality lifestyle, a great service to the community and it's a great way to raise kids. One woman took a one week course, went to Alaska, prepared the land and sold $20,000 worth of vegetables and then had six months of vacation. A couple in Midland, Texas, grossed $14,000 from one and a half acres.

The World Vegetable Center
AVRDC – the World Vegetable Center is the leading international center for vegetable research and development worldwide. It is a not-for-profit research institute aimed at working towards reducing malnutrition and alleviating poverty in developing countries through improved production and consumption of safe vegetables. Founded in 1971 as the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center with a mandate to enhance vegetable production in the Asian tropics, the World Vegetable Center has taken up a global role in promoting and supporting vegetable research and development in Africa, Asia, and other regions of the world. The Center builds capacity and forms alliances with partners from both the public and private sectors which have complementary expertise. Engagement in regional and supra-regional networks for research and development helps increase outreach and impact. Over the past 30 years scientists at the World Vegetable Center have successfully bred cultivars and designed and developed technologies that help increase yields and incomes in developing countries. Millions of farmers today grow vegetable crops using seed or technologies that have been developed at the Center. Studies document clearly that vegetables are vital for healthier diets and help generate stronger economies which hears relevance especially in developing countries.

Global Crop Pest Identification and Information Services in Integrated Pest
Management (IPM) on the World Wide Web

The Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development (CIIFAD) and collaborators welcome you to the prototype of the Global Crop Pest Identification and Information Services in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) on the World Wide Web.

Biological Control Information Center
Biological control is, generally, human's use of a specially chosen living organism to control a particular pest. This chosen organism might be a predator, parasite, or disease which will attack the harmful insect. It is a form of manipulating nature to increase a desired effect. A complete Biological Control program may range from choosing a pesticide which will be least harmful to beneficial insects, to raising and releasing one insect to have it attack another, almost like a "living insecticide".

INTEGRATED PLANT PROTECTION CENTER
The Integrated Plant Protection Center (IPPC) was formed in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University (OSU) in 1969, and has been conducting research and outreach in a state, national and international setting ever since.  The IPPC provides a home for the State IPM Coordinator, who works with the USDA CSREES, the federal partner of the Land Grant Universities in the USA, to implement integrated pest management (IPM) practices wherever these are needed. This program of implementation is guided by the National Roadmap for IPM, which has established goals for delivering economically sustainable pest management with lower costs to human health and to the environment in the USA. To help us in this process, the USDA has established four regional IPM Centers, and the IPPC works closely with the Western IPM Center based at University of California, Davis. The IPPC leads and coordinates a number of multi-investigator, multi-state research and outreach programs, but it is only one element of the broader IPM program at OSU. Follow the links on this site to locate the wide array of IPM related activity at OSU and the IPM programs of our state and regional partners. IPPC is also engaged in a number of international programs, including publication of IPMnet NEWS. Please save our homepage as a bookmark or ‘favorite’ to keep abreast of new developments.  This web site was established in June 2006, and the information and services that it provides access to will be expanding in the coming years. We appreciate your patience while this process of development is underway.

Worldwide Portal to Information on Soil Health
The Tropical Soil Cover and Organic Resource Exchange (TropSCORE) Consortium is currently developing the Worldwide Portal to Information on Soil Health in conjunction with Cornell University's Mann Library, the Agriculture Network Information Center (AgNIC), Cornell's Soil Health Program Work Team, the Northeast Organic Network, Corporacion Artemisa and several other international institutions and programs. The Portal uses software that allows all AgNIC partner sites --including US land-grant universities and the National Agriculture Library-- to function as one comprehensive portal for agriculture-based Internet resources. Members of the TropSCORE Consortium include MOIST/CIIFAD, CIDICCO, CIEPCA and ECHO.

The Permaculture Research Institute

FAO Organic Agriculture Programme

Ecocrop

ECHO Fighting world hunger