With shops closed and online retailers sold out or facing shipping delays, seeds are not as easy to find as they once were. Don’t worry, you can plant a Caribbean kitchen garden with many veggies found in the grocery store.
Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are simple to plant: Put whole sprouting potatoes or slips (cuttings from mature plants) in a few inches of soil at the bottom of a large pot or prepared garden bed. As the vines grow, cover with a few inches of soil every 2 weeks.
Sweet potatoes are usually ready to harvest 6-9 months later – after flowers form and as the leaves loose their luster. However, you can eat the young greens (cook them like spinach) as the plant is growing.
Chayote/christophine
This climbing vine grows fast, and produces the edible fruit within four months. Planting couldn’t be easier – just gently press the whole fruit into soil. Keep lightly moist, and protect from iguana who love to eat the young vines.
Provisions (malanga/dasheen/taro)
Provisions are easy to grow from supermarket starts. They like fertile, loose soil. Some varieties need lots of water.
Malanga (Xanthosoma sagittifolium) handles St Maarten’s dry conditions better than dasheen (Colocasia esculenta). Dasheen can be grown in a wide shallow pot to help keep moisture levels high enough. Neither grow particularly quickly – but a large patch becomes self sustaining for continuous harvest. Select small, plump eddoes and plant with the growth tip facing upright an inch below the soil.
Herbs
Basil, mint, lemon grass, and rosemary all grow easily from cuttings. You can root them in water. Spring onions do well planted directly into the ground. Cut them down to a few inches tall, then watch them grow!
Tomatoes
Tomatoes grown from super market seeds are rarely like their parents, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t tasty! Cherry tomatoes are usually quicker, but most tomatoes will fruit within three months.
Peppers
Like tomatoes, sweet peppers and chili peppers can be grown from seeds of mature veggies. They might not have the same flavor or shape, but they are often tasty!
Ginger and Turmeric
Ginger and turmeric can be planted from the small pieces found in grocery stores. You can plant a whole piece, or break/cut them into smaller pieces. If you cut them, be sure to let the pieces dry out for a few days so the cuts can heal.
Once you get a large patch established, you can harvest as needed. If growing in a pot, don’t forget to save some of your best pieces to replant for next year’s harvest.
Pumpkin and Watermelon
Local pumpkin and watermelon can be grown from saved seeds. Some supermarket squash (like butternut) will also grow in the Caribbean.
Fruit
Passion fruit, mango, avocado, guava, and many local fruit can be started from seed. While these may not be as robust as grafted plants, many will produce in a few years time. Try to select regionally grown varieties.
Seeds worth keeping on hand:
If you can get your hands on some seeds, here are some suggestions for a hot weather kitchen garden that will grow nutritious greens quickly:
Radishes, mizuna, pea shoots, arugula, bok choi, purple mustard.
Many of these are less enticing to iguana, and will be ready to make salads with within a month.
Don’t forget about the seeds you may have in your pantry, like beans, coriander, chia, and flax.
Share the Love
Don’t forget, neighbors can be a great source of seeds and starter plants. Be sure to return the favor often! Bananas, plantain, aloe, and even pineapple all send out small plants around the base of maturing plants.
Don’t forget to compost your kitchen scraps – so you can have a continuous source of fertilizer for your garden! More info HERE
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