Grow Grenada

Growing plants, ideas, and people in Grenada, West Indies

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flower of the banana tree

“Cause and effect, means and ends, seed and fruit, cannot be severed; for the effect already blooms in the cause, the end preexists in the means, the fruit in the seed.”   ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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About Grow Grenada

Grow Grenada is a conscious realization that the closer we are to the earth, the closer we are to a peaceful and prosperous future. We are in Grenada where the land is fertile yet there are “idle hands and idle lands” where we believe a sustainable form of agriculture can provide people with food, livelihood and growth for the individual as well as the community. We adhere to the philosophy and practices of permaculture and apply it to the local context.

We advocate:

1. Plants and information for people that want to grow things should be affordable and easily accessible.

2. With the natural availability of organic solutions to applications of herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers, we believe that chemicals are obsolete and destructive to cultivating healthy growing conditions.

3. The soil web is a complex and integrated system that is destroyed by tilling and disrupting the soil layers. We believe that we need to cultivate soil that is not tilled or disrupted.

4. We discourage “slash and burn” clearing of land and we believe that nearly every organic element of converting land for agricultural use can be used to create and sustain healthy growing conditions. Fire is an extremely inefficient expenditure of energy and resources and should be used sparingly, if at all.

5. Permaculture promotes the observation of natural processes and environments. As much as possible we want to plant things in ways that imitate nature instead of bending nature to our will and convenience.

6. We want to impress upon people the value of education and potential for innovative enterprises in agriculture in Grenada. There are many marketable opportunities that can be taken advantage of ranging from growing crops to sell at market, to secondary products, to products and services aimed at the organic agricultural industry. Growing things in Grenada is equivalent to growing money.

7. Fukuoka Masanobu, a progenitor to the permaculture movement, said, “The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.” We believe that through conscious action we improve ourselves and our communities by becoming closer to our food sources, being aware of the interconnectivity of nature and understanding how we can provide for ourselves by being good stewards of the earth.

Growth has a variety of definitions, but we believe in the quality of life vs. standard of living. Economic growth is achievable but moreover we hope to help people grow in their consciousness. Every time you see “Grow Grenada” we want to cheer you on towards a better you and a better Grenada.

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Can I have a phone number for Ashenden please?

We currently do not have a number for Ashenden at the moment - also be advised that Ashenden is closed until sometime in June. You should be able to get a number from the Ministry of Agriculture at 440-2255. All the best!

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untitled on Flickr.

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Susan Mains talking about Grow Grenada on GBN

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untitled on Flickr.

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Food Revolution Day 2014 on Instagram

To view more photos and videos from Food Revolution Day, browse the #FRD2014 hashtag and follow Jamie Oliver (@jamieoliver) and Food Revolution (@foodrev) on Instagram.

Today marks the third annual Food Revolution Day, a day of global action to get kids excited about healthy food, learn cooking skills and raise awareness of the importance of better food education.

"I won’t ever stop demanding positive change that gives the next generation a brighter future," says UK chef Jamie Oliver (@jamieoliver), who started the campaign in 2012. “It’s a sad fact that our children are getting unhealthier and they’re expected to live shorter lives than their parents. This is morally, socially and financially unacceptable, which is exactly why this record will carry on playing.”

From the UK to the Netherlands to Zambia, more than 100 countries are taking part this year. Jamie and his Food Revolution team are hoping to beat last year’s record of 1,260 events, with an aim of 1 million young people cooking on Friday. Schools and football clubs will be cooking alongside world-renowned chefs, and you can join in the fun by finding an activity in your area, going to a farmers’ market or just cooking a healthy meal at home and sharing your creation on Instagram with the #FDR14 hashtag.

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Grow Grenada: gardening is the most therapeutic and revolutionary thing you can do. Plus, you get strawberries. - Ron Finley

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Volunteering!

Dry season is a time to manage advantageous growth and prepare for planting. If you would like to help Grow Grenada with any of its projects please email us at [email protected]!

We will soon have opportunities for volunteers in a greenhouse setting, manual labor, and we are always looking for seeds and seedlings! We look forward to hearing from you!

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The most exemplary nature is that of the topsoil. It is very Christ-like in its passivity and beneficence, and in the penetrating energy that issues out of its peaceableness. It increases by experience, by the passage of seasons over it, growth rising out of it and returning to it, not by ambition or aggressiveness. It is enriched by all things that die and enter into it. It keeps the past, not as history or as memory, but as richness, new possibility. Its fertility is always building up out of death into promise. Death is the bridge or the tunnel by which its past enters its future.

Berry, Wendell (2013-07-04). The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry (p. 25). PGW - A. Kindle Edition. 

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Thanks to the Chinese Agricultural Mission and the Ministry of Agriculture for the progress on the greenhouse at Berean Christian Academy! Stay tuned for more progress!

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afristarfoundation.org

Companion Planting

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