Our Second Agrifest

Last weekend Denise and I enjoyed our second Agrifest.  Normally they are held in mid February, but the hurricanes delayed last years until May so we were able to attend.  Since we met Dale and Yvette with Sejah Farm last July we've had fun helping them build things for their bush cook event, and helping on the farm.  (Here's a link to a Foodie Insider video from the bush cook). 

I mentioned in the last blog entry that we built the panels for this years display and installed them in the booth area.  Here's a picture of what we started with.

With the main display mostly completed we were able to add the quarter barrels to see if they'd work to hold the produce. 

Here's the final product with Yvette before the judging. 

Left to right, here's closer look of each section on the first day.  They would change things around on the other two days depending on items available.  The left section had green tomatoes on the left, going up to ripe red ones, cherry tomatoes, okra, zucchini, sweet season peppers, pumpkin, egg plant and herbs in bags.  The back wall had seasoning, honey from the VI honeyman and a book, Hidden Secrets by Clarice Clark, pictures of historical and natural parts of the island.  The large leaves between the barrels holding the vegetables came from our property.  I had found them a few months ago and marked them on the GPS so I was able to hike down the hill through the brush and get some. 

The middle section contained spicy season peppers,ginger, green papaya, turmeric, carambola, sweet potatoes, three different types of banana's, and eggs from a local church youth group.  Dale and Yvette donate the unmarketable produce to the group to feed the chickens. 

We added a shelf to the door so we could display the green onions and chives.  Denise is with one of Yvette's grandsons, and a granddaughter hiding on the right. 

The right section contained all the greens with Kale, Swiss chard, Pac & toy choy, chinese cabbage, turnip tops, arugula, lettuce, collard greens and spinach. 

Dale and Yvette came in first place for their display, and grand champions for their products.  One of the local newspapers came by to get a pictures so they had Denise and I join them for the photo (the paper misspelled Denise's name). 

The event was Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  We were up early Sunday and Monday to harvest more vegetables and herbs, wash and bag them, then head to the fairgrounds.  Monday night we took down most of the loose items, then Tuesday morning we were at the fairgrounds by 6 AM.  In about an hour Dale, Denise and I had the entire display disassembled and on the trailer. 

We had a great time and are really happy we could help them this year along with other their other volunteers Christina, Paige and Andrew.  We met many great people from the US mainland and other local islands.  They shared recipe ideas for the fruits and vegetables from different cultures. 

Last week I had a little adventure on the way back from Home Depot when I witnessed this accident. 

We have one highway that runs east to west.  The construction had the left lane closed (we drive on the left here) and signs and barrels were in place to move vehicles to the right lane.  I was behind the truck with the boat, and he was behind the red car.  The red car waited too long before merging.  I was going to move over but noticed two white Japanese mini trucks (steering wheels on the right) quickly approaching in the right lane.  I waited for them to go by then moved over.  The woman in the red car started to merge near the end of her lane but notice the trucks coming.  She hit her brakes hard then stopped to avoid the trucks.  Both trucks sped by, but by that time the truck was breaking hard.  The trailer swung to the right and broke his passenger tail lights.  At the last second he decided to swerve left while braking but hit a few construction barrels and forced his nose hard left.  With brakes still on, the trailer was on two wheels sliding sideways about to roll when it slammed into the back of the red car.  I was far enough back to avoid the carnage and pulled to the left shoulder.  Both drivers were fine but their vehicles were badly damaged.  The boat trailer is tweaked a bit but should be fine. 

We're still waiting for the excavator to be fixed.  The correct part came in but he still has hydraulic issues.  Hopefully Chico will be up and running by Monday. 

That's all for now. 

Kevin & Denise

Still waiting for machine parts, still finding things to do.

Chico is still waiting on the correct parts to arrive so we can continue the excavation.  He received the incorrect part for his traxcavator, had to send it back, so the waiting continues.  Denise and I spent some time cutting and trimming trees around the house site to open up the view.  Our final view will be about 220 degrees and will give us sunrises over Christainsted and the east end of the island, and sunsets over Ham's Bluff on the west end.  We noticed the other day that we're able to see a little bit of the sea on the south shore through a valley over Christiansted.  Sorry for the shaky video and wind noise.  It was a bit windy yesterday and I forgot to edit the sound out before uploading.

We received more plants from friends and have most of them planted on the property.  I'll add photos on the next blog update.  Denise and I helped our friend Gerry plant some fox tail palms, and also helped him build two raised beds.  

Last week Kent's son Tom was on the island to help us finish the repairs to the small cistern.  I had it prepped by draining it, cleaning and pressure washing it, then drying it out.  I had to remove the storm plugs from two downspouts to divert the water from that cistern.  We drilled a hole about 8' from the bottom for the overflow to the large cistern, and diverted another downspout to the large cistern.  Once we were done we had to seal it using a product called Thoroseal.  This is basically like a sandy cement water proofing mixture you paint on the walls and floor.  Tom and I were down in the cistern spreading the product while Denise as up top with the large drill mixing the goop.  It took us a few days but everything is sealed, downspouts reconnected and it's raining as I type so water is flowing in. 

The VI Agrifest is this weekend.  Last May I put some info on the blog from last years agricultural festival.   It's normally in February but the hurricanes set it back to May last year.  We had only been on the island a month and so much has changed for Denise and I since that time.  We've met so many great farmers and many of their friends.  Our favorites farmers, Dale and Yvette from Sejah Farm will be there again this year.  We had so much fun with helping them prepare for their bush cook, and are glad we're able to help them with this years Agrifest.  Keeping with the barrel design we used during the bush cook, and in their market, we decided to flatten barrels on boards to create a wall across their booth. 

We had 29' to work with in their display.  They'll have three 8' wide tables and and entry into their booth from the front.  We decided to create three 8' panels using the barrels.  A flattened barrel covers about 6.5' so we started from one end and worked our way across as we disassembled them, keeping the center plug centered for that barrel.  The picture below should give you a better idea of what I'm trying to explain.  The ground is a bit uneven so they look warped, but they are smooth when they're vertical.  I had to find barrels that had similar curvatures to keep a consistent look. 

Dale and Yvette were asked to showcase the VI's agriculture at a Havana Nights Cuban festival fund raiser for Project Promise last weekend.  Dale decided to use the barrel panels we built so we packed them up Saturday and took them to Fredericksted Fort for the event.  We took all three panels, and nine quarter barrels from the market for the display.  They already had some full barrels at the fort so we used them as corner pieces to blend the area together.  We didn't worry about top or bottom of the panels, or which order they were in. 

Here's a view from the back side looking out to the guest seating area before the event started. 

The event appeared to be a great success.  All the tables were full (I believe $65 per seat) and the food and live music were great.  There were a few quick rain showers as expected on a tropical island, but the party continued through them.  We stayed dry under the tent in the display.  After the event we took down the display and loaded them on the trailer.  It was a long day and we had a good time.  

Today we took the panels to the agricultural grounds to build their display.  We were able to get the panels mounted and the gate installed.  I built two shelves for the back wall (painted and drying on the front two tables) and still need to mount them, and finish the boards at the top that will hold their banner.  There will be shade cloth covering the window in the back.  The windows had some damage that hasn't been repaired.  It's still rough but should look great in a few days, and be the best looking booth during the event.  Denise and I are glad we're able to be a part of the adventures.  

Ivan decided to sit with me tonight as I updated the blog.  Normally he's nearby but tonight he had to get in a little closer.  He hung out over my arms for awhile then sat between us as I finished.  Jack is at my feet where he usually sleeps.  

Some people get emails when I update the blog.  I see that Google+ has gone away so I'm not sure how it will affect how followers are notified of my blog updates, or how comments will be handled or displayed.  

That's all for now.  I'll post pictures of this weekends events early next week if possible.  

Kevin & Denise.