“Rural” Means Fresh Produce--Year Round—even in America’s blue water paradise on St. Croix!

Living on a more rural island in paradise on St. Croix has big plus points!  Like organic, fresh produce, year around.

My weekend ritual includes stopping in at a couple of farm stands near my home on Saturday morning.  Growers from three local farms bring their fabulous fresh produce and herbs and set up under tents in the field at one of my stops.  Abberra from Ethiopia, owner of a huge fruit orchard, puts out whatever exotic tropical fruits the trees are bearing:  jaboticaba (Brazilian Cherries), mango, star apple, papaya, Java apple, and avocado.  Abberra grows 43 different species of fruit trees, 300 trees altogether.  He’s been voted Farmer of the Year three times!  Then there’s Toni who moved to St. Croix to become a farmer but also makes jams, and chutneys and pure soaps (and she’s a bee-keeper to boot!).  Grantley and his wife come with eggplants, tomatoes, okra, sometimes green beans and always lots of potted herbs.  They bring along local eggs and bottles of honey, even homemade guava or coconut tarts and pina colada cakes--everything local!

The Art Farm is open for several hours on three days a week and has people starting to line up about 20 minutes before it opens at 10 on Saturday.  It’s quite a little social gathering just barely masking the competition for when the gates open for first dibs on fresh figs, heirloom tomatoes and wonderful greens to name a few of the offerings.

You can bet I will be back Wednesday when they return.  On other days, they carry their produce to various locations around the island.

A huge group of farmers collect at La Reine Farmers’ Market every Saturday morning, and people gather as early as 6:00 a.m. for veggies, fruits and plants, fish, fresh bananas and local coconut drinks.  Jackson Farm opens its stand on Centerline Road nearly everyday.  And other smaller growers set up under trees along the roadside, too. 

Or you can join Ridge to Reef’s “Community Supported Agriculture” program: sign up for three months, pay in advance and have a box of colorful certified organic produce delivered each week to your area of the island.  Would you believe tons of St. Thomians and people from St. John have joined?  Ridge to Reef ships its veggies to our sister islands for members there--that’s because St. Croix offers such an abundance of healthy fresh foods!  Ridge to Reef also hosts farm tours, donation dinners with guest chefs and group retreats. 

Come experience the agrarian side of life on St. Croix, between dips in our crystal-blue seas and beach walks.  You might even want to live in rural paradise!  We have so much more available on our 84 square miles than you'd think is possible.  Give it a thought now and again on Earth Day, coming up on April 22nd.  We’re pretty down-to-earth here!