MY VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE

DEL HANAH FARM

My assignment was to work with Mr. Frazer, owner of Del Hanah Farm, to assist him in applying for organic certification. His farm has over 300 Soursop Trees that produce the largest soursops I’ve ever seen! Soursop is best eaten fresh: just cut open, dig in, fill mouth and spit out the few seeds. The flavor is light, heavenly, sweet, and custardy. Mr. Frazer also grows bananas, coconuts, black eye peas and peanuts.

I led a pruning workshop and then we got to work, pruning and cleaning under the first three rows of the Soursop grove to remove ant habitat (they transport mealybugs). This prepared the ground for a Diatomaceous Earth application under the trees. Organic DE is safe for human consumption and also acts as a desiccant to insects. It is like ground glass to ants - so when they crawl over the powder it cuts open their eco-skeleton and they dry out.

It was great fun to work with the fantastic team that included Mr. Fraser and his three employees: Carlton, Leonard and Mauby. There was also Akeila, the field officer from Farmer-to-Farmer, who was such a joy to work with and Carlton, our driver, who worked as hard as everyone else. We got so much done… organizing the farm, creating a sample pruning and cleaning area, and prepping for these methods to be implemented throughout the rest of the grove.

A bonus to this opportunity was the wonderful farm lunches! One day Mr. Frazer provided a chickpea salad with cucumbers rolled into a delicious chickpea tortilla, and farm fresh apple bananas for dessert. The most memorable meal was the Metemgee - a national dish made with cassava, sweet potato and plantain all cooked in coconut milk along with a wheat flour dumpling, called duff, that melts in your mouth. This was served with a side of okra. Coconuts from the farm were served as a sweet dessert!

One day I invited Chet, another Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer staying at my hotel, to the farm. I had learned that he was a beekeeper, and had finished an assignment with the Guyana Beekeeping Association, so I invited him to visit the bees at Del Hanah Farm. Chet enjoyed the bees, but the rest of us stayed away from the hives as they have African bee genetics and can be aggressive!

Working with everyone at the farm was a wonderful experience and getting to eat so well was a great benefit!

Farm life was great and time in town was fun too!