Agri-Christmas Night Market in St Kitts
The newly appointed Minister for Agriculture, the Honourable Alexis Jeffers has been pro-active in promoting local produce in a wider range of contexts. This Christmas marked the 1st anniversary of his night Agri-market. Established to occur in parallel with other cultural events such as Independence Day, Heroes Day…etc, the night market also aims to bring whole families out to create a lively atmosphere in the island’s largest market. On this occasion, they had carnival troupes performing for the shoppers.
This year’s event was held under the distinguished patronage of the Governor General His Excellency Sir S.W. Tapley Seaton GCMG, CVO, QC,JP, LL.D.
Throughout the month of December, the Ministry promoted different local produce that can make our Christmas feasts more exciting!
Whether it’s roasted butternut squash soup, creamy mashed butternut squash, stuffed squash
with wild rice, butternut squash mac and cheese, salad, bread or lasagna, you can find dozens of ways to incorporate this healthy vitamin and antioxidant loaded vegetable into your Christmas recipes.
Another Christmas favourite of course is sorrel – officially known as the Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) is a species of flowering plant in the genus Hibiscus that is native to West Africa. In the 16th and early 17th centuries it was spread to the West Indies and Asia, respectively, where it has since become naturalized in many places. With his hives strategically placed on his farm, our interim President Mr Monroe Tweed has been able to provide an abundant supply during this Christmas season.
Glossy, organic sorrel produced by President of the St Kitts Beekeepers Co-op, Mr Monroe Tweed
And of course, it would not be complete without local honey! Although not in plentiful supply at this time of the year, our beekeepers did not disappoint and there was sufficient local honey for sale.
Locally produced honey
Last, but not least, the St Kitts Beekeepers Co-op is looking forward to a very productive 2022. We are in the process of electing a new Executive and also many of us are part of the Regional Beekeeping Project sponsored by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Therefore this time next year, we hope to be able to share an increasing number of exciting developments across our Federation with the ACBO readership. Seasons Greetings and an abundance of happiness to you all for the new year!
