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Jamaica: Turnkey Urban Garden


The Unlikely Gardener Ashley-Ann Foster 

As our leaders continue to preach the “eat what we grow, grow what we eat” sermon let’s get into action and make our national food security and eco-sustainability dreams come true.

By Ashley-Ann Foster
Jamaica Observer
February 21, 2021

Excerpt:

Similar to many Jamaicans, Neggo-Shane hails from a green-thumbed family of which he is the third generation. “My mother tended to her home garden daily and quite often this was the source of our meals. This highlighted for me the need to improve my food security, especially in financially challenging times,” he notes. With experience as life’s best teacher, coupled with a sound understanding of ecological economics and the sustainable needs of the ever-evolving world, Plant Smart Ja was born as a turnkey urban garden provider.

With the view that “people are often interested in gardening but don’t have the space or knowledge of how to start”, Neggo-Shane seeks to bridge the gap between urban homes and farming. He explains that the“instant urban gardens provide plant seedlings that are already growing in ergonomically designed, finished, treated wooden planter boxes… each box, filled with a mix of vegetables and herbs, improves the food security of its owner’s household with minimal space and effort, especially for beginner urban farmers… the plants in our boxes are selected by our customers and range from spinach, callaloo, hot and sweet peppers to mint, thyme, rosemary, cilantro and basil, to name a few”. Neggo-Shane shares that the instant urban gardening solutions “are designed to be turnkey and relevant to our customers while occupying minimal space…[the] planter boxes are convenient for customers to maintain…[the] goal is to support our customers’ journey towards self-reliance in their food supply”.

Read the complete article here.