11/12 Farmer Gilbertico Sirberie

Fruit paradise

Gilbertico 'Tico' Sirberie (1990) is crazy about fruit. He loves to see how the fruits grow. The planting, pruning and care. Picking them at exactly the right time. He loves it dearly. His field is full of fruit trees. Lime, papaya, coconut, banana, watermelon?

Especially a lot of soursop, sòrsaka, of course. This is Hòfi Sòrsaka. The trees are lined up densely in rows. This soursop forest is beyond compare anywhere on Cura?ao. Tico has pruned the lower branches so he can walk under the trees. It is nice and cool, down here in the shade. The leaves crunch under your feet, birds chirp and butterflies fly from tree to tree. This is his pride and joy.

In 2008 Tico starts out on a small part of the site. Fifteen years later, at least three out of four hectares are developed. Planted with fruit trees, but also vegetables, such as sweet potato, cassava, Swiss chard, and spinach. The basic knowledge of vegetable and fruit cultivation he inherits from the older generations in his family. From his father, from his grandfather. He works and learns. So young and already so much experience. Farmer Tico can do everything himself.

Tico would not leave here for the world. He is on his fields every day, seven days a week, and mostly by himself. He's used to it. He's fine with it. No one to disturb him. The freedom, the peace. Dushi!

Tasty and healthy

“It is important for us to produce our own food. The quality is better than products from abroad. Fruits and vegetables on Cura?ao often get more sun and less rain. It has more flavor and is healthier. Soursop is particularly medicinal, but so are lime grass and oregano, for example. I learned that from the elders in my family.”

“I would like to plant more fruit trees. Medlar, cashew, shimaruku. People love that. There's plenty of room and I can handle it by myself. I only ask for help with weeding sometimes. Keeping the land clean is the hardest work. We do this with all kinds of tools, such as a 'chapi' (hoe), 'piki' (pickaxe) and a shovel."

Working together

“The sale does not yield much, but it is enough. In any case, we always eat healthily ourselves. The import of vegetables and fruits makes it difficult. I sell a cucumber for 1.75 guilders; the supermarket gets it from abroad for 1 guilder.”

“As farmers, we could work together more. We could make an inventory of the demand for products from large buyers and determine how much of what to plant. That's better for the whole island, for everyone. In this way we also could get our voices heard with the government. Maybe then we can succeed in getting better prices for our produce and tools and materials.”

Vitamin jungle

Fruit really makes farmer Tico happy. “Sòrsaka!” he exclaims excitedly when he discovers a nice, ripe soursop. In Hòfi Sòrsaka ripe fruits are always hanging from the trees. Tico is a top supplier of vitamins.

On his plantation, soursop grows in two growths, row after row. It looks like a jungle a bit further down: all those banana trees and coconut palms full of heavy bunches of fruit. They are lined too, like sturdy windbreaks, along the fields with vegetables. Then there's the papaya, lime, and watermelon.

Bees fly back and forth between all those fruit trees, looking for nectar. During that search, they transfer pollen from the male to the female flowers. Very important; no fruit without pollination. Tico has three hives. When the combs are full, he fills bottles with honey. He picked up this skill from an experienced beekeeper.

Rotational cultivation

The fields with vegetables are laid out between the fruit trees. Just about everything that you will find in the fresh produce section of the supermarket, Tico grows. From sweet potato, cassava, and Swiss chard, to cucumber, spinach and peanuts. He now has a feel for what the demand is going to be, and he can supply most vegetables after about two or three months.

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Tico never plants the same thing twice in a row on the same field. This is an iron law. He alternates crops that deplete the soil with vegetables that enrich the soil. For example, beans follow potatoes. The area is fully tilled and prepared. The remains of dead plants, like the leftovers from the harvest, go to the animals of a friendly farmer.

The bare terrain is plowed first and reorganized. The crops grow in rows on ridges of raised earth. Next to it are channels, a kind of gutter dug in the ground. Now everything is ready for the new planting. Another law: you plant what grows underground, such as cassava and sweet potato, during the full moon and all other vegetables when the moon is at its smallest. Bearing this knowledge in mind, he plants a new crop of his vegetables every two weeks. This way production continues non-stop.

You can reuse parts of some of the vegetables. The stem of a cassava can be put back into the ground, just like the stem of the spinach. Until the energy is depleted. When tubers are smaller, the leaves are less attractive. Then you will know it's time for a fresh start.

Bathing time for plants

The next generation of vegetables grows in a greenhouse with screening mesh. Here Tico has filled germination trays with hundreds of seeds. With great patience and care he presses them one by one into the germination pots.

The plants in Hòfi Sòrsaka are washed once a week. Tico dissolves natural soap and disinfectant in water and sprays the leaves, trunks and stems clean with it. This is an effective way in the fight against vermin and bacteria.

Completely organic! He consciously chooses organic products to keep his plants in good condition. Pesticides and other chemical agents are poisonous to people and nature. Tico prefers to use alternatives that are not harmful, such as creolin, the juice of neem leaves and vinegar.

It is like top sport, here on the plantation. This is why once a week it is time for a fertilizer boost. The fertilizer is made from goats and chicken and comes from Ronde Klip. Then there are the tilapia fish in the rainwater cistern as well. They provide extra nutrients in the water. Tico heard about it and tried it out. Great succes! The fish food he buys in the pet shop.

500 liters of water per day

Water is crucial. Every day the plantation gulps 500 liters of water. Groundwater is pumped from two wells to a large cistern. The supply is enough to water all the plants every other day. The well water itself is free, the fuel for the pump is a hefty burden at a cost of 2500 guilders per month.

The water is directed from the cistern to the land through a system of taps, pipes, and hoses. This is a time-consuming job. Open the tap and the water flows into the canal next to a row of crops. It fills in about ten minutes. The tap is closed, the hose extended, moved to the next gutter, and on it goes.

Tico has tried a drip system before. But here, the well water contains a lot of lime, which clogged up the hoses and drippers. It creeped upon him unnoticed, and part of the harvest was lost. Now he is back in control, so he knows for sure that his plants get enough water.

Look, feel, taste

To look. At color. At size. To feel. The fruit, the leaves. To taste. This is how Tico determines when it is the right time to harvest. Not too early, not too late. He knows immediately. The soursop, beautiful light green with spines that are widely spaced. A bunch of ripe bananas. The sweet taste of the coconut. He picks them by hand on a ladder or with a special fruit picker.

That old coconut will become the mother of a new tree. After two or three months in a container of water, the seedling emerges. The very young tree then first goes into a bucket with soil or is immediately put into the ground. What grows underground takes more time. Count about two months for sweet potato, cassava at least three, until the stem of the plant reaches meters high.

Cool bananas

Tico has plaintains, 'banana', and snack bananas, 'bakoba'. Young banana trees sprout spontaneously in the fields. They need space. Therefore, the old trees are felled immediately after harvest.

Nutritious from the pan

A banana is soft and sweet. A healthy and tasty snack. A plantain is much firmer and should not be eaten raw. This has to do with the amount of starch it contains. For this reason, this species is less digestible. So, plantains first go into the pan, and you’ll eat them fried or boiled. They are a great substitute for potatoes or rice.

Leaf by leaf

It’s the right moment for those fresh green spinach leaves. Tico picks them, one by one, and lays them in a crate. With concentration, petal by petal. He picks from the outside in and leaves the tip of the long stem. This keeps the plant alive. Just press gently and then the full crates are placed in the loading bay of the pick-up.

Hòfi Sòrsaka delivers to two to three regular customers weekly. They also count cruise ships among their customers. The harvested fruit and vegetables can be on a tourist's plate on a cruise ship the same day! On Sunday you will find Tico at the market in Barber and at Hòfi Kalebash every first Saturday of the month. He mainly sells bananas and coconuts, but also other vegetables and fruits that were ready for harvest on the Saturday prior.

Love for nature

Tico Sirberie thinks it is important that children learn how to grow fruit and vegetables. “The development of a plant, the fruits that grow on a tree. That's a great thing. You learn about the essence of life.”

Future generations will have more respect for nature and the elderly in society then. This is very much needed. To feel love for one another. “If you learn to care for plants and animals at a young age, you can also do the same for people later on.”