A Botanist and Chemist with a background in Pharmacognosy, Dr. Guido Marcelle, owns and operates Dr. G’s Garden in St. Andrew. Being fully aware of all the plants that are around, including the weeds, he initiated several different farming concepts, utilising a variety of agronomic practices.
Dr. Marcelle, whose garden has been in operation for many years, says his background in agriculture is because of his parents. “My dad was a farmer, and my mom was a midwife and herbalist, that’s where I was first involved. I always wanted to find out the details about plants, what they are, why they are and their purposes. These things fascinated me”
He said every day in his garden, feels like a day in the laboratory as “I use my garden to experiment and do different things at different times.”
Marcelle sees himself as a Climate Smart Agriculturist, interested in biodiversity and management of the ecosystem that practices “G-Tensive” Gardening. “ This is the kind of gardening I do; it’s my creation. I’ve invented G-Tensive Gardening, which is a complex mix of a number of things,” he said.
Dr. G’s Garden is a place for relaxation, restoration, revitalisation , recreation , rejuvenation, and resilience, that also serves as a learning and educational attraction for locals.
Dr. Marcelle added his areas of interest. “I am also interested in phytochemicals. I feel that plants could be healing either to the farmer or the visitor as a stress reliever. “
His farm is broken up by the various concepts:
- Underground Hurricane Storage: Roots and Tubers: Cassava, Yams, Tannia , Topi Tambo and others
- We Herbs: herbs and medicinal plants such as the Panadol bush, Kakabacaye and Kojo root
- D-Essential Garden: Arrowroot, cover crops , aloes and
The major reason for involving himself in this type of agriculture, is for food and to fuel his desire to educate persons.
He disclosed, “ I would like to have young/ old persons, who are interested in all aspects of agriculture: botany , chemistry and spice production. I would like to encourage entrepreneurship- showing people how to think of things differently. I would like maybe to have students, who are interested in learning; I am no longer young, and I would like to pass on that information, to trigger off some new minds and get people to look at things differently.
Persons interested in learning from Dr. Guido Marcell can call -473-440-2758 or email guidom110@gmail.com.
Things to note about Dr. Guido Marcelle:
- He grows a wide variety of herbs, spices, and crops.
- He sees his garden as his laboratory , where he can experiment with
- He believes that even weeds have their purpose.
- He is open to educating persons on his areas of expertise.
- He created the terminology-”G-tensive” gardening-a technique incorporating a variety of Agricultural techniques.
GENERAL PREPARATIONS BY FARMERS FOR THE EXTENDED DRY SEASON-Information provided by Trevor Thompson-Chief Land Use Officer (Ag).
- a) Pay attention to crop selection for cultivation
- b) Farmers should adopt Climate Smart Agricultural practices that will increase soil moisture
retention, water conservation practices, leak repairs, crop water monitoring, avoiding over
pumping from streams, use of mulching, etc.
- c) Increase options for storage of water including tanks, earth dams and ponds.
- d) Increase forest protection and slope stabilization practices to reduce erosion, flooding, land
degradation after drought has ended and the rainy season has started.
Wet Cocoa Purchasing Days and Locations
Tuesday May 4th: Carlton and Mt. Horne
Wednesday May 5th : Bellevue , Carriere and Diamond
Thursday May 6th : Brothers and Pointzfield
WATER RICH FOOD-GFNC
PILOT AGRICULTURAL LAND BANK PROJECT
CRITERIA FOR THE SELECTION OF ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANTS – BENEFICIARIES (LESSEES)
- Must be citizens or permanent residents of Grenada and must be at least 18 years old.
- Must be residing in Grenada preferably in the area in which the agricultural land to be used in the project is located.
- Failure to be registered as a farmer with the Ministry of Agriculture will not exclude the applicant. (However, successful applicants must become registered farmers).
- Must have or be able to qualify for sufficient finance to fund the project until it becomes self-
sustaining or profit generating.
- Must have some knowledge of and be willing to practice sustainable farming and environmentally sound practices.
- Priority access to land will be given to Full-time Applicants as opposed to Part-time Applicants. (Full- time Applicants means people who are applying to lease land to get into agriculture full-time and who will not take up another job requiring more than 80 hours per month of their time during the period of the lease. Part-time Applicants means people who are applying to lease land but have no intention of getting into agriculture full-time because of current or future work commitments which require more than 80 hours per month of their time.)
- Priority will be given to persons who have a history of successful completion of agricultural projects but currently have no access to lands.
- Priority will be given to women and youth (age 18-35) with agricultural experience.
