Phillip Edwards left the computing sector and is now a full-time farmer; a challenging transition from working behind a computer to working with the soil. He has been maintaining two different farms, one at Mirabeau, St. Andrew, and another at Westerhall, St. David.
While admitting that the transition was hard, he said maintaining a small garden plot helped. “While working in information technology, I always maintained a small portion of Chives on the side of my house. After two years I was able to reap big from planting Chive alone,” he explained.
“When I left the computing sector and started searching for a job, after 3 months, the idea came to me. I got some tomatoes and started from there,” he added.
Edwards explained that this journey took him on an educational path, as he sought advice and support from other farmers. Realising that Agriculture is a business, to maintain his weekly demands, he started planting more, to be more consistent. With the onset of COVID-19, productionlevels increased further.
One of his best practices, especially for tomatoes, is planting a border of corn. “ This is a protection for harvesting time,in case anything has to fly and I’m very particular with that because I have to eat from it too. We know that corn is also something that would put back nutrients in the soil.”
One of the biggest challenges explained by Edwards was the White Fly. “They suck the tomatoes, and prevent them from reproducing as much; so if you don’t have it under control, you might be affected a lot.”
The farmer explained that due to demands, he decided to plant in stages on his various plots.
He said, “every week I need produce for my markets. I also know what day every week I need the produce, so I started doing the stages to be more consistent.”
His crops include carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, beets, pakchoi, pumpkin and others.
This Farmer advocates for greater emphasis to be placed on Agriculture and for farmers to receive greater recognition for their roles in society.
Things to note about Phillip Edwards
- He left the computing sector and is now a full-time farmer.
- He maintains two different farms.
- He plants in stages to be consistent with market demands.
