In the Health Seat

With Denicio Wyatte Spaceless Gardens Our Health Seat interview with Denicio Wyatte – local owner of Spaceless Gardens – represents taking the little steps to achieve sustainable results. It focuses on teaching community members how to grow in small spaces and with limited resources in a place like St. Maarten, where there’s not too much land space for commercial agriculture. 1. Can you please introduce yourself to our readers? My name is Denicio Wyatte. I am a born St. Maartener and the father of three beautiful kids. I am a self-taught gardener/farmer and have a Bachelor’s degree in Multimedia Tech. 2. The name “Spaceless Gardens” is unique. Can you tell us more about your journey and what inspired you to establish Spaceless Gardens? After I lost my grandmother in 2006, my health both physically and mentally started to deteriorate and I didn’t even want to live anymore. I was later diagnosed with epilepsy and my life started to go downhill. Having no clue or direction of how my life should be going, I went to Curaçao for medical attention. After one of my medical visits, I was having a smoothie and I just felt that I wanted to bring that healthy choice into our Sint Maarten community. At this point, I had no clue what I would call the concept, but I just want to do something different so I started the first smoothie juice bar on the island back in 2011. In 2013, I got a job from the Ministry of VROMI to landscape the Grand Marche Roundabout and had to visit Green Fingers to get materials for the job. During the process, my stepfather decided to grab some seeds from Green Fingers. He planted them in our front yard and when he harvested the first crops, it sparked a different level of curiosity in me. This curiosity on how to care for plants led me to want to know how to care for myself and how my food can become my medicine. I believe this was the beginning of the journey that inspired me to start Spaceless Gardens. 3. Fresh, locally grown produce has become increasingly important in conversations about health and wellness. From your perspective, what are the health benefits of choosing local and seasonal fruits, vegetables, and herbs? Food is the foundation of life and fundamental towards our mental and physical health. The fact is that the body needs a wide variety of colourful, wholesome foods to distribute proper nutrients to our bodies. Choosing the right food for its nutrient capacity in a rotation allows the body to maintain its optimum health. We can also learn a lot form nature, as it also teaches us that we need variety by only producing certain fruits during the season. Embracing those fruits and herbs during the season and knowing that the quality of locally grown produce from trusted growers is a much better choice than not knowing where or how your food was actually grown or came from. 4. Spaceless Gardens works closely with local and regional farmers throughout the Caribbean. How does supporting local agriculture contribute to healthier communities and greater food security? Supporting local and regional agriculture is fundamental toward our economical growth and sustainability. Everything comes from the land. Due to a variety of factors within nature, each country in the Caribbean has a unique landscape and composition of soil and natural resources, some richer than others but not limited to the fact of how to utilize those resources to compliment agricultural productivity. Once we are able to understand and tap into these resources collectively, we can support each other with crops and by products that can be better produced in these countries. Building a sustainable network of growers, farmers, developers, distributors and consumers that all support and depend on each other will not only build healthier communities but contribute to them physically, economically and financially. 5. Many people believe they need a large yard to grow their own food. What advice would you give to someone who wants to start growing fresh produce but has limited space? I would tell them to just start. What keeps you back is just the limitation of the mind that makes you feel that you require more to start. Just grab a cup, a bowl, a pot, some soil, and plant a seed, water it and be patient. Nature teaches you patience as nothing happens before its time. Patience, love, dedication, education and consistency are your greatest weapons in the fight toward sustainable agriculture. You just need to start small and expand as your plants grow. 6. Your organization also supports the St. Peters Community Garden Research and Development Center. Can you share more about this initiative and how it benefits the community? St. Peters Community Garden has transitioned to ECO (Educating, Cultivating and Outreaching). St. Maarten Agricultural Research and Development Center Foundation was established in 2018 with the community in mind – not only towards educating, but also providing resources to the general public on the importance and implementation of agriculture for country St. Maarten. Spaceless Gardens is mentioned as one of the only local companies focusing on providing sustainable agricultural solutions to individuals and organizations. The collaboration has been a positive relationship that shares the same passion to achieve food sustainability and security for country St. Maarten. 7. What are some of the most popular fruits, vegetables, herbs, or medicinal plants currently available through Spaceless Gardens, and are there any seasonal favourites you recommend for maintaining a healthy lifestyle? Most popular currently are our leafy greens, salad mix, cucumbers, watermelon, soursop, but the truth is that community members value all produce that they know is grown organically with love. During seasons or crop planning, we introduce new crop types to community members as well – some crops they never even tried before. The market allows them to get samples and learn more about new crops we are exploring. Our seasonal favourites are guavaberry, watermelon, cucumbers, mangoes, soursops, sugar apples, pineapples, season pepper and the original ginger. Nature provides over 80,000 species of food while we as humans only consume between 30 and 40 species. This leaves 79,960 more species to be explored that may all be good for maintaining a healthy lifestyle during their season. 8. What challenges and opportunities do you see for the future of agriculture in Sint Maarten, and how can residents play a role in creating a more sustainable food system? The government continues to not show as much interest for this sector, so it’s truly left up to the people to play their part. I know we the people have more potential than we think, but once we take that power out of our own hands and place it in the hands of others then you truly have to ask yourself one question. I have come to learn that if we take a more collective and structured approach toward our local agricultural production and focus on utilizing all our small spaces together, we can achieve great sustainable results. Our motto is: ‘‘Providing sustainable agricultural solutions to individuals in need.’’ We also offer consulting, general agricultural sales, landscaping, waste management, project development and management services. Will another person care for my food security more than their own? Things I would like government to focus on is the invasive species problem, both iguanas and monkeys. For the rest, I know if the people would just focus on their food security and what they can produce in the small spaces they have, free of the invasive species, we can see the true potential and opportunities that lie ahead for us all. 9. Are there any upcoming events, workshops, community projects, educational programs, or seasonal initiatives that you would like to share with our readers? We would like to invite the general public to The Farmers Market under the theme ‘‘Socialize’’ on Saturday, July 18, from 9:00am to 6:00pm at the St. Peters Community Center. It will be a closing off of our eco learning program ‘‘Roots and Resilience’’ – supported by the Slavery Memorial Committee and a celebration of our two years in the community as the St. Maarten Farmers Cooperative and Market. The day will consist of entertainment, fitness activities for the seniors and kids, fresh produce, plants, fried fish, drinks, brownies, a human fruit slot machine and the recycle drive. We just want this day to be a day for community members to come out, interact with each other and share positive moments in good community spirit. We look forward to keeping the general public updated on new venture, tours, education programs and holistic health coaching opportunities throughout the year. 10. For readers interested in purchasing fresh produce from Spaceless Gardens, where can they find you? What products are currently available, and do you offer order and delivery services for households, restaurants, hotels, or businesses? Spaceless Gardens is located in the district of St. Peters on the main road #63. We are open Monday to Friday from 6:00pm to 10:00pm. Produce that we currently have available are season peppers, cucumbers, plantain, sweet potato, watermelon, pineapple, Swiss chard, salad mix, bok choy, basil, lemon grass, spearmint, peppermint, tayerblad and edible flowers coming soon. We do offer ordering and delivery services to households, restaurants, hotels, or businesses for any purchase over $30. We also offer a harvest reserve program where community members, businesses or organizations can reserve crops even before they get harvested. This ensures community members and organizations have exclusive access to crops during the season, at a better cost and more value. As they focus on what they actually use, this helps us with better planning and reduces crop waste and loss. Interested persons can contact me on WhatsApp @ +17215536300 to get the link to register.