It’s pronounced like “creaky dam”, and they are the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute.  Awesome would be a good beginning to describe what they have accomplished and what they are continuing to do for our island community and for our planet Earth.

How can we not love people who have the guts and grit to live the lifestyle that will save the planet?

They are the only certified organic farm in the VI and they do wonderful educational workshops to spread the word about their mission and the issues facing farming on our increasing threatened planet Earth. And more.

We were lucky enough to be able to make it to their “Fermentation Workshop” on Saturday. The drive up into the rainforest is always interesting (Mahogany Road is still chock-full of pot-holes), but going to Creque Dam Farm (and Mount Victory Camp) is well worth the jerky jarring jaunt. And Saturday it was extra exciting since WAPA’s biggest trucks were scattered all along the winding way, preparing to put power poles in.

We actually made it there on time and had a wonderful time with Nora and Jay, farm managers, and visiting biodynamic farmers, Pat and Susan Ross from Micanopy, Florida. There were a handful of other workshop participants with whom we picked veggies from the garden, sat and peeled and chopped and grated, and stood to mix and meld massive amounts of food to be pickled.

We started with over 30 lbs of greens – mostly savoy cabbage and bok choy. We had 3 coolers and a big stainless steel bowl full of the stuff, to which we added chopped garlic and ginger, grated carrot and beet and turmeric. I had never seen turmeric root and had the great pleasure of grating it. The aroma was magical and my hands are still incredibly yellow.

We squished it down some more and there was veggie juice produced from the effect of the mineral salt pulling the liquid out of the cells. Fascinating! The finished product is called “Kim chi”.

We also pickled mangoes and carambola fruit with basil and ginger, and okra with basil and dill and garlic. We made Kvass (beet tonic) with fresh organic beets from the farm and brine (that’s all!), and had a fantastic lunch which included kim chi made by the farm folks previously, and tempeh and yogurt and sourdough bread also made on the premises. Yummmmm!

The VISFI folks will be having more interesting workshops during the coming weeks and months. Sign up for their newsletter (through their website) for notification of these and other worthwhile events at the farm.

Also, and this is VERY important, vote for the farm in National Geographic’s Geotourism Challenge.  Congratulations to the Farm Folks for making it onto the finalist final list! They are in good company, and not only would this be a very prestigious award for the Creque Dam Farm, but it would be great for the island of St. Croix.

We need more attention to projects which do not include casino/golf course/timeshare development. Thanks to all who contacted the NPS about Castle Nugent.  Now let’s get together for VISFI.

Go to their website at www.visfi.org and vote for them! Do it ASAP. Time is of the essence!

This entry was posted on Monday, August 3rd, 2009 at 9:40 am and is filed under Reviews, St. Croix, Terry Talk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.