Gardens
While we lived in l'Etang, the land by the lake was sharecropped as was some of the other land. Some people we let use some land for gardens without asking anything in return.
There was some land suitable for gardens across the road in the low area but this was not farmed due to lack of water and, primarily, difficulty in keeping animals out. We let mesquite trees take over naturally and would make charcoal, fence posts and railroad ties with them (HASCO would buy "travè" for 5 gourdes a piece, they supplied the cutter). With fencing and irrigation this land could make good gardens or, better still, an orchard.
The land by the lake was usually planted to sweet potatoes in February or so and rice (in the wetter parts and/or when the lake was up) in late summer. The drier parts nearest the fence could have probably grow corn or grain sorghum. Certainly the heavier slightly saline parts could grow sugar cane.
FRUIT TREES
Because so many of the crops I could grow had low value, my desire was to put most of the good land in fruit trees. I did little by little get fruit trees planted on a lot of it, though much of these are now dead due to the changing lake level. Fruit trees planted were:
Avocado (zaboka) Persea americana from seed. There are several trees which were planted prior to our arrival. The quality of the purple type was not really good. The green ones aren't too bad. They bear around June or July. They are quite intolerant to salt, however, so they would not grow close to the lake.
Bananas and Plantains (fig, bannann) Musa spp. Bananas are reproduced from suckers and will keep producing from them without you having to do anything. It is good to remove some of the suckers from each clump so that they bear larger fruit. Major problem with bananas is Shigatoka disease which causes yellow bands to form on leaves and which, eventually, kills them off early. Stalks of bananas are apt to break before maturity. It is best to rotate the plants keeping them in a position for about three years then moving them someplace else.
One variety of plantain, which locally is called Bannann Vensan, (known elsewhere as masòk or some other name) is subject to nematodes. These cause the plants to always be somewhat unhealthy and yields are reduced. However, this plantain makes a very fine starch used for making pudding for babies (as is the root of the arrowroot plant).
In the garden we had fig (regular bananas), fig rak (stubby bananas which are ready to eat after the skin starts splitting), miske (the most common type of plantain), bannann kochon (this makes stalks with few but very large plantains), and bannann vensan.
Barbados Cherry (Seriz) Malphigia punicifolia - produced from seed (but can be produced from cuttings). These make good juice. They are very high in vitamin C, but too much may give stomach acid.
Breadfruit (lamveritab) Atrocarpus communis - from root cuttings. We had one tree that bore fruit several times a year.
Citrus in general- We used the inverted T for budding in preference to regular T buds as they seemed to take better. We would spray the citrus at least twice a year with superior oil and occasionally with insecticidal soap for aphids and some copper based fungicide to help control sooty mold. Sooty mold is spread by the honeydew excretions of the aphid and whitefly. If we saw whiteflies in the citrus we would spray right away with neem juice to prevent them getting established and spreading the sooty mold around.
Red grapefruit (pamplimous) Citrus grandis -produced from budding. Seems to be the best producing citrus. The quality is excellent. I think the variety was Ruby Red.
Navel orange (zoranj dous) Citrus sinensis -produced from budding. Fruit is sweet, but not great quality and it is not a heavy producer.
Tangelo (zoranj dous)-from budding. These are the fastest to bear (I had one bear 1-1/2 years from budding) but they did not bear heavily while we were there. But the fruit were really good.
Pummelo (Chadek) Citrus maxima -there were a few plants, which we grew from seed. They started bearing in 1992. Fruit quality was not too bad. I planted some others in 1991.
Sour orange (zoranj si) Citrus aurantium -from seed. Most of these were for producing rootstocks. We used the sour oranges for marinating and for juice. They are great for marinating tough cuts of meat. They was also a market for them.
Key Lime (sitron) Citrus aurantifolia -from seed. All of the lime trees on the property were planted long before the mission bought the property. When planting it is important to use fresh seed (do not let them dry out).
Coconut (kokoye) Cocos nucifera - There is a row of coconut trees along the canal on the south side of the garden. One of them started to bear in fall 1992.
Guava (gwayav) Psidium guajava - there was one plant near the nursery which came from Jacmel area. It had not borne fruit yet when we left.
Mamey apple (abriko) Mammea americana -we planted a few trees from seed.
Mango (mango) Mangifera indica - from seed. There were several large trees probably from colonial days. This have all been inundated and killed by the lake. The old, large mangoes got a lot of fruit fly larva damage. Birds also like them, particularly crows and parakeets. Our best tree was a Mango Abricot. Its fruit quality is good-- it is one of my favorites. It also got less fruit fly damage than the other old trees. The principal season for them is March to June, though there are some before and after that (they are quite rare from September to December).
Papaya (papay) Carica papaya - from seed. At one time we had several papaya trees in the yard. I ended up cutting them down for a couple years to stop the mosaic virus that had become established on them. In the fall of 1992 several trees that had come up wild in various places started to bear. If planting, it would be good to find a mosaic resistant variety. They do grow well in hot, dry areas.
Pond Apple (ramye) Annona glabra -These trees grow wild where the soil is damp continually with fresh water. The fruit is orange fleshed and very seedy. When ripe, the heart of the fruit will stay behind when you pull the fruit off the tree. It makes good juice (though it is a lot of work to strain the pulp) with milk and sugar.
Soursop (Kowosol) Annona muricata -from seed. There were several that started bearing in the fall of 1992.
Star Apple (Kayimit) Chrysophyllum cainito - We had two of these, recognizable by the reddish undersides of the leaves. They were planted by the Langes, but had not yet borne by the time we left. They have been inundated by the lake.
Sweetsop (kachiman) Annona squamosa -from seed. There were two trees in the sandy soil near the row of large mahoganies by the road. They were planted in 1990 and were still quite small when we left.
Tamarind (tomaren) Tamarindus indica -from seed. There was a big tree down from the clinic which bore fruit that ripen in February or March. This is probably from colonial days. I have planted some from seed but there was only one survivor about 4 foot tall when we left.
VINE FRUITS
Grape (rezen) Vitis vinifera - from hardwood cuttings. I planted a grapevine on the gazebo which is from a wild grape cutting I took in the spring of 1992. The grapes (in the wild) were quite small. The vine was growing in the bottom of the ravine between the "sous" and "nan pon" near Ka Drice which is by Ka Eli.
Passionfruit (grenadya) Passiflora edulis - From seed. I planted several passionfruit vines around the house and gazebo. I have produced them from seed though they also can be grown from cuttings.
We did grow some crops in our gardens. Here is a review of some of them.
Broccoli. We tried this one year in the cool season (start seed in August or September). They did well until the whiteflies got to them, and I caught them too late to establish control. The day you see whiteflies near them start spraying with Neem juice. Probably using row covers would work well too. I planted them in the fall of 1992, but that crop never did flower, all we got was one measly head. We planted Green Comet from Twilley.
Cabbage. We tried this in the fall of 1991 and they did fairly well. We tried again in 1992, but those did not do well at all, even though it was the same variety. Planting time is the same as for Broccoli. Cabbage worms can be a problem but we minimized damage using Dipel with Nu-Film 17 (UV inhibitor) once a week. If not using Nu-Film 17, spray twice a week. We planted Blue Vantage variety (Twilley).
Canteloupe. With the American type we never did have success. even though we tried several varieties. I think they need cooler weather at night than we have. The Haitian varieties do well if planted in the dry season as they are very susceptible to diseases. Caterpillars are sometimes a problem. Diseases are often a problem.
Chinese cabbage. We planted this in the fall (seed started in August). They grew well but we had major problems with root maggots. Diazinon drench helped some for this but eventually they succumbed. We were able to harvest some moderate size heads. If you want to try this I would suggest trying row covers to keep out adult leaf beetles so they can't lay their eggs near the plants.
Cowpeas. We had no incentive to try regular dry beans because the local crops we see always look so bad-- leafhoppers, leaf beetles, mites, mosaic, etc. So we tried cowpeas. The variety we tried was Mississippi Silver OP which we obtained from Twilley and saved the seed for other plantings. Major pests were bean leaf beetles and stink bugs. We sprayed biweekly with Neem juice or Sevin, depending on whether there were a lot of stink bugs (which are not controlled by Neem Juice). Also sprayed a fungicide to control angular leaf spot and mildew (copper or Dithane M45). Yields were fairly good and would have been better if we staked the plants.
Cucumbers. Will grow any time but best yields obtained in cool weather. We tried Dasher II H which is a type that bears almost entirely female flowers. It did really well, though many varieties will do. Caterpillars were sometimes a problem, but the toads often helped them under control.
Eggplant. Can grow just about anytime, though locals plant it around September or so. They prefer the long black type so if you desire to plant eggplant, get seed locally as that kind is not easily offered in U.S. seed catalogs. Main pest is Lacewing bugs, which suck the underside of the leaves and cause yellow blotches to form on the leaves above, concentrated near the midrib. If you catch them when they first enter you can rub them off. This is the pest that usually destroys the local plantings. Flea beetles will do a lot of leaf damage but I don't think they reduce yields drastically. Sometimes locals have problems with Tomato Hornworms, but I never did.
Okra (kalalou) from seed. (soak seed or place in freezer overnight). Okra you can grow any time of year. It will bear as long as it has a little bit of water. It is essentially a perennial but eventually it gets to tall to work with. No major insect pests though sometimes aphids present a problem. Clemson spineless is a nice variety that makes large pods that are still edible.
Peppers (piman, piman dous, pwav vèt). Any kind of hot pepper will grow. Bell peppers tend to get sunscald so you will need some kind of shading for nice fruit. Resistant Giant is a fairly good OP variety. It is available from Twilley. Banana peppers do really well, even in full sun.; We grew Sweet Banana OP we purchased from Twilley and saved the seed. Peppers will grow year round and are almost perennial, but grow bell peppers in the winter to lessen sunscald. We had no major insect or disease problems with peppers. NOTE: Pepper seed does not keep well (beyond one season) unless in hermetically sealed containers at low moisture content.
Snap beans. Plant in the fall (October-January) as they like cooler weather. We planted Bush blue lake and had a nice crop. Angular leaf spot was the main disease problem for which spray fungicide. Stink bugs and bean leaf beetles were the main insect pests.; Sevin provided adequate control of both, Neem juice provides moderate control of the beetles.
Sugar cane (kann) from stalk cuttings. Most of the cane grown is the type used for sugar and is purchased by Hasco. I started some plants of Kann Annana which is used strictly for chewing. Hopefully the plants will still be around.
Sweet potato (patat) from stem cuttings. There are many varieties of sweet potato. Locally there were none of the American type (orange flesh) available when we came. We brought in some plants but it is doubtful whether the locals will keep up the stock.
Sweet potatoes can be grown on somewhat saline soils that are poorly drained if they are grown in large hills so the salts drain out of the root zone. They don't need a lot of water, but if the soil is subject to cracking when dry the sweet potato weevils will get down to the roots easier to lay their eggs. Major pests are the sweet potato weevil for which there is no really good treatment except dipping the plants in insecticide before planting and tilling the soil to plug any cracks that form. They will do better in soils that are sandy and soils that have a lot of moisture which are less subject to cracking.
The locals had a problem with sweet potato tortoise beetle. The larva of these beetles have large appetites. Many people lost the entire crop due to these, but that was because they usually planted their fields beetle infested plants. If you can only get infested plants, dip them with neem juice. I never did have a problem with them. One time I saw one beetle in my garden which I stomped on and never had any problems with afterwards. Another time I saw a few while I was spraying so I sprayed with what was in the sprayer (pyrethrin/rotenone blend) and that was the end of them.
Tomatoes. Start seeds in mid-August to mid-October to plant out at 4 to 6 weeks. Tomatoes will not set fruit if the nighttime temps do not drop to about 70F or below. Count on being able to harvest until the latter half of March. I preferred short to mid-season determinate plants. Varieties that did well were Floradade OP (open pollinated), Independence H (Hybrid), Celebrity H,Liberty H, Summer Flavor #4000 H, Summer Flavor #4200 H, and Park's whopper H. (Floradade and Celebrity are available from several suppliers, Park's whopper is available from Park's and the others are available from Twilley). Major pests include stink bugs and whitefly. Occasionally I had problems with tomato hornworm.
Watermelon We had best luck with lighter skinned types. They, too, like dry weather so plant at the end of dry season. Insect and disease problems same as for canteloupe. We had some problem with sunscald so we would sometimes put a very small amount of some kind of straw on top of the melons.
OTHER CROPS
Amaranth. Amaranthus spp. (Zepina) There are several species of Amaranth. Some are wild, some are more or less domestic. Locals eat the leaves. I have even seen them sell the leaves in the market. Species with white seed also have edible seed. (Dark seeded varieties have too much tannin.) We would seldom plant amaranth, though we did initially. Once they get established, they would usually reseed themselves. We just had to be careful not to weed there when the seeds were coming up.
Basil. Ocimum basilicum (Bazilik) We would grow some basil to use at home. The Haitians don't use it too much for a spice. Leaf sellers will sell it along with other things as a bathing item. We would start seed in the nursery then transplant. If insects don't devour it, it will live several seasons. We bought our seed from Twilley, but you can get it from lots of different seed companies.
Corn, maize. Zea mays (Mayi) Locals don't grow a lot of corn because of the necessity of spraying it for caterpillars. Sweet corn will not grow (except some Hawaiian varietes that Wally got us that would grow in the cool season). When the corn is young it will need spraying for stem borers. Later it will need spraying for corn ear worms. We also sometimes had problems with ear maggots. Birds may also be a problem. We purchased seed locally.
Lemon Balm. Melissa officinalis. (Melis) Lemon balm makes a nice tea (about three crushed leaves per cup). There was a bush inside the chain link fence toward the generator house. It will take over an area easily because it spreads by layering. It can also be reproduced by cuttings. We got the plant from the Fort Jacque area.
Ramie. Boehmeria nivea. (Madam pake) Ramie has leaves that make high protein pig feed. We brought some plants in but there was never much interest-- it needs a rich soil like a compost heap. Its bark has a fine fiber which is used in some cotton fabric to strengthen it. However, it needs some fancy processing to remove the gummy bark from the fiber. We planted a clump between the mango trees and the soursop trees which is now under water.
Sesame. Sesamum indicum. (Wowoli) One of our sharecroppers had, at one time, planted sesame. We saved some seed from two of the plants and grew some of our own. Occasionally I would make a nursery bed of it and plant it out. But usually I just let volunteer plants come up, which we never lacked. Sesame can be grown at any time of year. When the plants start to turn brown you can tie them in bunches and hang them upside down someplce so the seeds can fall out. Else you can keep them right side up and shake the seed out when they finish drying. (The first method will give you cleaner seed.)
Sorghum. Sorghum vulgare. (Pitimi) Usually we would purchase seed locally for sorghum. The major problem with this crop is birds, particularly the Madan Sara (Village weaver). In spring, 1992, we tried using "bird eyes" balloons suspended from wooded poles. We had no bird damage, but then, there was no control plot either. The birds did get into the neighbors gardens, however. It can also be useful to plant later than the usual season. I seldom see any Madan Saras in the fall-- I presume they go where the nearest big Pitimi plantations are. (Locally, pitimi is planted in the spring, after the eggplant.) It is possible to get a second ratoon crop from pitimi. (Leave the stumps after harvest and let them resprout.)
Also, in July 1992, I tried some bird resistant sorghum I obtained from ECHO. Since the Madan Saras were not around when it bore, I can't say how effective it is.
Mesquite Project
In 1987 we began working with Peter Felker of Texas A & I University (name later changed to Texas A&M Kingsville) who was looking for some land on which to do some mesquite trials. We started plants in our nursery and planted them out on a 2 HA (5 acre) plot in the north corner of the property. This plot was closed off by an electric fence run by a solar panel in the plot.
We have identified a few plants that are either thornless or nearly so, erect, fast growing and somewhat resistant to browsing when young. These plants are from south America. At the present time we are attempting to produce some clones of these which are done under mist propagation. I was not that thrilled to be involved in the next phase of the operation, which would be the establishment of a clonal seed orchard, because Peter is very tight with the money. He also has a really strange personality which takes some getting used to. I had successfully produced some plants which I hoped Damien (Haitian Ag Department) would be interested in for their World Bank project. Meanwhile, I try to keep up the plot and maintain the fence so that there is always current in it. Peter since left Texas A&M Kingsville and last I knew was working in Salinas, California
Some of the clones produced under mist propagation were planted out near the garden in the February of 1993.
Leucaena leucocephala
The predominant tree on the property by the house and depot is Leucaena leucocephala. It is very weedy and my goal would be to one day try to eliminate it. I had planted some mahogany (kajou) under some of it plus there are neem trees (lila), kanik trees, and kanèp volunteer trees coming up underneath the leucaena. When these trees get larger it would be time to eliminate the leucaenas.
(Neem trees can be weedy as well but the seeds don't spread as much as leucaena trees. They are mostly spread by birds and the do not remain viable very long.)
If you want to plant trees here are some ideas:
Casuarina (pen dostrali, kazwarina). Casuarina equisetifolia. There are two large trees by the banana patch near the nursery shed. Also there are several more small ones among the leucaenas behind the nursery shed.
Colubrina (Bwa kapab, Bwa pele). Colubrina arborescens. There are several of these planted behind the banana patch among the leucaena trees. They started flowering in 1992 and lots of volunteers came up in the Spring of 1993.
Indian rosewood. Dalbergia sissoo. This tree is of the rosewood genus, but is not as high quality as the usual rosewoods. There are two trees-- they sort of resemble aspens. One is by the N corner of the house. The other is by the N corner of the red house.
Gayak. Guaicum officianale This is a native tree that grows well from seed. It is slow growing but is one of the world’s densest woods. Charcoal made from this is almost like coal.
Mahogany (kajou). Swietenia mahogani. Slow growing but is drought tolerant. It is good to plant it under light shade trees then cut the shade trees later after the mahogany is well established.
Neem (lila). Azadirachta indica. Fast growing, withstands drought and some salinity. Provides good shade even in the dry season. Seed does not keep so plant soon after harvest.
Oak (Bwa chèn). Catalpa longissima. Hard to germinate but makes a nice tree which makes good lumber for furniture. There is a parasitic plant in the area which does eventually kill the oak trees if it gets established on them.
Saman or Rain tree (Saman). Samanea saman. From seed (nick and soak). This tree folds its leaves at night so evening rains fall beneath its canopy-- hence the name rain tree. These trees supposedly develop on of the largest crown spreads of any tree. There was one NW of the house, two in the clinic yard, one by the red house and another by the windmill which would now be inundated.
Sand box tree (Sablye or Rabi). Hura crepitans. This is the tree that has thorns all over its trunk. It makes a good shade tree, even in the dry season and animals don't eat it. Seed germinates easily.
West Indian Cedar (Sèd). Cedrela odorata. The are three trees in the row of trees along the lake side of the house. The wood has a strong odor when cut. Like cedar, the odor makes the wood resistant to bugs and rot.
There are some exotic trees that have planted in the yard, following is a list of them and their location:
Acacia auriculiformis There is one tree near the nursery going towards the road.
Baobab (mapou zonbi) Adansonia digitata There are two trees NW of the house between the trail and the garden. There is another on to your left as you enter the school-yard, but I don't know if it will survive trampling.
Benzolive (doliv) Moringa moringa I have several trees planted in the vicinity of the nursery. The benzolive tree has several interesting charactaristics. The young leaves are supposedly edible (though I find them too bitter) as well as the young pods. The leaves make a high protein pig feed. The insides of the seeds can be ground to use as a flocculant to clarify water. They can be used as living fenceposts (large poles will root). They need to be trimmed often for best leaf/pod production. After several years they begin to look like a post with a bush on top. The come up freely from seed.
Carob. Ceratonia siliqua. There was one carob tree inside the chainlink fence. There were several when we came but we cut them down because we could not figure out what they were at the time. Unfortunately, the tree is dioecious, so there was little hope for it to bear alone. It had flowered.
Flamboyant (flambwayan). Delonix regia. These make pretty flowers but they do lose there leaves in the dry season. To start seed file a hole in the side of the seed then pour boiling water over them and let soak overnight.
Jacaranda. Jacaranda mimosifolia. This tree makes nice purple blooms in the mountains. The trees we have, though planted in 1985, have yet to bloom as of fall 1992. They are tall gangly trees. There is one in the yard near the house and one by the red house.
Orchid tree (De jumèl) Bauhinia sp. There is one of these by the north corner of the house. There is also one in front of the red house and another between the red house and the windmill. It makes really pretty flowers but it does need watering if planted on a dry site (such as by the house).
Red Sandalwood (Bwa Regliz). Adenanthera pavonia. This is a leguminous tree that makes a pod that splits open and shows the red seeds inside. There is one behind the latrine in the long building, one behind the other end of the long building, and one in the clinic yard.
Sesbania grandiflora. There werea few trees in the chain link fence garden patch. They nodulate freely, even without innouculation. They are very fast growing. It might be interesting to start some of these in the nursery along with tomatoes. Then, later, plant them out beside the tomatoes as living stakes.
Venezuelan Mahogany. Swietenia macrophylla There was one tree near the Acacia auriculiformis going towards the road.
Yellow Flamboyant. Peltophorum inerme. There were two trees in front yard of house plus two more outside of the wall by the clinic, one in front of red house and one in front of the nursery house. These are very pretty trees. Supposedly they make good tool handles.
Dwarf poinciana (Franciyad). Caesalpinia pulcherrima This small tree makes a nice border. We have three different kinds (different colored blossoms) on the property. Yellow (by the clinic) and pink/white and salmon/yellow by the house.
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