Jannis Greenidge loves the freedom that being a farmer affords her. She gets to spend the day in the fresh air and wide, open space that is her almost 14-acre farm. A plus is that she gets to lovingly tend to her animals.
Since 1990, the 55-year-old Greenidge has been in charge of Monnis Farms at New Castle, St John, which she took over from her father after he was ailing.
Greenidge said that her father, Monty Mayers, passed away in 1994, leaving her in charge, but had he not been a farmer she still would have ventured into that line of work.
“I have a big family, with lots of sisters and brothers but my father was looking to see who would be suitable.
“He had to be watching and carefully thinking who to leave it to, who would continue the farming since it was his wish that the land was not to be sold or cut up,” Jannis said.
Even though she has held other jobs, she said she absolutely loves what she does now.
“I love it; you feel like you are at peace when you are in the field. You feel like you are connected to God. It is that kind of relaxed feeling that you get,” she declared.
“When you plant something and you see it come up and blossom and bloom, it gives you a great sense of happiness.”
Jannis is not worried that her nails are not long and the sun has darkened her skin. She readily admits that she used to have a much fairer complexion but she tries to protect her skin as much as she can. “I have learned that you have to wear a broad-brimmed hat, long sleeves and boots. Gloves help protect your nails to a certain point and you can keep them looking a certain way but expect them to grow long,” she said.
She has a four-year-old granddaughter, Ayoka, who offers her some glimmer of hope that she will be a farmer too. Ayoka loves the garden and persuaded her grandmother to buy her garden boots, gloves and a spade as well as a watering-can.
Jannis says her sons are capable of running the farm.
When she broke her foot recently, her sons Creig, Warren and Alvin made sure everything ran smoothly.
“From the time they were going to school, I would pick them up on evenings and then we would go to the farm and they learnt their way around the farm,” she said.
Her youngest son Alvin completed the agriculture programme at the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic and assists her at the market on Saturdays. However, Jannis is concerned that he does not like the getting up early. She says he is very efficient in working with the bananas, which are all ripened naturally.
Bananas, figs and plantains are the main crops produced at the farm and Jannis said that working with her youngest son who sells with her at the BARVEN market in Cheapside, The City, was a joy.
“I love to know that we spend that time together. It gives a better bond between us,” she said.
However, six days a week are dedicated to the farm and when she is not there her workers are on the job; she can also count on some friends to come over and lend a hand.
She started out with bananas, figs and plantains and then extended into a kitchen garden and an orchard, with “lots and lots of coconut trees”. She also raises rabbits, sheep, goats, ducks, chickens, pigs and turkeys.
However, she said that since she did not live at the farm it could be challenging travelling between her Christ Church home and St John. Most days she wakes at 4 a.m. and prepares breakfast and lunch to take to work, followed by her routine of picking up the eggs, feeding the animals and then doing some gardening.
She said that things can be tough at times, particularly since the passage of Tropical Storm Tomas which impacted her banana trees.
“Things have not come back the same. I do not know what it did to the banana trees but from then there is a lot more shagging. I still have a lot more to do to get back to the level of productivity,” she said.
Every year since 2002, for a three-week period SJPP students have a job attachment at her farm, a partnership which she said was very satisfying.
She also sells at the Eagle Hall market on Sundays. Her regular customers wait if they arrive before her.
Jannis also loves sewing, taking walks and going to the beach, but says she does not find enough time for these activities.
Despite the long hours and hard work, Jannis hopes that for the next 15 years she will be able to continue to “work the ground” and then someone will take over, fulfilling her father’s wishes.
Her ultimate goal is to build a house on the farm so that she can be there all the time.
