By K. NANCOO-RUSSELL

Freeport News Reporter

krystal@nasguard.com

As the government continues to encourage Bahamians to get involved in backyard farming, a resident of Grand Bahama says he is living proof that one can be successful at it.

Eighty-five year-old Nelson Chipman recently gave The Freeport News a tour of his yard in Fortune Bay, showing off his bountiful fruit trees and vegetable plants.

Among his prized produce was a 42-pound watermelon, just one of several of that size growing on the side of his home.

He also grows bananas, mangoes, peaches, lemons, broccoli, tomatoes, cauliflower and more.

Chipman said he began planting several years ago as a hobby and since then his garden has grown to where it now supplies much of his produce needs.

"With the economy so bad, we do it to cut expense. It feeds us now, it gives us all the vegetables and fruits we want."

Chipman attributes his success with his farming projects to simply showing some love to the plants. He said he spends a couple of hours a week tending to them.

"All you have to do is have the proper soil and water it and give it the love," he said.

"We go to the farm and we get chicken and cow manure and we mix it up and put a little miracle grow in it. All it needs is the proper attention."

Chipman said he is proud to show off his produce and hopes his story will inspire others to begin planting in their own yards.

"There's a lot of things we could do ourselves but we fail to do. We have a lot of yard and space but we do nothing with it. We should go back to the old days," he said.

"We have good soil and good weather here, so we should plant more and we could save more and we'll get fresher, better tasting vegetables and fruits if we do it ourselves," he said.

Home farming appears to be increasing in Grand Bahama since food prices have continued to soar over the last few years. The recent renovation of the local Produce Exchange may even inspire some back yard farmers to increase their output for commercial sale.

Back in March, the Minster of Agriculture Larry Cart-wright gave an update of the Ministry's Backyard Farming Program, and noted that in Grand Bahama several persons had received the gardening packets that were distributed that included vegetable seeds, fruit trees, drip tubing, pro-mix, fertilizer, germination tray and a basic gardening booklet.

There was a great demand for the packets, he said, and the Ministry actually ran out of them.

That showed that residents are really excited about growing their own food, he added.

At that time, Cartwright also reminded the public that the Ministry has set up a hotline for persons to get tips and suggestions on how to grow and maintain their produce.