Violet Drew began farming seriously in 2002. When the crops flourished she began canning and preserving the bounty of fresh produce so that none would go to waste. She canned her first pasta sauce in 2003 with her surplus tomatoes.
That canned sauce got her thinking about ships not coming to St. Croix for one reason or another and the store shelves being empty. She saw preserved food in a different way and decided she could do it for herself and others.
She knows the public needs fresh local food to be a vibrant, healthy, and self sustaining community. She also wanted to spend more time with her seven children. Her children have helped on the farm and market over the years and a couple still help out. Now she enjoys spending her free time with her two grandchildren. A third grandchild is on the way.
In 2001 she started a farming partnership with Samuel Tyson. Drew said he is the backbone of the operation, working tirelessly in the fields they rent. He is also a beekeeper, tending a couple beehives he says are very beneficial on the farm.
Drew doesn’t let the beeswax go to waste; she makes gorgeous gold colored and sweetly scented soaps from wax and honey.
Drew said they sell their fresh produce at Ra’s Sonrise & Daughter Stand Market and she also uses the produce in the value-added products she preserves.
Tyson said they came up with the name for the market using Ra – the Egyptian sun god, which stands for growth. The son, or man, raises the food, he said, and the daughter, the woman, does the marketing and preserving, all working in balance together.
Drew preserves surplus produce and fruit, adding to the shelf life of local crops. Coconut oil, juice, jams, jelly, chutney, relish, hot sauces, stews, fruit wines, and her famous plantain chips are just some of the items Drew preserves, along with mango and plantain fruit leather.
She doesn’t waste a thing, even using the rind in her melon peel pickles or lime skin for her candied lime peels.
Drew, the daughter of lifelong farmers Wilbert and Rosalie Drew, was raised tending fields and harvesting crops. She said her mother, 76, is still farming, although she doesn’t bend down as much and is doing more raised and container gardening. Some Saturdays Drew joins her mother at the La Reine produce market selling their goods together.
The 2014 Agriculture and Food Fair board honored Drew, naming the Farmers’ Market for her.
“I felt very honored and happy about being chosen by the fair board,” Drew said. “It was nice being one of the youngest farmers honored.”
She is a member of Island Food Security Inc., a non-profit organization formed about a year ago on St. Croix. It is a network of 10 locals, producers and concerned individuals, determined to see a resurgence and rebuilding of the Virgin Islands’ agriculture industry. She supports the industry setting up as a vendor at all St. Croix agriculture-related events.
Drew wants to branch out and get into growing more herbs and become an herbalist.
Farming and working with the earth and growing plants is a lifestyle, Drew explained.
“The foundation is the Earth with everything growing from the Earth,” she said. “Mothers must buy fresh food and prepare fresh food to feed their growing children for a healthy life.”
She said it is a challenge on St. Croix for farmers to fully stock and supply stores with everything necessary.
“It would be nice for everyone to get together and produce everything we need right here on St. Croix. We can’t always depend on food coming from elsewhere.” she added.
The market is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday in Upper Love at the bottom of the road leading to Carambola. Drew said anyone who needs more directions can call her at 1-340-332-0039.
She added you can’t miss the bright yellow building.
