Former health worker ‘nursing’ her crops to harvest

Despite her soft voice and beautiful smile, Dinneth Fearon isn't afraid of getting her hands dirty and using her machete, in a productive way of course.

Fearon, 47, and her partner Leevanroy Sinclair farm 11 acres of land in their Dublin Castle, East Rural St Andrew community. THE STAR team followed Fearon to 'bush' on the weekend and while this reporter was out of breath shortly after the journey began, Fearon was trampling through in her water boots effortlessly.

As she inspects her newly planted pineapple suckers, she stated that she had quit her nursing assistant job in 2009 to become a farmer.

"I needed something that could generate more income so I ease off of that work and find out say mi love planting, so that's where I lay my focus and I have not regretted it because it pays the bills. At first I didn't have much knowledge but today, I know about most things in agriculture," she said.

In addition to pineapples, Fearon also cultivates crops such as coffee, breadfruit, mangos, banana, papaya, sugar cane and plantain.

"We try our best to do everything to make a little money because it's the pandemic and everyone is struggling. Whenever I am not tending to the farm, we are building a coal kiln. My husband works differently, so I go out alone whenever he is at work. I will wake up from 6 a.m. and yes, there are times when I will go to all 11 acres and plant, fertilise and reap. There are times when we will hire someone to help us for a day or two but its mostly us alone," she said.

"When it's reaping time and my partner is at work, I will do my thing and reap all three or four bags of stuff and bring them down on my head. To some it may seem like a lot of work but for me, it's a source of income and I enjoy doing it," she added.

Dublin Castle is known for its lush vegetation and is a garden district for farmers. Fearon's bright eyes lit up when asked about the possibility of exporting her produce.

"I never export anything but it would be something I would welcome because it would mean we would get a bit of money. There is money to be made from farming, but right now a lot of young people don't want to go in it because it is not so fabulous. I am okay with it, the only thing I would want is one of the big water tanks," she said.

There are hardly any good roads in the section of Dublin Castle where Fearon resides and as a result, accessing public transportation can be an issue.

"If we should take a bus to go somewhere, when we are coming back, they leave us down the road so getting the goods out is a problem at times. If yuh have load, yuh have to struggle every week or pay somebody to help out. When is all coffee time, yuh have to carry the load on your head. I won't lie though, our MP Juliet Holness is trying her best to get things done," she said.