Herbalists in Paradise

Blog

Jan 16

Written By Sue Morris

by Sue J Morris Jan. 2024

Spirit of the Valley

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

By chance, in the winter of 2022, I made a brief yet consequential friendship with Rachael Punnett, the lovely owner of Spirit of the Valley Air B&B in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Located in the foothills of the ancient Buccament Valley between The Vermont Nature Trail, site of the Island’s lush rainforest, and the clear turquoise waters of Buccament Bay Beach, Spirit of the Valley was aptly named . Spending the final nights of my vacation there was an unexpected delight for my plant loving, botanically inspired spirit. The lush gardens surrounding the property were abundant with countless tropical plants, fruit and nut trees, aromatic flowers, mounds of ginger, a fantasy of flowering shrubs, exotic Ylang Ylang trees, and many medicinal herbs. The Bottle Palm Tree, the flowering Crepe Ginger, the Heliconia, along with so many others bestowed such beauty to the landscape, it seemed to be a living work of art, and Rachael was the artist. To reach this place required more than a GPS. The drive takes 20 minutes from the main road, up a steep, winding mountain requiring frequent honking to announce yourself as you round the road's sharp, blind curves.

When you arrive you are transported to a scene so surreal, the beauty of this place can take your breath away. The land so fertile it seems anything can grow here, and that felt at once like it could include me. As a devoted Pennsylvania gardener, deeply connected to the land, I felt a resonance with Rachel, as if we were gardeners in different worlds. Our landscape canvas was vastly different, but our devotion to the land seemed kindred. Rachael, clearly an accomplished gardener, devotes much of her energy to maintaining this retreat in paradise. The accommodations she offers include Nirvana, a magificently situated and artistically designed stone cottage; Strong’s house, a 2 story tree house with a wrap around deck perched high above the valley; The Bottle House, a mini cottage with walls made of wine bottles and conch shells; and the main house where the spacious main room is large enough to hold yoga retreats, along with 4 comfortable guest rooms, a large kitchen and an upstairs apartment. On the veranda grew potted herbs such as Wonder of the World, Rosemary and Tiki Thyme, and wicker chairs and a comfy couch offer a space to lounge while sipping ginger tea, as the scent of lemongrass wafts through the air. Under the dark skies the moon rises over the sea in the distance and the stars seem close enough to reach out and pluck from the sky. My thoughts filled with sweet imaginings, wondering what it would be like to stay here forever.

The evening we arrived Rachael joined my daughter and I to enjoy a bottle of local cannabis wine. The wine was gifted to me, delivered by Kobra from the Hope Estate Cannabis farm, owned by Leonard Philllips, who had organized the trip to St. Vincent for us. (More about Hope Estates in the next blog).

Rachael brought freshly roasted, lightly salted breadnuts that came from the tree beside Nirvana.

Drinking the wine while moon gazing on the night of a full lunar eclipse turned out to be quite auspicious.

Talking astrology, Rachael and I, two Pisces plant lovers, made a connection that would lead to my future adventures in St. Vincent.

Three months later

I return to Spirit of the Valley in March for an extended stay in the main house. Here I intend to finish writing my book, Scents of Self. The perfect getaway for a writer, I make the apartment upstairs my writing den. I love it up there. Everything I need to let my mind unwind is there, a secluded space with views of the the farm below, the sea and passing sailboats in the distance and a welcoming breeze through the open windows. I can the all the way across the valley to where Gorilla Rock and the cannabis farm turn out to be located! Each day I feel refreshed, undistracted, except by the views I can’t take my eyes off of.

During my previous stay I hadn’t noticed that there was a whole lot of farming going on down below. I noticed ginger piled beside trenched rows, waiting to be planted. Rachael later mentioned that this is a ginger farm. The following month I will be the featured speaker at the PA Herb and Garden Festival, presenting a talk on ginger! What were the odds?

I kept my eyes open for the farmer, hoping to ask some ginger planting questions , maybe get a few pictures. On a morning walk I saw someone at the base of the field, someone standing there seemed to be looking up at me. He climbed the hill and introduced himself. I’m Mr. Tucker, he said in a self-assured tone. I farm this land.

He guided me back down the hill, through the field where buckets of ginger were waiting to be planted. Willing to answer my endless questions, he agreed to let me plant the ginger with him, explaining how to break it up into small pieces that each had an eye, being sure to plant it with the eye facing up! I worked beside him planting, talking, learning the ways of a ginger farmer.

I looked up the hillside yet to be planted, wondering how anyone could manage this alone. There was so much land left to plant. The labor intensive work did not appear to be burdensome or a hardship. Passionate about farming and committed to growing organic food, Mr. Tucker was uncomplaining about the effort required to make a living growing ginger, as well as limes, eddoes and other root crops, known as provisions. A farmer in this field, he seemed to be born for the land.

I imagined what it would be like to spend awinter here, planting ginger in the sun under a bright blue sky.

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Learning to plant ginger with Mr. Tucker

My friend Dana, a writing professor and fellow herbalist, arrived the night before to join me for 4 days. We toured the farm with Mr. Tucker, treated to his seemingly encylopedic knowledge of the local botany, and his natural gift for teaching. He walked us through the farm, familiarizing us with the many trees on the property.

We learned how to distinguish a banana tree from a plantain tree(the banana tree has a black body while the plantain has a brown one), explaining how the banana tree regrows its root stock after the fruit is harvested and the tree is cut down. We learned about the soursop fruit, and ways to prepare it into juice, and the difference between soursop and sweet sop. We met the orange tree, the passionfruit tree, the nutmeg tree, the spiked cotton tree, the wax apple and the golden apple trees. We passed a sack of limes the size of softballs that he had recently picked, the kind of limes I later learned are pressed into bergamot oil. In addition to the ginger there were eddoes, sweet potatoes and other root crops known as provisions. We were treated to a few coconuts that he skillfully poked and prodded from the tree with a very long pole.

One could say an enchantment set in

We were here, in the middle of winter, in a temperate climate on a steep volcanic mountain, entirely covered in vibrant shades of green, looking down to the sea. I felt as if I’d been inserted into a painting of my idea of plant paradise. The breeze gently blew, wafting scents of lemongrass and ylang ylang flowers. One could say an enchantment set in.