By Shabna Rahman
During the Christmas season, Patricia Baird would display her live flower plants at the Parika market for sale on Thursdays and Sundays.
Last Sunday when this newspaper caught up with her, it was after midday and she had already sold all of the large plants.
Several smaller plants, such as palms, croton, Joseph’s coat, fern and morning glory, were inside a cart and on a table. A few people stopped to admire them, promising to return to make purchases.
During the interview, a heavy shower came and we hid under a stall, as the plants seemingly enjoyed the rain. By the time the rain was over, Baird, fondly known as ‘Aunt May,’ was ready to end the day’s sale.
She was confident that the plants, which she starts preparing from over one year before, would be sold out for the holidays.
She has been doing the plant business for over 18 years. The plants are also available at her home in all sizes to satisfy her customers’ needs.
Some of them would use the plants for every day beautification while others would just make purchases at Christmastime or on special occasions.
Baird plans to set up a permanent plant shop at her home and do the business on a larger scale. But she hopes to get some help from the government, in terms of financing or with plants pots.
She said too that the cow mould is “expensive… people not giving it away like before.” She also uses plant food to keep her plants healthy.
She believes in accessorising her house for the holidays with live plants instead of fancy decorations and Christmas trees.
She does it a few days before Christmas so that it would still have a fresh look.
This live plant tradition started since her childhood and she has encouraged her four daughters, who are all married now and living separately, to do the same.
She finds that plants brighten and add life to a room. They also bring a festive look as well as that special feeling for the holidays.
“I would clean them out every three months to remove the hard root and replant them. When the plant roots get too big they take up too much plant food that they don’t really need,” Baird said.
“I love to take care of plants and you have to love something to do it. Any [plant] cutting I stick in the ground would grow and I enjoy seeing that. I would be so excited and first thing I say is, ‘oh gosh, it ketch’.”
When she realised that she had a ‘green thumb,’ she decided that she might as well use it “to make some money.”
Along with the plants, Baird had preserved five-finger and cashew ‘fruits’ that she makes to sell for the black cake.
She would start preparing the fruits from a few months before the Christmas season. This entails boiling it with sugar and spices, grinding and soaking it with alcohol.
She also rears Creole fowls and would “save the eggs up for the black cake.”
Quiet Christmas
This year, because of COVID-19 she plans to have a quiet Christmas.
“It would not be like before when I would have a big party” with her children, 15 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren as well as other relatives.
Just a few of them would be visiting this year and she is sad that it would be a Christmas with a difference. But she prefers to adhere to the COVID guidelines and would settle for celebrating virtually instead.
Since her children were growing up she tried to make Christmas special for them.
“I used to buy toys for them and hide them. And on Christmas Eve night when they fell asleep I would go and put it next to them. As soon as they wake up they would find it and be very happy,” she reminisced.
Her children’s father never maintained them and she had to do everything she could to make ends meet.
That gave her the opportunity to discover her hidden talents and use them for her independence.
She also had to start making food items to sell from age 15 to get money for her school expenses.
She considers herself an all-rounder, and said she used her skills in cooking to operate a snackette, selling souse, black-pudding, pepper-pot, methai, tamarind balls and many more delicacies. She also made pepper sauce and achar and bottled them to sell.
Previously, she did catering for special events and would be in charge of the cooking at large family functions.
The woman also served as the head chef at the City Island Hotel (now closed), where she shared her talents with others.
She also baked black cake, sponge cake and cheese cake during the Christmas season, on orders.
Her children and grandchildren have also followed in her footsteps to be good cooks and some are even doing catering as well.
Baird is a “fashion dread” and has grown her hair very long. To ensure her locks are in good shape, she would visit the salon about five times per year to treat and style it.
The woman believes in dressing with her traditional African attire whenever she is going out as well as on Emancipation Day and would walk around the village barefoot.
