Grantley L. Samuel, award-winning local farmer, says he hasn’t punched a time clock in more than eight years. He works in his fields in Lower Love from sunup to sundown – unless there is more to be done and then he sometimes works late into the night.
“Nothing gives me more pleasure than farming,” Samuel says. “I give praise to the Lord for the talents he has given me and the ability to farm.”
He says he finds pleasure by himself working in the fields alone with God.
“It’s just me and God working in the field,” he adds.
Samuel was named the 2012 Crop Farmer of the Year at the St. Croix Agriculture and Food Fair in February. And he received the 2011 Small Business Farmer of the Year honor from the Small Business Development Agency.
Samuel says there is nothing more important than farming.
“Everybody eats a plate of food each night,” Samuel explains “What if the trailers bringing food stop coming across the ocean? If food stops coming we would really see chaos, we would be hurting big time. We saw Hovensa close and never thought that would happen. Anything can happen.”
Samuel, 45-years-old, farms 2 1/2 acres of land he leases from the government at 4RB Community Gardens in Estate Lower Love. He grows a variety of produce, such as tomatoes, okra, corn, cucumbers, bananas, plantains, eggplant, peppers, greens, celery, herbs and just about anything else he can.
He sells vegetable plants and produce at G.L.G. Plants and Produce farm stand in front of his plot on Queen Mary Highway and in Southgate at the corner before Cheeseburgers in America’s Paradise. The stands are open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays. Samuel said he kept getting requests at the fair to open a stand on the east end of the island, so he opened that stand five years ago.
“I aim to please,” Samuel says as he chats with folks at the Southgate farm stand. “I love to interact with customers. It drives me to do more.”
He also sells plants and produce at most of the local food fairs. He’s got fans.
“I look forward to coming to buy produce here twice a week,” Georgene Schuster says as she purchases some perfect cucumbers. “Everything he sells is wonderful.”
Samuel started gardening on a quarter acre of land at the home he rented after his son, Grantley, was born 11 years ago. He is married to Laurie Samuel.
“I cultivated the yard to capacity,” Samuel says. He says around 2005 Errol Chichester, deputy commissioner for Agriculture, talked to him about drawing up a plan to start growing on a larger scale.
“If I have questions, Errol Chichester is who I go to,” Samuel says.
He attends every workshop and class offered at the University of the Virgin Islands and the Agriculture Department, he said.
He says there are some challenges to farming on St. Croix, the biggest being the soil, which is mostly clay and difficult to prepare.
“If we have too much rain my hands are tied,” Samuel says. “The soil doesn’t drain.”
He says another challenge is getting farming equipment and supplies.
“We really need a farm store here to sell tractors, implements, and supplies for large-scale farming.”
He buys most of his supplies through the Internet.
He gives farm tours for school children, who he calls the future of farming on St. Croix.
“I love to give farm tours to kids,” Samuel says. “I see kids on the farm and sometimes they don’t want to go back to class. We need to teach farming to kids at a young age, when they are really into it.”
Those who want to set up a farm tour can call Samuel at 1-340-332-3932.
“I believe our Father put a talent in everyone,” Samuel says. “ There is a higher power and I give my respect to that. I’ve been blessed from the time I began farming. Farming is my life and my passion.”
After graduating from St. Croix Central High School in 1987, Samuel went to Apex Technical Institute in Manhattan, New York, where he studied air conditioning and refrigeration and mechanics. He worked at Hovensa and was a pastry chef at Thomas Bakery before turning his hand to farming.
