Under a perfect cloudless sky, Emancipation Garden was alive with the energy and camaraderie of the annual Carnival Committee Cultural and Food Fair on Wednesday.
This year the fair was called "Charles and Joe’s Flamboyant Garden," honoring brother farmers Charles and Joseph Leonard, and the joy was contagious and abundant.
Charles Leonard, proprietor of Best Fresh Farm, has earned more awards than he can remember for the bounty he produces each year on his two acres, most recently at the Bordeaux Farmers Rastafari Agricultural and Cultural Food Fair in January.
The Leonard brothers have been fixtures on Saturdays at Market Square for more years than they can remember.
Charles Leonard has farmed for more than 30 years, always learning something new. Several years ago he took up beekeeping and now markets his own honey. He was Farmer of the Year at the annual Agricultural Fair in 2009 and 2012. 
He expressed his gratitude at the honor of the village’s name for both him and his brother. He quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson: "The first farmer was the first man, and all historic nobility rests on possession and use of land."
Getting more down to earth, Charles Leonard said his wish was "for more water and rain from the gods for us all."
His daughter, Britany, stood in front of the gazebo watching her father, holding her breath. "Oh, I hope he gets his speech right," she said. "He says I’m better at these things than he is."
When it was all over, her face lit up with an enormous smile. "Oh, he did, he was wonderful," she sighed.
Gov. John deJongh Jr. seemed to agree with Britany, as he lauded the Leonard brothers for their contribution to the community. The governor concluded his brief remarks with a wish for everyone just to enjoy themselves and have fun.
Actually, it didn’t look like anyone needed any encouragement. Everyone was entertained by Carnival royalty with remarks from Carnival Queen Deja’ Nique Navarro to the tiniest Carnival Princess runner-up.
Meanwhile, the fair was truly a community affair. Whether vendor or visitor, the excitement was almost palpable. It started early at 6 a.m. when the farmers unloaded their trucks piled high with earthly bounty, and folks were already there to eye the best produce.
The food fair teemed with familiar aromas, folks following their noses to almost every imaginable treat from vendors of the traditional johnny cakes, fish and fungi, tables piled with pots of crab and rice, kallaloo, roast pork, mutton, all sorts of pates, conch and fried fish, to say nothing of the exotic lobster rotis and curries.
Then there was the desserts – Vienna cake, tamarind apple and mango tarts, little jars of gooseberry or stewed cherry preserves, every hot sauce under the sun, pumpkin johnny cakes, beautiful bottles of peppers in vinegar, and passion fruit juice or maubi to wash it all down with. 
Veteran farmer June Archibald presented her Precious Produce with wonderful jams and jellies, tomato, tamarind and mango.
For the curious, there was everything available from body creams to wooden sculptures, beads, jewelry, and even Japanese fighting fish, which proprietor Evelyn Boschulte of TLC pets claimed are "low maintenance."
But the produce stands always take pride of place. Lining the area to the front of the garden, the stands were burgeoning with all manner of produce. Booth after booth was laden with fat bunches of kale, spinach, peppers, tomatoes, lemongrass, lime trees, flowering plants, soursop, hibiscus, bougainvillea, cucumbers, fat purple eggplants, tomatoes, green peppers, red peppers, plantains, bananas, papayas, squashes, avocados and mangoes. It was a heady display, rapidly dwindling as happy folks wandered off with bags of produce, comparing their finds with each other.
Honoree Charles Leonard’s stand was stocked with bright produce, pumpkins, spinach, arugula, squashes, lettuces, an enormous variety of hot sauces, and the creme de la creme, the honeys from Leonard’s own bees.
The Gladys Abraham Elementary School Garden Club, which has taken first place for produce three of the last four years, has developed a following. Garden advisor Vincent Henley said, "This year we didn’t have enough space for everything, so folks were lined up early."
Henley and school Principal Lisa A. Hassell-Forde were as excited as their student gardeners as they showed their bounty, a remarkable variety using up every square inch of the limited space. Fig trees vied with all manner of produce – a variety of colorful pepper plants, lemongrass, eggplants, bananas, sugar apple, pineapple and guava.
Henley, who has nurtured the school’s garden since its inception five years ago, said they are branching out. "We are going to be raising tilapia this year," he said. "We were given two tanks, so we’ll try farming the fish."
As we were chatting a student from Kirwin Terrace, the former name of Abraham, came charging up all smiles and congratulations. "Wow," he said. "Look at you all. I’m here to ‘big up’ my old school. What you are doing is so great! Just look at these plants."
Hassel-Forde shared some of their philosophy. "It’s a three part program," she said. "First, the students learn about planting seeds, then they learn nutrition, what to eat and how to cook, and finally, they study entrepreneurship with an eye to a future in farming."
Basically, the two agreed, the bottom line is "we love what we do." And it shows. The Abraham Garden Club took first prize in plants for the fourth year in a row.
As the afternoon waned, everyone seemed to agree, this was the best fair ever. Of course, this is what they say every year. And it’s true
