The Backyard Farmer

Luckner Timothee
The Backyard Farmer
Photo by Kadeem Wildgoose
Graphic Artistry

Luckner Timothee is well known as a model, most recognized in the “BTC Dudes and Diva’s” campaign, and an artist of dance and acting amongst our local community in the Bahamas, contributing to the works of choreographers such as Lois Seiler, and Jullion Collie’s New Wave Dancers, acting as a member of The Freeport Players Guild and the productions of Jackie Dack.  Yet, the zealous Luckner is rapidly gaining reputation for his ambitious work as a Backyard Farmer, a project that, although began only three years ago, is now booming in more ways than one.  Besides working in his very own backyard farm as ode to the original trademark, “Backyard Farmer”, Luck also works to help others throughout Grand Bahama Island to produce their own garden farmland in the quarters of their homes and neighborhoods. 

Photo by Kadeem Wildgoose
Graphic Artistry

 

The idea of backyard farming is quickly catching on as many people in Grand Bahama are becoming more and more interested in producing their very own farmland in their backyard.  Luck also works with schools, helping them to prepare gardens on campus to aid in the agricultural education of students.  Luckner loves to educate others about the benefits of backyard farming and self-sustained agriculture.  A self taught farmer, he learned through reading books, researching the internet, and via simple experiments and recorded tests.  He has, over the years acquired so much information that he now writes a column for the Bahamas weekly online and takes any opportunity to share his diverse knowledge. 

Tomatoes

What is so special about the methods of this particular farmer is the intimate and interpersonal approach of his work. Luck is completely organic and his food is pesticide free, as he believes that every part of the environment and ecosystem, including bugs, is important and that we should try to understand and respect all of nature instead of trying to alter what is natural with poisonous and harmful chemicals.  His organic farmland is also completely produced with local soil which he highly endorses, recommending that using natural soil which has actually been pulled away from the earth when the land is cleared for building and then sold to big companies and bought back by Bahamian farmers like himself, is a well worth it investment, because the natural soil is actually best for the native environment and climate in the Bahamian ecosystem for agriculture. 

Planting garden beds with school kids

One of the many benefits of being a backyard farmer, he explained, is the ability to control the small scale garden rather than on a large scale, when involving weather conditions, where in the Bahamas, the seasonal harsh heat and heavy rains including hurricanes, can be a hazard that causes large scale farmers to lose a ton of money each year. Dealing with the elements such as winds and rains and hurricanes makes large scale farming on Grand Bahama rather impossible to sustain as farmers lose gardens and lose money each year, but are not compensated by the government or able to ensure the land for their losses. He therefore suggests small gardens.  The government is not investing enough in agriculture, but even still, they should shift their focus from large scale to “Backyard Farms” because not only does it make crops easier to salvage when storms and floods destroy, but that way everyone can get involved with farming and agriculture in their own way!

Bananas

The trend toward backyard farming is beginning to catch on as there are only 12 industry farmers on Grand Bahama Island, and people spend so much time and effort focusing solely on tourism and relying on tourists, which is a dangerous feat because in that way the Bahamas will never be self-sustained and always dependent on outsourcing.  Through Luck Tmothy’s “Backyard Farming” program, kids are being educated and learning of the importance of not only focusing their future on the possibility of tourism, but also to grow and evolve as a nation toward the uplifting of ourselves in a new industry, agriculture and farming, even if we begin with only one small garden bed in our own back yards.   Passionate about sharing this lifestyle with visitors, and coupled with his Pinder’s Point farm’s proximity to the landmark Lighthouse on Grand Bahama Island, Luckner is suggesting the possibility of setting his farmland as a venue for tourist tours where he can showcase his crops proudly and share the art of Bahamian agriculture with visitors from around the world.  This arrangement is also being made to the Lucayan International School kids with invitation to a guided tour of the original “Backyard Farm”.

 

Farming Toward A Healthier Bahamas

The Backyard Farmers motto “Farming Towards a Healthier Bahamas”, Is one that he certainly lives by, an enterprise that began just three years ago, farming every day after he got off from his main job, Luck made a great deal of sacrifices in order to suit his passion for agriculture.  Now that his hard work is beginning to pay off with beautiful fresh produce, we can all see that it was a great venture and well worth it.  The knowledge that Luck has acquired over the years and the productivity of his success foes to benefit many people throughout our community, including patrons of the farmers market, which he helps to promote through social media, school kids and educators, helping with campus gardens, and assisting homeowners hoping to grow their own backyard farm spaces, while finding time to aid government officials who currently seek lucrative farming opportunities. 

Lettuce

Wholesome and healthy is his first order of business.  The attentive gardener works from home with his younger brother at his side to help in the production of onions, swiss chards, corn, carrots, sweet potato, beets, watermelon, pumpkin, lettuce, eggplant, sugar cane, cassava, bananas, tomatoes, strawberries, parsley, sweet peppers, kale, jalapenos, banana peppers, cayenne peppers, and basil.  He endorses methods of growing that are completely organic, raising fruits and veggies that are pesticide free.  He believes in recycling everything from seeds, to cut grass and fallen leaves for mulch, which helps to keep the earth moist especially in the summer.

Luck in the Garden

In his garden, there is so much life, filled with so much knowledge.  There are bed gardens, vine gardens, crate gardens, and pipe gardens.  He also has a garden laboratory that he dedicates to experimenting on new crops or new methods for growing, recording all of his findings and sometimes sharing new discoveries to social media or as references in his Bahamas Weekly column.   His natural resources include using compost pile to make new soil, using collard greens to attract bugs so that they wont feed on any other plants, and using the nitrogenous sweet potatoes to add nitrogen and nutrient richness into the soil, when other plants strip soil of nutrients.   He knows to appreciate when the birds come and eat the fruit and spread the seeds throughout the garden, and the way certain insects help to oxygenate the soil and keep the ecosystem balanced although he does warn against fruit flies that they could be destructive and do more harm than good.  Also, using only Bahamian soil which he describes as rich and organic, though stripped from the land. 

Cassava

Working from home and on his own farm, Luck has learned so much about farming from simple experiments, testing growth and productivity of various produce in changing seasons and for the local climate, and learning to understand through recording details, logging the agricultural habitat, and how things are affected.   He looks forward to expanding his work in an upcoming project on ten acres of farmland called “Local Organics” with Tiffany Dickenson, in a method called the Hydroponic Stacker/Verdigo System that is said to be hurricane safe, and weather resistant, because of the transporting/mobile greenhouse type of methods that will be used.  You can contact Luck Timothy at backyardfarmers@live.com.  Also, look out for his column “Lets Grow Bahamas” in Bahamas Weekly Online.

 

Backyard Farming

Mint/Herbs

Fever Grass

Garden Greens