Lorilyn Walker on the food, herbs and family habits in her Antigua garden

Lorilyn’s grandmother cooked from a backyard garden. Now Lorilyn grows one at Lamblion, and her daughter has her own way with the green papaya. Four generations, connected by food.

What did Lorilyn learn from her grandmother’s Antiguan garden?

Lorilyn grew up with food being picked from the family garden. Green Globe names Lorilyn and Lionel Walker as the couple behind Lamblion.

Which foods did Lorilyn’s family grow in their Antiguan backyard garden?

That’s how we grew up. My grandmother, my mother, she had her little backyard garden.

That’s how most of us grew up who lived in the country. There was a backyard garden.

There were papaya. There were eggplants.

Some person had a mango tree or two. There was a pumpkin.

And the breadfruit. You have a breadfruit tree there?

And we’ll go in the garden and my grandmother will take whatever she wanted. Pigeon peas, all different types of peas.

She had peas and she’ll cook.

What did Lorilyn remember about her grandmother’s anise?

My grandmother would use it in buns a lot when I was small. I had so much of it when I was small that after becoming an adult, I didn’t want to see it, smell it.

Her grandmother was a baker. Later in the same conversation, Lorilyn described using anise seeds in pastries and making tea. Food carries memories you might welcome, and some you have had enough of.

How does Lorilyn maintain the herb beds at Lamblion in Antigua?

Lorilyn cuts some herbs for regrowth and replaces plants when they are past their best. The Green Globe garden account describes herbs guests can use in their apartments.

How does Lorilyn harvest celery and onion herbs at Lamblion?

This is the celery patch. We use the celery a lot in our foods in Antigua and Barbuda.

So we got the seedlings and we plant these. And as they grow we pick the top.

We cut the top and we use them in our foods.

Usually we cut them at the bottom and then they shoot up. You see this one has been cut at the bottom.

And we could have gone a little lower. And then it shoots up.

So these have been in here for quite a while.

When does Lorilyn replace older greens in the Lamblion garden?

These have been quite old so I don’t expect much growth from them anymore. So I’m going to put fresh ones in.

A garden needs renewal as well as harvesting. FAO’s home garden research describes diverse tropical gardens adapted to local conditions; it does not promise endless growth from every plant.

How does Lorilyn share her Antiguan gardening knowledge?

Lorilyn shares plants through the Horticultural Society and food habits through her family. Green Globe also documents her work with the local school.

What does Lorilyn do with the Antigua and Barbuda Horticultural Society?

Sometimes we sell because persons come, and I’m a member of the Horticultural Society here.

Here in Antigua and Barbuda. And annually, maybe twice a year or so, we have a garden show.

We have a plant sale and the garden show at Agave Gardens, our gardens at the Horticultural Society. And we use our plants to sell our plants to help with maintaining the gardens.

How does Lorilyn’s daughter use green papaya?

Actually we cook them. But my daughter told me she used them in a coleslaw, something with a coleslaw, with carrots.

She shreds them and uses them. But we have a way where my grandmother would cook them in a pot with water.

But now what we do is shred them and sauté them with some carrots. And they’re so pretty.

The garden keeps moving into another kitchen. Read the Lamblion stay and garden visit for the seasonal picking invitation, and the apartment guide for somewhere to cook what you bring back.

Meet the people who grow the food, my loves. Their work is part of what you are choosing when you book.