Strawberries are as synonymous with Valentine’s Day as roses and chocolates, and 28-year-old navigational officer and farmer Christopher Murray has laid the necessary groundwork and necessary acreage – some 3,000 sq ft of greenhouse space – to ensure he’s able to supply strawberries in abundance by 2016. (PHOTO # 2796 & 2809 & 2816 )

Thursday Life spent Saturday afternoon at the award-winning family,-run Adam’s Valley Farm – National Champion Farm 2012 and 2013 and Most Innovative Farmer and Best Greenhouse Farmer, all courtesy of the Jamaica Agricultural Society – with the industrious Murray, where in addition to the strawberries there’s lettuce, tomatoes, black mint, potatoes, carrots, sweet peppers, moringa and Scotch bonnet pepper.

I kind of knew that I enjoyed farming when…

Two distinct moments stand out in my mind: the first time I planted a bean and that first green leaf emerged from the earth. I was in awe of nature. And secondly, as a teenager, the look on the face of a young lady I was courting desperately when I gifted her strawberries from my farm.

You’re a navigational officer for ships though…

Yes. The sea clears my mind and the land gives me stability. The perfect complement to sailing for me is farming. It’s what I know. It wasn’t a conscious decision or something that needed thought. It was innate.

Farming is something not usually favoured by young people like yourself…

I’m a 28-year-old proud Jamaican farmer who would like to encourage more young people to consider farming. We are encouraged (myself included) to pursue traditional careers. But in this economic climate self-sustainability is the key to progress and farming is the exact avenue for not only personal but national development.

Reaping that first strawberry… 

I’m not quite sure when it happened, but I come from the lineage of soil, meaning my family always had interests in farming. A

nd being a mischevious youngster I naturally gravitated to planting, playing in dirt and being fascinated with reaping what was planted. In my early teens, however, I developed an affinity to strawberries not only because they are my favourite fruit, but because they take a little more nurture than most crops. I became intrigued in striking the balance to create the perfect mix of tangy and sweet in our difficult climate (strawberries usually have winter months, but the elevation of our farm allows us to grow them year round).

Trial & Error… 

As with any task, failure is inevitable. Many a strawberry has been reaped that tasted like lime! However, with perseverance, research and, most importantly, humility and patience, a more edible crop was eventually achieved. # 2895 & 2940

My strawberries are good because… 

The agronomic quality of the strawberry is determined by many characteristics: colour, freshness, smell, size and juiciness. Strawberries from Adam’s Valley – based on consumer feedback – are top-rated in each aspect. I pride myself in producing quality for the consumer to the best of my ability.

(Photos: Naphtali Junior)

For more information on Adam’s Valley strawberries e-mail: rawlemurray@gmail.com