What you sow, so shall you reap

Agriculture officals have distributed seedlings to hundreds of Cook Islands households.

Secretary for Agriculture Temarama Anguna-Kamana said they had given them out to 351 households on Rarotonga alone, by April 24. Outer islands had also been provided seeds.

The agriculture response plan was announced on April 12, she said, and the very next morning people were lined up at their offices to get their free seedlings.

These included short-term crops such as dwarf and snake beans, Chinese cabbage, tsoi sum, eggplant and sweet corn.

These were all distributed from the ministry’s nursery, where seedlings were propagated weekly. They were available to the public 9am-midday, Monday to Wednesday, on a first come, first serve basis.

Customer details were recorded for follow up, the contacted to experts could inspect their home gardens and advise them how to get the best results.

“Use the opportunity of looking after the garden as a ‘whole family’ project,” Anguna-Kamana said. “Because what you sow and look after, you enjoy the benefits when harvested.”