Topic 1 Food plants
Definition: The Creole garden is defined by the plants that compose it and the cultivation techniques used.
In the plants essential to the garden, we find:
Food plants
Medicinal plants
Protective, ornamental and border plants
Accessory” and forage plants
Different types of plants make up the Creole garden and allow families to be autonomous.
« Root vegetables: »
This first category of plants provides the family with slow sugars (starches). Like yam, sweet potato, manioc, dachine, they grow in the ground, which is an advantage in case of cyclone. It is a long crop (between 6 and 12 months to produce).
Seed crops, cereals and peas: Currently, cereals such as rice, sorghum or corn are not widely cultivated in Martinique. On the other hand, the pigeon pea is an integral part of the landscape and is traditionally eaten on Christmas Eve with roasted pig and yam. Being a fabacaes, it enriches the soil in nitrogen, thanks to a symbiosis with a bacterium.
« Green” vegetables:
Apart from the vegetables already presented above, a wide variety of species are present in the Creole gardens. For example, we can see tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, giromons (local squash), green beans, salads, cabbage, parsley…
The fruits : A wide variety of fruits are also visible in the gardens: carambola, papaya, mango, cinnamon apple, soursop, country apricot, country cherry.
