A bountiful harvest and we don’t realize it

God has blessed our islands with fertile soil, ample rainfall, and year round good weather so that we can grow much of our basic food. This fact is shown every Saturday morning at the Sabalu Market (Farmers’ Market) on Beach Road located just before the World Resort Hotel and across the Marianas High School. Spread out before us are fresh locally grown vegetables and fruits. If you haven’t been there lately, let me take you on a tour.

The market opens at 6:30 in the morning and closes about 11am, depending upon the number of buyers. The market is laid out with two rows of stalls with a walkway between them. Each stall has a small green tent over it to protect it from the sun and sometimes the rain. Under each tent is spread out an array of fresh locally grown vegetables and fruits. Each farmer has proudly selected his best fruits and vegetables to offer us.

Along with the splendid collection of locally grown vegetables and fruits is a gourmet feast of local food prepared on the spot. For example, we can enjoy boiled corn on the cob, tamales, bibinka, tapioca pudding, corn soup, potu, ahu, apigigi and other foods. (Forgive my spelling for some of the local foods.) We can enjoy them along with fresh coconut juice or a mango smoothie. These are foods not regularly sold in stores. I enjoy sampling different ones each Saturday.

The vegetables range from cucumbers, pumpkins, and kankun to petchai, eggplant, sweet potatoes, taro, tomatoes, corn, sugarcane stalks, and many other vegetables. The various selections of fruits are my favorite. There spread out are different types of bananas—either for eating or cooking—along with pineapples, avocados, papayas, and some other local fruit I keep forgetting the name of but very delicious.

I never realized the large variety of vegetables and fruits grown in Saipan until I visited the Sabalu Market. I purchase all my vegetables there and most of the daily fruits my family enjoys. And the price is right.

In addition to the locally grown vegetables and fruits, we can get the locally raised fresh chilled Marianas Sweet Shrimp and even freshly caught fish. Oh, I almost forgot the beautiful orchids and plants offered there—a magnificent display.

Despite the fact that all of these foods are priced below supermarket prices and are fresh, I have to admit that I do not see too many locals shop there. I see some of us but I see quite a few more customers of various nationalities. Why is that? Please come out and support the local farmers.

One of the more pleasant features of the market is that it’s Saturday morning and a good place to bump into old friends wearing a smile. By being there every Saturday, I have become reacquainted with many friends that I have not seen for some time. And the pleasant thing is everyone is smiling and seems relaxed as he or she walks from stall to stall, touching and pinching the vegetables and fruits.

This market reminds me of when I was a child many years ago in Pennsylvania. My mother would take my brother and me along early in the morning to our local Farmers’ Market. There she would buy fresh vegetables, fruits, and meat. But the best part was that live chickens were also sold. They were penned in cages. My mother would ask the farmer to take a chicken out. Then she would feel under the neck for how fat it felt. From her magic touch she would either buy the live chicken or request to feel another one.

With the live chicken wrapped in a newspaper, my brother and I had a jolly time walking home with the chicken tucked under our arms. When we got home, my father would tie it up from its feet upside down. I was asked to boil a big pot of water.

After a few minutes my dad would stretch the chicken’s neck until it died. Then it was plunged into the pot of boiling water. This made the feathers easy to pull off. Guess who had to pull off the feathers? Yes, me. But I was glad I didn’t have to gut it. Talk about fresh chicken.

I still enjoy these delightful memories of the vast display of fruits and vegetables all grown by the local farmers.

In the CNMI we have a group of dedicated men who till the land daily to produce fresh vegetables and grow fresh fruit. With pride they display and offer them to us and at a fair price. We should be glad that they continue to produce the fruits and vegetables for us. Let us support them more.

I wish we could also sell fresh meat from livestock raised here. For some reason the government has never considered it important enough to support a local U.S. federally approved slaughter house. What a shame and what a loss!

This farmers’ market represents a small fraction of what we can produce locally. I lament that so much of our land lies unplanted. For what reason are we not working it? The fruits and the vegetables grown can be easily sold. We can export some of it to Guam. We can sell it also to our tourists. Farming is a basic industry and a noble trade.

Have you noticed the many roadside vegetable stalls lately being erected all over the island? Most of them are operated by Chinese farmers. I am both glad and sad to see this. I am glad to see that some industrious people are taking advantage of our bountiful land. At the same time I am sad to see that almost none of our local people are erecting vegetable stalls to sell their produce.

We should learn from these industrious people. Instead, we are allowing others to take advantage of what we should be doing. Farmers, take note—unless we start competing, we will eventually lose any advantage we have to others for selling vegetables and fruits.

I hope someone sees the golden opportunity waiting for a farmers’ market that could be opened in a large warehouse. Then all of the above vegetables, fruits, aquaculture products, and locally made handicrafts can be displayed for sale daily to our residents as well to our tourists. It is an opportunity knocking! There are many vacant warehouses where this type of enterprise can be started with only a small investment.

I’ll look for you at the Sabalu Market next Saturday morning. Bring the children. Stop by and say hello or wave as you stroll by. Let’s not forget that Saipan can produce much of our fresh food without importing it. Also fresh is better that aged fruits and vegetables from outside the CNMI. And the price is right. We have greater possibilities than we realize. Support our local farmers! See you at the Sabalu Market next Saturday morning!