There is a spider on my web ! SALT CAY

IDENTIFICATION OF SPIDERS, PESTS, BUGS AND THINGS!

Calling on the help of the DECR ( Department of Environment and Coastal Resources).


 Hi chaps any idea of the identification of this spider  found in a garden on Salt Cay.

Salt Cay helps 'curb the Lionfish invasion' with DECR

STOP THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TCI REEFS .THE LIONFISH MUST BE KILLED.

The lionfish may be beautiful to look at and delicious to eat but it is a predator that is killing every fish in sight with such a tremendous appetite that it is slowly depleting the reefs which as we know are essential for our tourist industry and the many divers that come to these islands to see the myriad and colourful underwater world.

The proliferation of lionfish in our waters must be STOPPED before IT IS TOO LATE and each and every citizen and lover of marine life must join in the hunt to kill these creatures which are eating all the baby shrimp, grouper and snapper at an alarming rate.

You may not be a diver and want to catch these fish but you certainly can select a lionfish delicacy off the many menu’s round the islands which serve an array of many exciting ways to eat this nutritious and surprisingly tasty fish.

Here is a picture of Richard the dive master at Salt Cay Divers on Salt Cay who opened up a small lionfish and dissected the stomach which contained too many baby fish. “There are just too many lionfish on the reefs and getting more each week” exclaimed Richard.


Salt cay Divers take their role seriously and on each dive are bringing back lionfish which are carefully cleaned and prepared as tasty finger food and entrees on their Coral reef Restaurant menu.
Calling all divers...On the 7th July please gather at Salt Cay Divers for a fun day catching lionfish which will later be cooked up for every one to taste...Salt Cay Divers will also give lessons on how to recognize and catch lionfish before you set out to catch the most lionfish.

The red lionfish do most of their hunting at night but during the day can be found under ledges, coral heads and rocks.
the Lionfish has many spines all of which are venemous. Always use extreme caution when observing or catching one and if stung soak the area in hot bearable water for at least 30 to 90 minutes. 

Growing Mahogany trees on Salt Cay

Salt Cay building a Working Partnership with the DECR (Department of Environment and Coastal Resources)

It is so exciting to be a small part of the important initiatives undertaken by the DECR and their team of dedicated and experienced officers…our watchdogs of a healthy environment.

It came about one day last week when Scientific officer Eric Salamanca during a recent trip to the headquarters of DECR on lower Byte Rd in Providenciales  explained how they are in the process of rescuing and collecting endemic and endangered species of plants from around the islands.

DECR have created a nursery in their back yard and growing from seeds mahogany trees, lignum vitae and mangroves. Once the small plants are strong enough they are replanted into suitable environments.

Eric Salamanca holding one of hundreds of mahogany trees growing at DECR.

Eric showed me his plot of mahogany trees growing and the lignum vitae and mangroves and explained the various procedures to ‘catch‘ these plants.

Naturally it seemed like a good idea to plant the mahogany seeds in Salt Cay and see if it is possible to grow the trees and possibly at some stage in the distant future, clear some of the invasive acacia bush which seems to be taking over the whole island and replace with indigenous plants including the mahoganys.....the seeds are now planted in the Salt Cay nursury along with the tomatoe,pepper and eggplant seedlings.
History of Mahogany

It is believed that most of the hardwood trees were cut down certainly in the 17th and 18th century to not only aid in the salt industry but also for export.

Mahogany is actually an African name and in the 1700s this wood was in great demand by British and European Carpenters. Jamaican and Bahamian mahogany had largely replaced the demand for oak and walnut and the elite British furniture makers like Thomas Chippendale were producing large quantities of chairs, card tables, tea chests, bed heads and frames.

There was a huge demand in the Americas and mahogany gained popularity over the local logwood. In this fashion the woodcutters felled thousands of trees. Often the profits were used to purchase more slaves.

“Getting Back to our Roots”….. New ‘ECO CENTRO’ Project.SALT CAY

BUSH MEDICINE

Ma Clemantina Walkin 101 years old understands all about Bush medicine

Well after travelling round the Islands and visiting with many senior citizens as part of the “Spotlight on the TCI Cultural Heritage” Show sponsored by Salt Cay Development Co… there has been plenty of local knowledge gathered about “bush Medicine” and so it seems a good idea to not only collate all the information together but grow a garden on Salt Cay that has as many of these super remedy’s and cures under one roof so to speak..

Bush medicine was first introduced into these islands by the African slaves. There was no easy access to visiting doctors on the out islands and so many families relied heavily on local concoctions and brews prepared by the local bush doctor who had many types of root, bark and leaves that gave relief and often a cure for various ailments.

 These bush doctors were often the “grannies” the local endearment for the brave women of the settlement that became midwifes and who were called out to the homes to administer to the birthing mothers.

Following is a few names called of 42 plants named to date. These names have been called by our older folk as I meet them on my travels throughout the ‘Salt’ and Caicos Islands.
As time goes by we will add an in depth description and
 method of use. for now however I thought it would be interesting to hear word for word what the elders have to say about these cures.....
This is an ongoing project and interactive and so please add your observations and forward any pictures to piratequeen3@hotmail.com

Thankyou to 14 yr old Rachel from the Byte for the new bushes added to our list ROACH BUSH and OILNUT BUSH…now lets find out from our seniors what they have to say about various plants...

CATNIP


"Boil it and steep it and its good for children with worms.

It all round good for sugar But boy it bitter."


DILL SEED TREE.


“Make tea with it and when it dry you make the tea…nice.nice..you put a piece of parsley leaf in it woman….and it belches up the gasses….dill seed and parsley boiled and strained and you make your tea..children can drink it…its good for babies griping in their stomach…you boil dill seed tea and when you done..especially boys you make their bottle of tea and child it good for gripin’”


"Good for babies…good for colic".

SNAKESTICK


“If you have a bad pain of stomach, you break some of the snake stick, you hot some water …you put the snake stick in the cup,…you put the hot water in and the salt that you cook with, you put a pinch of that and when it done steep you take a drink of that woman….that pain of stomach with the Lord to it…will ease”

Bush Man Aldon Higgs from Middle Caicos

SOURSOP BUSH


“Plenty of little bushes you can make your teas from and they taste so nice….

“They tell me you, pull off three leaves and you put in  your pillow when you sleepin’ or in your hat…its good for headaches and pressure”.

The Edible Landscape on Salt Cay

Home Grown Veggies for Everyone Stage One

 This week we planted over 300 seedlings into any recyclable container we could find. ...tomatoes, hot peppers, sweet peppers and spinach. We are starting the seedlings in  potting soil and keeping them nicely moist with a few hours of sun each day  even though we have shading from the midday sun. Hopefully something will sprout in a couple of weeks!

  

This is one great way to recycle any plastic bottles.....chop them into slices and fill with potting soil,...the very first stage in producing ripe, juicy tomatoes. Remember to put holes in the bottom of your plastic bottles for good drainage.

Join in our Home veggie Program Stage Two


Anyone who would like to receive some baby plants in a couple of weeks can join in our 'home veggie program' Please let me know if you would like to grow your own vegetables.

Now after some consultation with our knowledgeable landscapers both in Providenciales and Grand Turk we are going to create some simple shaded structures that will help our senior folk grow veggies close to their houses and protect the plants  from harsh sun and roaming animals.


Of course this farming lifestyle is nothing new to our older folk 
who have plenty of tips on what can grow once the wild cats, fowl and donkeys can be kept out of the yard long enough to grow a crop!

Thanks again to Salt Cay Devco for once again providing all the necessary materials that are a tremendous help to our plans.


 Big thanks also to Sunshine Nursery in Providenciales for the shading and good advice! 


Big thanks to our DC who has many good ideas and is supportive of the community and works hard to help make things happen.

Our project will begin with four of our local senior folk who already have green fingers. Ms Nettie is delighted and looks forward to selling fresh home grown tomatoes in her store. 

As a parting thought we are very lucky that today we can find fertilizers and 'miracle grow' at Mr Cees and Sunshine Nursery's.  With any luck we will be able to see great results quickly before I for one keel over from this summer heat!