Backyard agriculture keeps us inside more often

MATANZAS, Cuba, May 13 (ACN) In order to go out less often, Delvis Ladal González, 64, decided to get rid of the bushes around his house and plant yam, sweet potato, pumpkin, okra, cucumber, onion, garlic, radish and lettuce in his backyard for the family's own consumption.

An intermediate level technician in electrical systems, Delvis’s place is brimming with circuits and engines to repair, but he thought of using the land closest to him to grow something again now that COVID-19 makes it advisable to be as much homebound as possible.

“I produce the seeds myself; at first a friend gave me a handful of each kind, but now I keep part of what I harvest for that purpose,” he explained.

Producing food in backyards and plots is an increasingly common practice in Cuba, and Delvis, a devoted advocate of this practice who claims to go out for vegetables he has no seeds to plant, urges anyone who can do it at home to start doing so right away.