JEFFERY BURKE is all over social media. His videos are engaging, but therein he is not grandstanding and spewing vitriol. Instead of cussing, ‘tracing’, threatening, ego-massage, like what so many young Jamaican men are doing, he is promoting his plants, and is fast making a name for himself in the plant propagation industry.
He is talking engagingly, smiling, giving useful information about his plants which he created from seeds and ingrafting. But, the 22-year-old St Thomas parishioner was not always this bubbly. He is jovial among family and friends, but he was never the outgoing type to strangers. Somewhere along the road, he realised that he had to come out of his box, and his grandfather’s greenhouse, where he would spend much quiet time taking care of his plants.
Burke went to school at Yallahs Primary and Yallahs High, and did not dream of going into the plant-selling business, nor did he envision being a florist or a horticulturalist. Yet, his grandfather was a grower of pink and white bougainvilleas, and his father taught him how to graft plants. The first grape plant he had grafted turned out to be very successful, but the experience did not say to him that he was going to earn a living from plants.
When he worked as a landscaper for a while, he saw the professional ways in which his employers related to their clients, and he was impressed. He was looking, listening and learning. He, however, gave up the landscaping job and sold potted flowers.
Because of his physical built and fitness, people suggested he join the police force or the army. He toyed with the idea himself, but made no effort to enlist. About a year and a half ago he made a serious decision to go into the plant-selling business. The decision came, though, after much contemplation, for he knew whatever it is that he chose he would have to commit himself to.
“I have a passion for it, and I believe a hundred per cent that I could make a living out of it,” Burke shared with The Gleaner after a pop-up market in St Andrew during the Christmas season.
He now has a farm, not far from Yallahs. Apart from his grapes, which seems to be his favourite, he has been producing flowering and non-flowering plants; and food plants, such as naseberry, mulberry, June plum, soursop, common guava, starfruit, Spanish guava, and a variety of citrus (orange, ortanique, lime, lemon, clementine, grapefruit).
There are also otaheite apple, Julie and East Indian mangoes, purple custard apple, strawberry, jackfruit, cocoa, lychee, longan, dragonfruit, ackee, etc. Coconut, breadfruit, plantain, banana suckers are also in the mix. Likewise, rosemary, a variety of mints, and decorative stones for landscaping purposes. The plants, not the fruits, are his business.
It is a lot of physical work, which includes athletics training. He gets up at four o’clock every morning to keep in shape, even when he doesn’t feel like leaving his bed, or when his lower legs are under pressure. He is committed because, he said, his physical appearance is part of his marketing strategies. It is the total package, he said, thus the effervescent way in which he relates to his customers.
So far, Burke has no regrets, and is happy, despite the challenges of operating a business. As such, he has no intention to switch jobs right now. In fact, expansion is on his mind. It is a small business which he wants to extend to other parishes, and hopes to join the export part of the industry, selling plants to people in the diaspora.
Burke accommodates landscaping consultations at a cost, and plans to add landscaping (including the planting of grass) to the services he provides. His online presence includes Jeffery’s Flowers Supplies @jeffereys_flowers.supplies (Instagram) and jefferyburke (Faceback). He delivers on Tuesdays and Fridays in Kingston, and to other parts of the island through a third-party courier service.
