Farm Mom

It’s Monday Sherka Braham, known to social media fans as Farmer Jessie, has a full schedule. Rising at 5 am, she makes breakfast and readies her sons, 10-year-old Romaine and one-year-old Kai, for home school and daycare. Then she is off to her five-acre farm in Woodlands, St Elizabeth, where she spends the day tending crops. “Later, I’ll go home to be chef, nurse, teacher, all in one. In other words, Mom,” she says without a hint of irony.

Sherka’s story is not unlike that of many girls growing up in rural Jamaica. Living with her grandmother, she had to put herself through school, which meant three days of classes followed by three days of work as a market vendor. A teenage pregnancy put a stop to school, but that’s where the story takes a transformative turn. “I’d been doing everything to make my life work since I was 12, and I knew that was not what I wanted for my child,” she says. Shifting gears from solely selling produce, Sherka decided to start farming to have more independence. “I am determined to make my own way. Like farming, a mother’s reward is in the future; it comes when your child goes farther, reaches higher than you have. Farming is the way for me to make that happen,” she says.

Currently cultivating carrot, cucumber, cabbage, sweet pepper, Irish potato, sweet potato and pumpkin, Sherka is focused on shaping a new narrative for young farmers. “I want to be a role model. I think young farmers, more specifically young women farmers, need to have a platform to share their aspirations and receive advice and even encouragement. Our job is to feed Jamaica, and it is just as important as the jobs of people who work in an office. Without us, there is no food. Think about that!” she says.

Odean Bradshaw of Hardware & Lumber admires Sherka spirit. “We met Sherka last year after she was disappointingly hit by praedial larceny, and we offered support. She, like many of our women farmers, faces huge obstacles, but she has the resilience and the confidence that will see her through.”

What is her Mother’s Day wish? “For Kai and Romaine to appreciate that what I am doing is for them. I want them to respect the fact that I am a farmer, and it is a noble profession.

Follow Sherka on Instagram @farmergirljessie