Homegrown strawberries, sugar cane fields open to the public

Kuwaitis pick strawberries at the Blue Lake farm in Al-Abdali.

KUWAIT: Kuwaiti farmer Abdurrahman Al-Awadhi has defied Kuwait’s nature and harsh weather condition to turn his personal farm into a an oasis where kinds of fruits and vegetables thought to be impossible to be grown in Kuwait’s desert can be found.

Visitors of the ‘Blue Lake’ farm in Al-Abdali, located 130 kilometers north of Kuwait City, can pick homegrown strawberries every Friday for 30-60 minutes after the Friday Prayer, and buy them for KD 4 a kilogram. They also can find sugar cane, corn, and other kinds of vegetables at any time during the week depending on their seasons.

The farm also includes flower fields, an animal pin, a lake and tents that can be rented for KD 10 a day, while access to the entire premises is free of charge. Awadhi’s personal endeavor is one of many in which Kuwaiti farmers have successfully turned their farms into producing ones yielding crops for many kinds of plants, including ones that normally cannot grow in Kuwait’s harsh climate. Their properties encourage agricultural tourism and provide recreational outlets in a country with scarce local leisure options.