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Foreword
Roadside Planting (P.7 - 8)
Wishing to get away from Hong Kong for a few days, the YMT Gardeners went this past June to Taiwan for a short holiday. They have actually individually been to Taiwan many times, but this time they encountered many things related to plants and food, making this trip a not-so-ordinary one. Spending the last few years working on projects related to agriculture and food waste has led them to a particular sensitivity towards the green environment around them.
On a street corner near the bed & breakfast where we stayed in Taipei, there were several styrofoam planters filled with plants, and the house behind them was even painted with cute, hand-drawn murals of animals. It’s not hard to spot many different ornamental plants while strolling through residential neighborhoods. Some were next to doorways, some were thriving in small planters like walls of green screen. Plants continue to thrive here because not every last inch of space is being used to build houses.
This zine shares observations gathered from Taiwan and Hong Kong about how plant species, growing environments, and planting tools can represent a form of community design, a manner of people’s livelihood, or even the attitude of the government. This zine may not offer a lot of techinical knowledge, but the next time you visit a new city, why not try simply taking notice of all the plants growing at street corners or in alleyways and considering what they represent?
Roadside Fruit (P.3 - 4) During our stay on Little Liuqiu (Lamay Island), we spotted on the side of the road one tree after another filled with branches full of grayish-white colored fruit bags. A peek inside revealed green and red-skinned mangos. When we saw the mango shaved ice delights selling like hot cakes at the local shaved ice cafés, we knew immediately that mangos are the specialty here. Irwin mangos originally came from southern Florida in the United States, and because the production yields were stable, they adapted easily when introduced to Taiwan. Xiao Liuqiu islanders smartly used seaweeds as fertilizer, and because they were mostly grown for personal use without commercial pressures to accelerate the ripening process, their branches would bear the famously delicious “red on the tree” mangos. After an old man invited us to taste some of his homegrown mangos, he urged us, half in Taiwanese and half in Mandarin, to come back again to taste the “red hot fruits of June.” Papaya trees can occasionally be found in the back alleys of Yau Ma Tei. These trees are most certainly the result of leftover seeds thrown out by the neighbors, but it is also said that workers love to have these trees around their construction sites so that fresh papayas can be had during work breaks. Sadly, many papaya trees don’t last very long because of limitations in these environments, and they are quietly disappearing from view in Yau Ma Tei. If you live near farmland, however, just remember not to randomly throw around leftover seeds, because if a tree manages to sprout, it could spread GMO pollen into organic fields, contaminating organic papaya trees.
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The Yau Ma Tei area is actually not lacking in examples of roadside planting. But because of a clamp-down from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, most of these plants appear guerrilla-style. There are moving carts that have been converted into planters, set up at dawn and removed after dusk. There are plants sitting high in the air on top of street signs. Space is a luxury here, even for plants.
The Planting Experts (P.11 - 12) When we reached the intersection of Tai Shun street, we were drawn towards a “small forest,”mthe entrance of a house that literally looked like a cave entrance covered with all shapes and sizes of plants. There were even planters made from worker’s gloves, face masks, and plastic bottles. Peering into the interior of the house, there were countless ornaments and wind chimes hanging decoratively, each one with a paper wind catcher with all sort of couplets and blessings written on it. The owner, a middle-aged man with a ponytail, urged us to take as many photographs as we wished. Reading a newspaper clip pasted on the wall, we learned that the man was an installation artist, and the “Red Cottage” we were visiting was the beloved wonderland he cared for after retiring. Probably one of the most familiar stories of YMT Gardener’s Uncle Mui is the rooftop garden he has been taking care of since the ‘60s and his use of plastic bottles converted into planters and tools. We always love to visit his studio after finishing work on the rooftop, not just to touch base but also to learn about new things he’s planted and new inventions he’s created for his garden. Knowing that Uncle Mui is still doing well makes for the best moments in Yau Ma Tei.
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Gardening Shops (P.15 - 16) We happened upon a simple gardening shop while wandering through the historic streets of the Dadaocheng area. When the shopkeeper found out we were interested in seeds, he actually gave us some tips on how to “smuggle” the seeds across the border undetected: “Just putting them in your pockets will do!” He also introduced an adjustable-length spray nozzle; manufactured locally in Taiwan, it was more durable and inexpensive than what we could get in Hong Kong. Another neat find was a spray nozzle that shares a similar concept with Uncle Mui’s vision. By simply screwing it on to a standard plastic bottle, the nozzle created a spray bottle with a one meter spraying distance. Of course, we had to bring one back as a gift for Uncle Mui. Outside of the flower market in Prince Edward, there are many other gardening shops in every district. For example, there are several decades-old shops in Sheung Wan that carry all sorts of soil, fertilizer and seed products. Yau Ma Tei also has one that is run by an elderly man, but the most interesting aspect of his shop is not the seeds; it’s that there are countless photos of insects hanging on the storefront like a giant, illustrated entomology guide.
Urban Gardens (P.19 - 20) Even though it was getting dark, we were stopped on our way to the independent bookstores in the Wen-Luo-Ting district by the clear as day sight of a corn field. It was here in Section 3, Roosevelt Road, that we found the Keyhole Vegetable Garden. One of many similar initiatives popular in Taipei recently, these gardens are usually managed by residents or community groups, and the vacant or public plots of land are borrowed from the government free of charge. Many schools, retirement homes and community centers are also establishing their own vegetable gardens, and farmers have begun teaching on Citizen Farms that they rent out to the public. These gardens’ aim is to establish “Edible Landmarks” that sow the seeds of self-reliance among urban dwellers in the hope that the next generation will cherish the earth’s resources. This tiny patchwork of farmland is situated within a park, and visitors can only view the flowers and plants carefully selected by the government from a distance. People crave farming to the point that they are willing to do it in unfamiliar neighborhoods just to get a taste of it. The farmland itself has been cut up into smaller tiles of field, and there are not many of them. Each farming area is small, and the number of participants is even smaller. Participants come here to gain know-how in organic farming, sowing every variety of seed onto a tiny 2.25 square meter tile of field and expecting to have a wonderful harvest within four months. There is really no respect for Mother Nature, and the so-called greening is only superficial. The distance between people and nature is still very, very great. 23
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