By Lushi

Today was the first day of our second week and we started off on a good note by paying a visit to an organic farm. The owners of the farm, Teresa and Augustine, were very welcoming and informative. The farm is approximately 50,000 square feet and is completely organic. Augustine’s definition of organic is the preservation of life.

Entrance to E-Farm

The farm had a few ponds and we had the opportunity to fish for lunch in one of the ponds. The pond had about 300 fishes but some of the students had difficulty catching something. We ended up with about two medium sized tilapias and the cook helped us steam it for lunch while we were taking a tour around the farm. Augustine gave us a tour about the life cycle of the black soldier flies. They have about seven days to live and their main duty during this time is to find a mate and lay eggs. The eggs eventually hatch into larvae, which is what is used as bait and food for the fish. The waste of 900 primary school children feeds the larvae. The primary school children have about 150kg of waste a day and Augustine likes to split it evenly so that the larvae have food on the weekends when school is not in session.

Fishing!

When it was almost time for lunch, all of the students assisted in the preparation process by wrapping wontons, crushing peanuts, and rolling glutinous balls. The cook taught us how to make these special dishes and we each split into different groups to do our part. When lunch was ready, everyone was amazed at how delicious all of the food was. There was rice, steamed fish, seasoned chicken wings, wonton soup, and glutinous rice balls for desert. The farm also offered beverages for a small price. One of the beverages they handmade organically was the sweet plum juice. It was very delicious and refreshing.

Group making wontons for lunch.

Aric concentrating while making wonton.

Making dessert: glutinous rice flour balls

Alina making dessert.

Dorothy and Marin making dessert.

Teresa, Kathleen, Lina, and Emily shelling peanuts.

After lunch, Teresa and Augustine demonstrated how Hong Kongers compost. They showed us how anything that is considered waste can be composted. In order to compost at home, an empty water bottle is needed. The water bottle needs to be filled with three parts waste, one part sugar, and 10 parts of water. First we chopped up a vegetable into bite size pieces to fit into the opening of the water bottle, then added sugar, and filled up the rest of the water bottle with water. The compost process is a daily effort and we actually needed to remove the lid daily to let the air out. It is necessary to do this step for about a month until there is no more air. Once there is no more air in the bottle, it is ready to be stored for two months. After two months of storage, the composted liquid is ready to be used a detergent or for other cleaning needs. Teresa showed us a sample at the farm. One of the students stuck his hand in it and it came out much smoother and paler than his other hand. This composted detergent is good for the body and also the environment.

Learning about composting

Amy cutting up old squash for composting.

Marin and Aric smelling the “bio-enzyme” mixture. “Smells like oranges”

After this demonstration, Augustine gave us a tour of his farm. Him and his wife purchased the piece of land approximately 40 years ago and at the time it was all trees. His neighbor, who is an expert at selling trees, chopped away all of the trees for him at no charge. That is when he started to build his farm. He started small and slowly because he had to build nets and electric fences to keep bugs and animals out. Augustine showed us some of his vegetable gardens such as his ginger garden. Each ginger plant takes about nine months to a year to grow one piece of ginger. He also showed us his guava tree, which is often attacked by bugs. This doesn’t surprise me because little creatures also attacked a number of us during this tour. Before we left to head back to school, Augustine taught us how to cover up the guava fruits by wrapping them in plastic bags before they grow juicy enough for the bugs to attack.

Learning about the aquaponics system

Helping farmer wrap guava.

Smelling ginger plant leaves

Visiting this farm taught me about organic foods and how important it is to keep chemicals out of our bodies. This farm showed me how easy it is to keep my body healthy as well as producing cleaner chemicals into the environment. I can’t wait to try composting at home!