1) Star fruit and strawberry orchard visiting experiences

As we all know, fruits are the main agricultural product in Taiwan. We visited a star fruit orchard and a strawberry orchard in December. At the star fruit orchard in Baifufan of Zhuolan Township, we saw that the star fruits were covered with bags while the fruit is still on the trees. This is to prevent insect and wind damages. The star fruits produced here are very famous and have been covered by the media. These organic star fruits are chosen by Red on Tree to make their jam.

Next, we visited the strawberry orchard. Although it was not the season of harvest, we still tasted the delicious strawberry, and enjoyed a day in the orchard. The strawberry farmer taught us how to select strawberry. We detected the smell of excrement in the orchard, which indicates that natural fertilizer is being used. It is a proof of organic farming.

Through these interviews, we learnt that there are experts in all trades. Although the farmers are not rich, they earn the respect from others with their hard work.

2) Guava and fig orchard visiting experiences

We visited the guava and fig orchards in January. The first stop we made was the guava orchard, which was kind of small and it felt somewhat like you were being in a downtown woodland. The orchard plants red guavas and other types of guavas. The orchard owner was an amiable person, who introduced the characteristics of guava to us. He said that he loves planting guava, and has continuously attempted to improve the variety. He developed “Honey Guava”, which won him the Shennong Award. He said that he treats the guava like his girlfriend. We also met his wife. She must be proud of him also!

Later, we visited the fig orchard. Although it was not a big orchard either, it was very neat, with rows of scaffolds for the fig trees to grown on. The orchard owner told us that the government gives subsidies for planting figs. It is because of the high cost, figs are rare in the market. We tried some figs, which are a little astringent and somewhat sweet, but the overall taste is very delicious!