Hong Kong Stories: Master In The House 2
Rice is the staple food for many people, and every grain of rice contains the traditional Chinese wisdom in cultivation. From soaking the seeds for germination, sowing, growing and transplanting of rice seedlings to harvesting, in addition to the effort and sweat devoted, farmers also have to carefully observe, analyse, plan, as well as apply different cultivation methods in each process. As such, farming actually involves sophisticated skills. In the past 9 years, Rachel CHAN has gone through countless attempts and researches with a group of farmers in Yi O, Lantau Island, hoping to reintroduce local rice varieties so as to recover the “Taste of Hong Kong”.
Rachel’s love in growing plants started with a mimosa. From pot plants to weeds, from rice to various crops, she is very knowledgeable about the properties of various plants. She believes that it is necessary to fully understand the growth characteristics of both the crops and the living things in their surroundings in order to grow healthy crops. She also considers that she can never learn enough in this topic. Therefore, even though she has already finished a course in sustainable agriculture, she still visits farms in Hong Kong in her spare time to observe and learn.
Summing up on her 9 years of farming experience, she thinks that it is in fact a practice. Despite of the difficulties during the process and the possibility of an unexpectedly low harvest, she has learnt that farming requires persistence, and one should never give up.
Producer: WONG Nga-yan, Karen
