Chinese vegetables flourish in Red Hill
Unable to find any, Durban couple now grows their own Liu’s gardening tips
WHEN Sur Liu and her husband, Sam, decided to emigrate to Durban and found that their staple vegetables were almost impossible to find, they decided to grow their own.
The retired couple and their daughter, Kelly, from Taiwan moved to the city 15 years ago.
Liu said they realised that there was a need for growing Chinese vegetables when her husband drove the whole of Durban looking for Chinese produce, but could not find any.
“While my husband was searching for vegetables, he noticed that there were quite a few vacant plots around the city, which was something unusual for us coming from a small city with a farming background because available land was quite rare,” said Liu.
“Taiwan has about 36 million people living on an island that’s equal in size to the Kruger National Park. You can hardly find vacant land for farming, especially in the city.”
So when her husband identified a 7 hectare plot in Red Hill, near the cemetery, that was not in use because it was waterlogged and the municipality could not use it for burial, they thought they had found gold.
Although it had not been their intention to pursue farming, they needed something to do, to keep them busy.
Sam leased the land from the municipality and started their farming venture. They imported seeds from a Chinese market in Johannesburg and started their garden. They grow mostly Chinese vegetables: bok choy, kong xin cai, Chinese cabbage, pak choi and oilseed rape.
They also grow spinach, cabbage, lettuce, herbs, bananas and granadillas .
She said they could not grow Chinese tea, which had become a favourite for many South Africans.
“Growing tea requires a lot of space. In Taiwan, we grow the tea in the mountains. That method can also work here. The mountains and weather are perfect,” she added.
Liu said their crops were in demand. They supplied the produce to almost all Chinese supermarkets in Durban.
“In Taiwan, most families grow their own gardens, even in a small space. The weather here is almost the same, which works to our advantage since there is a drought.”
Sam collected garden waste from dump sites to make the plots more fertile.
Liu said Durban was a bit behind in farming compared with Taiwan. While it had potential in agriculture, she said more research stations and grants were needed to stimulate farming.
They have also engaged Chinese farming skills transfer through her Sur Liu and her daughter Kelly working on the Chinese vegetable garden in Redhill. husband’s NPO, the Tzu Chi Buddhist Compassion Relief.
They have visited neighbourhood townships such as Inanda, KwaMashu and oThongathi and community centres in other rural areas donating their produce and teaching people
Use your space effectively; some people have no space.
Try at least one new crop per season in your garden.
Use dumping site fertiliser as it’s very rich and organic. farming skills.
Their daughter, Kelly, an interpreter at the Durban Magistrate’s Court, said: “I’m not into farming, but my parents have a passion for it and I have to support them.
“I have also gained knowledge. I might become a farmer, but it is a hard job.”
Sam was in Zambia as part of the NPO programmes to spread Chinese farming across the continent.