HOST : Over half the people on Earth pursue fast-paced lifestyles in urban areas surrounded by concrete and asphalt “forests.” But many city dwellers grow their own fruit and vegetables to add greenery to their lives and reduce the stress of work and family life.
For example, in Formosa (Taiwan) creative urbanites love to grow produce on their roofs and balconies. The vegetation reduces the “urban heat island effect,” whereby a city can be up to 12 degrees Celsius warmer than surrounding rural areas due to lack of flora and open land, and also absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
In her lectures, Supreme Master Ching Hai encourages people to learn to grow vegetables wherever they can make space.
Supreme Master Ching Hai: “You can plant your own vegetables.” Everybody can plant enough to feed theirown family, if they have a little yard even. Or they can plant on a balcony or on the roof. Or in the garage,do what they can, if they can.
HOST: Now let’s visit with Ms. Wang Ya-Fang , an experienced gardener who lives on the top floor of a Taipei apartment building and has been growing organic vegetables on her roof for more than a year. She will now share some of her horticultural tips.
Ms. Wuang(f): We wanted to cool down the temperature of our roof so we wouldn’t have to use the air conditioning as often, and thereby reduce our electricity bill. Also, this is better for our children’s health. That’s how we started to plant vegetables.
Ms. Wuang(f): Plants love water and sunshine. On the rooftop, there is always enough sunshine, but we have to water the vegetables diligently ourselves. Ordinarily, we water once a day. In summertime when it’s hotter, we have to water both in the morning and in the evening.
HOST: Ms. Wang, who loves experiencing nature and promoting environmental protection, will now demonstrate how to make compost from leftover food and how to use recycled plastic bottles to create an automatic watering system.
