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.