A City Wife Goes to the Countryside to Grow Strawberries, Building Wealth Through a Different Path

Spring returns to the earth, and all things come back to life. On March 14, at the berry garden strawberry picking garden in Qingliangsi Village, Liangjiadun Town, a scene of full spring vitality unfolded. In the greenhouses, green leaves set off small white flowers, diligent bees flew among the blossoms collecting nectar and pollinating, and bright red strawberries hung among the green leaves and along the ridges, making people's mouths water.

"I saw others posting pictures of picking strawberries, and it was too tempting, so I came to experience it," Ms. Zhang, who was picking strawberries between the ridges, told the reporter. She and several friends had come because of its reputation, bringing their children along to experience the fun of rural life by picking the fruit with their own hands.

"From planting in September last year, they gradually ripened by the end of December. Tourists come to pick every day, and on weekends it is especially packed," said Luo Xuemei, owner of the berry garden picking garden happily. "City people nowadays rarely have the chance to experience rural life, and strawberries picked by hand that are safe, visible and tangible are even more favored."

What the reporter had not expected was that Luo Xuemei herself is a city person, and all three of her strawberry greenhouses are rented from local farmers. "Many people ask me why a city person would run off to the countryside to farm. First, it is out of interest; second, I feel the potential of leisure agriculture is great," she said when talking about her original intention of going to the countryside to rent greenhouses and grow strawberries. Previously she was in the construction and building materials business, and the business was thriving. Two or three years ago, she went to a strawberry picking garden to experience the fun of picking and discovered that leisure and sightseeing agriculture had great development potential. Especially in recent years, strawberry picking in Zhangye has been very popular among residents, and at that time she developed the entrepreneurial idea of going to the countryside to rent greenhouses and grow strawberries. In her spare time, she traveled to places such as Hainan and Jiangsu, touring while investigating the market, learning about business models and studying cultivation techniques, preparing to realize her dream. In September 2015, she chose the solar greenhouse demonstration site in Qingliangsi Village, Liangjiadun Town, which was relatively close to the city, and rented three solar greenhouses at a price of 10,000 yuan per greenhouse, with an initial investment of 120,000 yuan, beginning her entrepreneurial dream.

Entrepreneurship is arduous, and for a city person who has never done farm work it is even more difficult. Not only must she get past the technical barrier and the investment barrier, but also the market barrier. With no cultivation experience at all, she learned through books and sought advice from surrounding farmers. The period after the strawberry seedlings were planted was the hardest to endure. Because the techniques were not sufficient, some strawberry seedlings began to wither and die, making her extremely anxious. "You tell me, a city person runs off to the countryside to farm. If it succeeds, fine, but if it fails, some people will say she is not doing proper work." At that time she once had the thought of giving up. Thinking that the investment could not be wasted and that a dream of several years could not stop because of difficulties, she gritted her teeth and persisted. During the day she carefully observed in the greenhouses, and at night she went back to look up information, solve technical problems, and hurry to take remedial measures, replanting all the dead strawberry seedlings. Hard work pays off. After investigating many sources, she introduced a new variety that was uniform in size, mellow in taste, juicy and tender, and rosy in color. As soon as it hit the market, it was warmly welcomed by tourists, selling for 40 yuan per jin. So far, the three greenhouses have earned 70,000 yuan, and it is expected that the cost can be recovered by May this year. "I have come several times already. The strawberries here are moderate in size and reliable in quality, and can be eaten directly without washing," Mr. Luo praised while picking and tasting.

Luo Xuemei, just over thirty, although a city person, has been greatly encouraged by the success of strawberry cultivation. Now she has begun working on continuing to introduce new varieties to meet residents' demand for green, organic and safe food, so that residents can share a "berry" good life. She firmly believes that developing leisure and sightseeing agriculture will have great prospects.