Yilan Rihe Park producerJamie

Life can be simple, but food can never be compromised

Every time the interview team comes face to face with producers at the place of origin, we are always left wanting more, because every friendly farmer's story is extremely unique. And in our exchange with Jamie, a friendly producer in Yuanshan Township, Yilan, besides our souls being left wanting more, our appetites were even more satisfied. We were treated to an extremely luxurious lunch.

Jamie, who cooks all three meals herself every day, is skilled at using simple seasonings to highlight the flavor of ingredients. That day, Jamie made a home-style baked omelette in a cast-iron pan. The eggs were first-laid eggs from that very morning. She first sauteed diced tomato until soft, then poured in a generous amount of beaten egg and added basil. It was plain yet rich in flavor. Another dish used olive oil, spices and salt to bring out the original flavor of two varieties of eggplant. It was moderately soft and firm, with natural color. It is rare to eat eggplant this tasty, and I could not help taking bite after bite. There was also a loofah meatball soup that could not have been more luxurious. The star ingredient, the loofah, had been picked from the garden just moments before. The loofah soup also had added umami from Veg-Living Nanfang'ao toxin-free dried golden shrimp.

After finishing this meal, one could only sigh, "The happiness of farming folk is just this plain, unadorned and dull," letting those of us living in the city fully experience "from place of origin to dining table, from mud to mouth," a luxury that cannot be bought even with money.

Jamie has not been farming in Yuanshan Township, Yilan for very long, only a bit more than five years. In the past, she worked in the electronics industry in Taipei. After coming to Yilan, she successively worked in tutoring, as an elementary school teacher, and as a nanny. By nature a lover of nature, she gradually opened the door to rural life by taking the Dream New Farmer course at Yilan Community University, a vegetable growing class, and by reading extensively books related to growing techniques and farming methods. She now resides in Yilan and serves as the head of Farm No. 3 of the Rihe Education Foundation (hereafter referred to as the Foundation).

Taking friendly cultivation and a sustainable environment as the principle Constantly honing her skills

Because it is very difficult for younger farmers to own their own land, Jamie, through a fortuitous opportunity, was introduced by Brother Lai Qingsong of the Gudong Club to cooperate with the Foundation, and became responsible for a cultivation area of more than 700 ping in Neicheng Village, Yuanshan Township. From then on, she no longer had to worry about a landlord taking the land back, or being forced by various external forces to interrupt her friendly farming methods. "The Foundation is very friendly to producers. Not only does the harvest of the crops belong to the producer, but no rent is charged. What I can give back is to stay true to the ideal, take good care of this land, and make it a sustainable friendly farming base." From her words one strongly feels that Jamie is a grateful person who cherishes her blessings.

Walking through the summer garden with Jamie, I found that more than ten kinds of crops were planted there, and the herbs were countless. It turns out that against the backdrop of not seeking high yields, Jamie was able to try many things and learn the characteristics and cultivation methods of various crops. Through diversified crop rotation, she has built strong and sustainable soil fertility. "Of course some plantings fail too. Then just start over next time." Without pesticides and chemical fertilizers, yields are of course relatively full of variables. Jamie does not take it as hardship, but as training.

Interestingly, a large basket of oyster shells was found in the garden. It turns out this was a toxin-free natural mulch specially collected by the Foundation. Spreading oyster shells on the soil not only prevents crops from getting too much sun, but as they weather over time they do not add burden to the environment. Besides oyster shells, green manure sourced on site is also used. "The Foundation delivers the employee cafeteria's food scraps to the park every day for me to use. I can even tell what everyone has been eating." Solving the food waste problem at the same time during the growing process not only reduces garbage, but also cares for the Earth and for people. In addition to planting, Jamie also raises seedlings. "The seeds have to be dried very, very thoroughly and then put in the refrigerator for storage, and taken out the next year to plant back into the soil." Raising seedlings, planting, caring, harvesting, cooking, this cycle makes Jamie's sense of satisfaction as endless as the crops themselves.

Jamie raises chickens while growing vegetables. A chicken coop was built in the garden, letting fifty free-range chickens live happily inside. Normally the chickens in the park mainly eat feed from the industry-academia cooperation between the Foundation and Chiayi University. In addition, they also eat broken rice or rice bran exchanged with eggs and friendly farmers, as well as friendly vegetables or banana leaves. During the day the chickens each look for small insects, earthworms and small snails to eat. They are very lively and especially close to people. As soon as Jamie steps into the chicken coop, the flock bustles over and follows her.

Eating well, with a large activity space, and even leisure activities, Jamie's skillful husband Naikun is like Jamie's wishing lamp and Doraemon. Whenever his wife makes requests such as, "I want a wall here, I want to add a lampshade here, can the window be converted into shutters?", Naikun can conjure it all. Naikun made exclusive climbing platforms, single-log bridges and other play areas for these free-range chicks, letting them live a first-class life from the time they were little chicks. Seeing such a humane rearing environment, one thinks no wonder the baked omelette at lunch just now was especially fragrant.

Switching tracks with zero discomfort Grateful for every day

Foundation colleagues once worried about Jamie's livelihood and suggested that since the chicken coop was very large, she could raise more chickens to sell eggs. However, Jamie's ambition did not lie there. She wanted to keep some ease in her life, believing that daily