Zhang Qiudong and his wife built the organic Dongxuan Farm, transforming from laypeople into experts

Dongxuan Farm, located in Gukeng Township, Yunlin County, is an organic plot built through the joint efforts of farm owner Zhang Qiudong and his wife Luo Jiaxuan. They originally worked in plumbing and electrical work, but had always longed for a rural life. So when their work became increasingly tiring, the couple finally made up their minds to change careers. They set about clearing 2~3 fen of ancestral land that had lain idle for many years and began trial planting. Besides consulting experts everywhere, they also took agricultural training courses held by the Council of Agriculture's Farmers' Academy, learning from scratch how to be professional farmers, and finally established Dongxuan Farm in 2009 (Republic of China year 98). Weighing fast harvest time, market demand, cultivation experience and personal preference, they decided to choose cucumber as their main crop.

The organic products sold at "Dongxuan Farm" are handled with great care in terms of freshness and packaging. The packaging is all boxed or bagged by hand, with items, place of origin, price and organic certification labels clearly affixed, so that consumers can buy with confidence. Besides selling every Saturday at the "NCYU Organic Agricultural Products Market," Dongxuan Farm's organic vegetables and fruits are also sold on ordinary days at National Chung Hsing University, as well as to distributors and organic stores.

Zhang Qiudong and Luo Jiaxuan have gone from being complete laypeople in agriculture to professional farmers today. They suggest that those aspiring to farm can first take the Farmers' Academy's basic agricultural training course to learn professional agricultural knowledge and skills, then take part in farm internships to understand the practicalities of farm management. For Zhang Qiudong and Luo Jiaxuan, choosing organic cultivation is admittedly harder, but life has become fuller and more meaningful, they have learned many new things, and they have made many like-minded friends. Above all, seeing the satisfied smiles of consumers makes all their effort worthwhile.