Out of the Comfort Zone: September 2011

Since Taiwan is a tropical climate, there is no single growing season. People grow things all year round. And, in the words of a local friend, the Taiwanese like to grow things. You can see little gardens everywhere! Whenever there is a spare plot of dirt between buildings or at the end of a parking lot, people plant things. Most of the things people plant are vegetables and fruit, sometimes herbs and, occasionally, flowers are grown, too. But most of the point of planting is to grow edible plants.

power line garden

apartment block garden

vacant lot garden

Along the riverbed is a favorite place to grow a garden as the land doesn't belong to anyone and the soil is rich. People spend a lot of time designing their plot and caring for the plants. They set out rain barrels to catch the rain. Unfortunately, because the land is not theirs they might lose their whole lovely garden to a front end loader as the city decides to reclaim the river bank and prepare for the rainy season.

riverbank garden

Recycled containers are also put to good use when city living does not allow for a garden in the ground. Many styrofoam or plastic containers are filled with soil and made to yield some healthy veggies that are then consumed by the family or sold to neighbors. These "street gardens" are not the most beautiful but if you look past the containers to the greens inside them, you can see how this trash is put to good use.

The nun's down the street have this container garden.

street corner container garden

And then there's the tropical fruit! Wow. There is so much available and so many things I had never seen before. I love that I can watch them picking pineapples a block away and I can buy one from the back of a truck on my way to work.