I participated in a field trip sponsored by our Wu-Fong Presbyterian church to visit a grape farm at "A-Pwiu-Sky Farm (阿肥天空農場)" of Feng-Chiu (豐丘) and a plum garden at Gu-Tiau-Ken (牛秱坑). Both Feng-Chiu and Gu-Tiau-Ken are in the Hsing-I Village (信義鄉) of Nan-Tou County (南坄縣). (Map is attached.)
At the Sky Farm, I appreciate Taiwanese Farmer's ingenuity. The grape grows over a slope that are constructed for grape vines to grow and receive plenty of sunshine. Shining ribbons are tied here and there to scare-off the birds (better tactics than fake owls as often used in the United States). Empty plastic bottles were used to put insect-hormone and insecticide to attract and kill the insects without overspreading insecticide over the grape vines and fruits. We ate sample grapes given to us by the host. It was delicious. I also bought 4 bottles of grape-wine. It tastes so good. I am wondering if there will be still any wine left-over by the time my wife come to visit me in late January of 2009.
The plum garden was quite a site. It is neatly maintained with a size of approximately half of the golf course of Princeton University. The owner of the garden is so generous that he allows all visitors without admission fee. Some of the plum is at least 100 year old. We saw quite a few professional photographers taking pictures of plum flowers. Mr. Huan Jin-Teh told me that for plum, the leaves grow after the plum blossom ends. It is interesting to know that such a sequence is quite different from other flower trees.
Photos show Mr. Huang Jin-Teh, A-Sui buying grape wines, Frank Chen next to a plum tree and the map of Hsing-I village.
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