Day 17: Farming at Island Time

While several students went to the beach, the rest of us headed over to Island Time where we experienced life as a part-time farmer! We had the pleasure of having Lai Ching-sung, the founder of Island Time, give us a guided tour of his “farmland utopia.” 

Mr. Lai shared his experience on leaving the bustling city and becoming a “dreamer,” which he calls “half farmer/half X.” I think it’s truly admirable that he was able to gain the trust of farmers around the Shenguo Village to farm organically. Farming without the use of pesticides and herbicides of those sorts was  very much unheard of at that time, so Mr. Lai really paved the path for organic agricultural practices in Yilan county.

After listening to Mr. Lai’s life as “half farmer/half X,” we were given the opportunity to farm and become 农夫 (nóng fū- farmers) ourselves! The twelve students were divided into three groups and we each went on to take on our respective roles before rotating to the next one. We got to harvest rice with a scythe, partake in laying out the harvested rice so it can airdry, and see how the irrigation system worked to water the rice paddy so they can scatter nutritional seedlings on the soil—talk about a hands-on experience! 

How we were feeling after farming:

In all honesty though, our short-lived farming experience was rather interesting and enjoyable, but it shouldn’t undermine all the hard work that farmers put into tending their crops. After today, I feel like I finally understand the true value of rice—my parents would always tell me: “every grain of rice that you leave behind in your bowl represents each drop of sweat that trickle down from a hardworking rice farmer.” Although that doesn’t leave you with the best imagery, this dialogue reinforced that statement and made me respect rice cultivation and all the hard work that’s put in it. 

At noon, we headed over to Mr. Lai’s restaurant where we fueled up over some curry chicken, tofu, and seafood bento boxes. The food was delicious, and some people ended up buying packs of rice that they sold there. Everything was fresh and it was the closest farm-to-table food I’ve ever had. 

After lunch, we went to a nearby temple where many of us tried dragon eye fruit for the first time. We then went to a 小农 (xiao nóng-smaller farmers) rice mill site where we got to see how the harvested rice gets prepped for consumption. The owner of the mill explained that there are four by-products that come out of kernelled rice, but none of it gets wasted. It was interesting to see how they package up orders as they come in and specifically cater to 小农—the owner was a small farmer before as well, so he understands the struggle of putting rice out on the market. 

We got back to the B&B at around 6:00pm and we were all STARVING. Our amazing hosts, 阿姨and阿公, prepared the ingredients to make dumplings and we all gathered around and started stuffing and wrapping away. We concluded that Benny, aka “Dumpling King,” made the best dumplings (we’ll all be in attendance when he opens his dumpling restaurant). It was such a memorable experience being able to gather like a family and make dumplings. Dinner was soon served and we all enjoyed the dumplings and 阿姨’s cooking while conversing with one another. 董老师’s close friend stopped by with her family and it was interesting to hear their experiences living in both the United States and Taiwan. After Phillip shocked everyone, especially 阿姨, by eating over forty dumplings in one sitting, we retreated back to our rooms and to do our homework. 

After a long and fulfilling day, we all fell asleep soundly knowing that we were able to check “go farming” off our bucket list.

-Annie Lin