Students from National Ilan University work with a dragon fruit orchard. The farm uses a non-toxic and eco-friendly method that is essentially better for the environment and the land itself. Dragon fruits are oval-shaped and have dragon-like scales; they could also be called red dragon fruit because of their color. Dragon fruits can be harvested all year round, but best in mildly cool seasons like spring and autumn. You can cut off the branches of a ripe dragon fruit and use them to grow more. To utilize the branches, you could also mash them with machines and use them as a resource of nutrients for the soil. And with the water and nutrient kept in the soil by managing those naturally grew grasses on the farmland(草生栽培).
The orchard itself did not provide leisure experiences. But our group brought the students to the farmland and introduced the concepts of green experiences and environmental education to the farmers. Through the process, we learned from each other and developed a series of leisure experiences for them. Those experiences are based on the environment of the orchard and its products, combined with environmental education and agroecology, conveying the value of eco-friendly farming and the full usage of dragon fruits.
Take one of them for example, dragon fruits steamed buns. First, you chop the dragon fruits and juice them, heat them up and add in baking yeast. Leave it to ferment for an hour after thoroughly blended. Second, take the dough and knead it into a roll, cut it into equal portions then turn them into any shape you like. At last, put them in the steamer for about 20 minutes, and you will get some delicious dragon fruit buns!
After the activities were developed, we arranged a visit to the orchard for the students taking this class to actually experience them, to see how the farmer carried them out and give feedbacks to further improve the whole experience. Our students brought those activities back to our university and implement them in the camp for high-school students. We hope the young students could support eco-friendly farming and find interest in local eco-friendly agriculture.
This kind of cooperation not only brings new ideas to the local farmers but is also beneficial to the sustainable development in the agriculture in Yilan. And at the same time, helping the local farmers develop more unique products and leisure activities, to improve the quality of their service. We hope the farmers can not only be the primary producers, but also be the educators for eco-friendly agriculture.
The leisure industry in Yilan has been transforming into an industry that’s mainly focused on ecology and farming. The goal of our group is to teach students to be environmentally responsible, introduce environmental education courses, promoting green agro-tourism, through collaboration with local farm owners. We hope to promote green tourism and develop an eco-friendly leisure industry with the core value of sustainability, allowing people to get to know the resources of the local leisure agricultural industry and how to run the business in an eco- friendly way. Not only improve the width and depth of green tourism, but also encourage local students and residents to learn leisure farm experiences. Through enhancing their supports for local eco-friendly agriculture, we hope to develop a sustainable environment and improve the economic benefits for local farmers.