Posted by
OffThePeak
10 yrs ago
Kitchen gardens - Is it possible in Hong Kong?
For most of HK, I think the answer is: No.
But I am prepared to be surprised.
This discussion began on the Strongest Bank thread, and I decided to migrate it here
Original comments:
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OTP:
GARDENING - and especially Kitchen Gardens (with herbs, etc.)
May become an essential item of the well-equiped home
T.I.:
yes, for those who have gardens. There's only so much you can do in a high rise and high rise living is more environmentally friendly than low rise housing (less land usage, lower construction and energy costs per person and makes public transport more viable).
OTP:
Gardening is a real challenge in HK - except maybe in someplace like Mui Wo
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HK's Landscape : http://www.hkedcity.net/article/living_project/hkupress/9789622098473_HTML/9789622098473.phtml
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Ed
10 yrs ago
Possible - but one could never be anywhere near self-sufficient even if you had say a 1000sf roof....
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Even in a small apartment with no roof or balcony, it should be possible to grow some herbs (assuming the cat doesn't eat them).
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The window of the apartment would need at least 4-6 hours of direct sunlight every day to be able to grow anything. This is possible but not common at all in Hong Kong flats, as nearby buildings often block sunlight, and the flat can only receive light from a particular angle at a particular time of day. It is quite possible to grow herbs and veg if you possess access to a rooftop or sunny balcony, but inside will be very challenging.
I have been gardening in Hong Kong for many years in many different types of flats.
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artificial light can work, but it is prohibitively expensive. Even the most shade tolerant edible vegetables require at least 4 hours direct sunlight minimum, and this is suboptimal. These veggies will grow slowly, be bitter and less healthy. In hong kong, veggies like rocket, bok choy, coriander can manage with lower light levels, but any tropical veg like eggplant, chilis, okra etc. need closer to 8 hours DIRECT sunlight, and this is not possible without a balcony or roof, unless someone can figure out how to halt the sun from moving along its elliptic.
Non edible low light plants are easy to grow on windowsills, but thats not what the thread was about.
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@ liebster/malka
Thanks for the input. We get full sunlight right through the afternoon until close to sunset, so that is not a problem for us. I might just give this a go.
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Ed posted:
"Kitchen gardens in HK.... I have seen roof top gardens... my assistant has one in fact... she also has a small piece of land on a farm that she cares for on weekends --- it's quite therapeutic...
Can you elaborate on why you think it might be an essential going forward?"
The quality of food we buy in the stores is being increasing compromised by things like GMO's, and Fukishima radiation. (US companies like Monsanto and severla Big Pharma co's seem to be implementing a eugenics policy.)
Being a least a little self-sufficient in food and herb production is going to be a very good thing, and HK is far from it
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Ed
10 yrs ago
That makes sense --- I've just ripped up a quarter of an acre at my place and am extending the veg garden with non GMO... it really is a sad state of affairs when you have no idea what is on or went into a piece of fruit or vegetable these days...
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Yes. Exactly.
To make it worse, there are many signs of declining health all around.
We can no longer be complacent about what we eat.
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I don't think that there has ever been a time when people can be complacent about what they eat - all that's changed is we have a greater awareness of the issues.
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Ed
10 yrs ago
Amazing how much you can get out of a small space --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFuc2jZENSU With a good sized roof top in HK you could get a pretty decent harvest...
Just spent the last couple of hours pulling weeds from the new space I'm planting --- it is indeed therapeutic --- and pretty decent exercise... with a little help from the cow we should have that up and going in a week or so.
I wonder if you could get away with keeping a couple of chickens on a roof top in HK for manuring purposes... hens of course :)
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"I don't think that there has ever been a time when people can be complacent about what they eat - all that's changed is we have a greater awareness of the issues."
Do you own a geiger counter?
The quality of food is changing, and especially in once-great places like Japan and California.
And the issues are more than radiation. Do a Google News search on Monsanto, and you may be shocked
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Urban Farming in Hong Kong
A photo of Project Go:
http://www.go.asia/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/ProjectGrow.jpg
Kowloon/ Hong Kong
Project GROW@To Kwa Wan, Rooftop Garden Project
Flat A3, 11/F, Tung Nam Factory Bldg., 40 Ma Tau Kok Road, To Kwa Wan, Kowloon
(Please take the elevator to the 10th floor and walk up the stairs to 11th floor)
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- See many more at: http://www.go.asia/urban-farming-in-hong-kong/#sthash.KtAwBrBe.dpuf
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For those who already have a kitchen gardens, or are growing some plants for more than decoration:
+ What are you growing?
+ Where did you buy the seeds?
+ What success, or what problems have you had?
(For instance: "greens" - lettuces and spinach varieties are said to be something you can harvest in 30 days)
(Another suggestion: sprout seeds):
"They are ready to eat in about 1-14 days (depending on variety), rich in nutrients AND packed with protein (General values:Vitamins A, B, C, D, E and K, Calcium, Carbohydrates, Chlorophyll, Iron, Magnesium, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Phosphorus, Potassium, Zinc, All Amino Acids, Trace elements and up to 35% protein. The sprouting process is pretty simple and most importantly a great (and somewhat quick) way to feed you and your family as your own stores start to dwindle and until crops come in. This would be especially good for those that cannot move out of the larger cities, have very small space to grow gardens and cannot stock up on dry kits."
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( The Dreams continue to flow off the drawing boards - How very impractical this is !)
Urban dwellers of the future may farm the sky
http://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486x302/public/2014/01/26/9f8de8d894d0cbf6ac638ae7ac5f6b5a.jpg
Architect Vincent Callebaut's vision of Dragonfly,
a self-sustaining high rise on NYC's Roosevelt Island
Imagine stepping out of your high-rise apartment into a sunny, plant-lined corridor, biting into an apple grown in the orchard on the fourth floor as you bid "good morning" to the farmer off to milk his cows on the fifth.
You take the lift to your office, passing the rice paddy and one of the many gardens housed in the glass edifice that not only heats and cools itself, but also captures rain water and recirculates domestic waste as plant food.
No, this is not the setting for a futuristic movie about humans colonising a new planet.
It is the design of Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut for a 132-floor "urban farm" - the answer, he believes, to a better future for the estimated six billion who will live in cities by 2050.
With food, water and energy sources dwindling, the city of the future would have to be a self-sufficient "living organism", said the 36-year-old designer of avant-garde buildings some critics have dismissed as daft or a blight on the landscape.
"We need to invent new ways of living in the future," Callebaut said at the Paris studio where he plies his trade.
(more at link)
"They made fun of me. They said I created a piece of science fiction," Callebaut says of his detractors.
But as awareness has grown of the plight of our planet, overpopulation and climate change, his ideas have gained traction, and the Dragonfly design has been exhibited at an international fair in China. He hopes to sell a design for a "farmscraper" in Shenzhen that will include housing, offices, leisure space and food gardens.
Callebaut has also drafted a concept for a floating city resembling a lily pad that will house refugees forced from their homes by climate change.
As yet, Callebaut has found no buyers for these big projects.
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> http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1414257/architect-vincent-callebaut-hopes-future-cities-will-farm-sky
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Hi there!
I wrote a query on a new posting but given this ongoing conversation it seems relevant to write my question in here also.
I live in Soho on the top floor of a Chinese walk-up. I'm lucky enough to have a roof and quite a lot of sunlight. Generally I get good light from 10am-4pm every day.
I recently came back from the UK with seeds for leeks and some other similar vegetables. However, given the seasons are a bit different over here, I wasn't sure when would be the right time to plant these. I presume that if I tried to grow them in the summer they would get destroyed by the head and rain, so when is the best time to start growing them? If I started to grow them in / around October would it be possible to start another seasonal crop in January/ February maybe? Are there any other practical issues that one should generally be aware of when growing veg in HK? I am a total amateur so no piece of advice is too basic :)
Thanks!
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your assumptions are pretty much correct. THe only growing season for temperate veggies is in October. Alliums are not easy to grow, but its possible. Heat/rain are the biggest factors. Suggest to use shadecloth if intense heat. Also, insects and pests can be a huge problem. Extended days of high rainfall or high heat will end the crop.
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I believe that HK is within a climate band, which is both Temperate and Tropical, giving some interesting flexibility in what food can be grown
The Tropical Zone:
http://www.globalwarmingclassroom.info/images/tropical_zone-lg.jpg
The Lay of the Land
Hong Kong possesses a variety of landscapes and habitat types. This diversity reflects the climate and Hong Kong's geographical position between tropical and temperate climatic regions. The location results in the climate varying over the seasons. In summer, southerly winds bring hot and humid air to the territory, which results in frequent torrential rainfall. One to two typhoons affect the territory each year. In contrast, northerly winds in the winter cause cool and dry conditions, with surges of cold air from China lowering urban temperatures to just 8–10°C, and rarely as low as 2°C. The height of the ground also influences climate. Altitudes range up to 957 m on the highest peak of Tai Mo Shan, where frosts and the heaviest rains occur. Variability in the weather, in turn, determines the geological processes that shape the land. For example, the hot humid climate causes chemical decay and weakening of the rocks, which, after being waterlogged by heavy summer rain, are then prone to landslides.
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(An AMAZING and useful source):
http://www.hkedcity.net/article/living_project/hkupress/9789622098473_HTML/9789622098473.phtml
I truly recommend people look at the wonderful article on HK's Landscape.
So good, that I saved it into the header
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Ed
10 yrs ago
The father of permaculture Bill Mollison discusses the urban garden http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MMdl_zFlEw
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dd413
10 yrs ago
This year I took from my 700sq ft roof in the NT's - many varieties of tomato, chilli's, cucumber, several types of beans and peas, lemon grass, basil, parsley, tarragon, lettuce, rosemary, mint, chives. Seeds were sourced from the seed shops in Sheung Wan, the nurseries in Sai Kung or for the special toms and chilli from overseas catalogues. All plants are organic. As for being therapeutic, no better way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday morning......there are published seasonal planting guides available for HK......
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Photos, dd413 ?
I'd love to see it
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Here are a few shots from my roof top garden. The garden is 20 square feet, includes eggplant, sweet and thai basil, tomatoes, bok choy, angled loofah, cayenne and bird eye chili, thyme, rosemary and coriander. All started from seed, and all products purchased in Hong Kong.
Gallery here: http://imgur.com/a/lVBND
happy to answer any questions how I did this.
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Great Leibster !
How do you cope with typhoons?
How long can you go without watering them ? (if away)
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typhoons 8+ will destroy a rooftop garden with delicate veggies. I moved the pots in doors for the severe wind/rain. Those that were too heavy or unable to move indoors were either destroyed or their growth was noticeably hampered compared to those that were protected.
2 days would be the absolute max I would go between waterings using the soil mix i selected. watering once a day is optimal.
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Okay.
So basically, you'd better have some "emergency space" indoors,
which is available in event of severe winds and rains
And you need a friend or neighbor, who can do some watering when you are away
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Ed
10 yrs ago
That looks awesome! Amazing how much you can grow in a relatively small space
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Ed
10 yrs ago
I'm doing an organic farming course online --- and the instructor highly recommends watching any instructional videos from Joel Salatin http://www.polyfacefarms.com/speaking-protocol/joels-bio/
He's one of the greatest innovators out there....
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Ed
10 yrs ago
An excellent presentation on sustainable agriculture http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFpjskn3_Pc
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