Nurtured by nature

Flavors of childhood

After Wang Qian, a Beijing housewife, visited the farm she decided to pay thousands of yuan for annual membership.

Previously, a relative gave her vegetables from the farm, which she describes as "flavors of childhood".

"I was stunned the first time I took a bite of one of the farm's tomatoes," she says.

"They were so delicious, and the taste and texture were exactly what tomatoes were like when I was little, and I became curious about how they did it."

In big cities, vegetables and fruit come from far away, and to reduce loss during transport, they are often not ripen when they are picked, so they lack flavor, Wang says.

She decided to take out membership because the farm delivers healthy, fresh and in-season fruit and vegetables delivered to the members' families at least twice a week, but also because she is curious about its farming methods.

"The farm opened a new world to me, when I found out that it uses predators to prevent insects," says Wang, who has a 3-year-old boy.

She grew up in the countryside and believes nature has it own cycle for everything, but she had never given that much thought, she says.

For example, a friend keen on eating healthy food used to grow tomatoes on a plot of land she leased, but the tomatoes always fell off the plants before they turned red. She mentioned it to staff at the farm, and they explained that it was probably because the tomato had not been pollinated by wasps, which do not inhabit the area.

Red tomatoes on the market pollinated otherwise are not red when they are harvested, and ripeners are used to make them turn red, she was told.

After having seen aphids, minute bugs that feed by sucking sap from plants and reproduce rapidly to cause great damage to the crops, on the farm, she plans to read up on them.

Her son, whom she takes to the farm once or twice a week, enjoys it immensely, she says, and he is curious about everything he sees.

"For him, seeing crops growing in the fields or in greenhouses, to touch and feel them, is a special experience. It's not about him having to learn anything; the main thing for him is to have the experience."

Wang says she is thankful that she grew up in the countryside, so feels close to nature and curious about it even though she lives in a big city.

Wang Mian, the founder of the farm, says it has worked with schools from the start to teach children about crops and agriculture on classes, and provides free tours to families and school students that are popular.

"I have to say we did that mostly because we want to promote our idea and educate the market, but I was astonished at people's craving for agricultural knowledge and experience."

Wang Mian says that deep down everyone, particularly those in big cities, hankers to get close to nature.

Getting close to crops and soils matures children and benefits everyone emotionally and psychologically, he says.