Organic production, sustainable farming methods, and agroecological practices.
Editor’s Note In the Yulin community of Chengdu, a vegetable “blind box” from farmer-friend Hu Xuemei brought a little “shock” and an unexpected change to Xia Lili, the cook of the Little Dining Table. This is the fourth instalment of “Master One-Pot’s Little Dining Table”, which will discuss Xia Lili’s…
I. Setting Out with Questions In late March, I began a three-month internship at Guixinyuan Farm. Partly, it was to see if I was cut out for a life of agricultural labour; partly, I was searching for an ideal model of farming: what should be the relationship between agriculture and…
I. My Story with Fireflies As a Northerner, I had never seen a firefly before the age of fifty; my limited knowledge was confined to the idiom “studying by the light of reflected snow and fireflies in a bag”. That was until I found myself immersed in a sea of…
Editor’s Note In the opening of the “One-Pot Abbess’s Little Dining Table” series, Xia Lili begins with a series of memories, explaining her “dining table” philosophy and the origins of the Little Dining Table project. In this piece, Xia Lili takes us into the vivid reality of the project. Stationed…
On 12 April, a week after the Grain Rain solar term, eastern Sichuan had seen several consecutive rainfalls. This provided relief from the drought that had persisted from the Lunar New Year into March, and the rice seedlings in the fields were nearing the time for transplanting. That afternoon, Yuan…
Li Pengyue, a former IT professional now running an ecological orchard in Weihai, Shandong, compares crop losses from birds and rabbits to a trapped snow leopard and nine dead sheep, and the real question is who pays when wildlife damages crops and livestock.
Editor’s Note In a corner of Yulin, Chengdu, Xia Lili—known to the locals as “Master Yi Guo”—has launched a new experiment: The Little Dining Table. This is a warm, collective dining initiative where neighbours team up as “dining buddies” to purchase and share meals, establishing regular eating habits and enjoying…
A Note from Foodthink With the passing of Grain Rain, the peak season for this year’s spring tea has come to a temporary close. During the Qingming Festival, Foodthink shared a story about the climate resilience of a natural farming tea garden in Xinyang. Today, we present the second part,…
Foodthink says Since returning home in 2013 to establish the Chengdu Liangliang Farm, Tang Liang’s practice has provided a constant source of inspiration for those concerned with food and farming. In 2018, Tang Liang’s 《The Ledger and Lifestyle of a Family Farm》 offered a sincere answer to the question of…
In Xinyang, Henan, Zhang Chao’s naturally farmed Deyi Tea Garden endures spring drought, late frost and heat, while old drought-resistant tea shows more resilience than the government-promoted early-sprouting variety Xinyang No. 10.
