The Alumni Association of Jian Guo High School in Southern California held a gardening lecture and farmer’s market charity event at the Orange County Chinese School on April 27. Five gardening experts from Southern California were invited to share their experiences in planting vegetables and fruits, as well as eco-friendly gardening tips. The event attracted nearly 60 overseas Chinese gardening enthusiasts who actively participated in the exchange of knowledge and created a harmonious atmosphere.
The lineup of speakers was impressive, with Guo-Qing introducing the cultivation of lotus flowers, water lilies, and water chestnuts, and explaining common problems and techniques in planting vegetables and fruits. Liu Zhi-ren explained how to utilize vegetable and fruit peel residues to make environmentally-friendly yet effective enzyme liquid. Li Li-yuan, skilled in plant cultivation and beekeeping, shared practical experiences in beekeeping and producing royal jelly.
Li Xiao-yan humbly acknowledged that she gained valuable insights from the other speakers during the event, which helped her get started in vegetable and fruit planting. She shared the joy of growing organic vegetables at home, shared experiences in controlling blood sugar by consuming self-grown fruits and vegetables, and even offered free vegetable and fruit seeds to the overseas Chinese attendees. The final keynote speaker, Xu Xi-sheng, summed up the secrets of how environmental protection and gardening complement each other.
At the farmer’s market held in the parking lot of the Orange County Chinese School that day, there were over a dozen charity stalls. In addition to providing organic agricultural products, there were also Taiwan guava, wax apple, longan, lychee, toon tree seedlings, various flowerpots, plant racks, gardening tools, and organic fertilizers, catering to the needs of gardening enthusiasts.
Zhang Hu, the president of the Jian Guo Alumni Association, mentioned that a portion of the proceeds from the charity sales will be donated to the “Golden Brick Project” to support 10 students from Jian Guo High School in Taiwan. Xiao Bei-ru, the director of the Orange County Chinese School, Zheng Yi-wei, former president of the Southern California branch of the Chinese-American Chamber of Commerce, and overseas Chinese consultants Zhang Yi-zhen and Zeng Zhao-hua, attended the event on that day.