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Tasting a sour sweet plum, sipping the freshly made green tea and relishing a cube of honey flavored chocolate, hand making a bar of soap, and picking materials for dinner in the vegetable garden, visitors’ five senses are all satisfied.
Speaking of Chulu, people are aware that the cows with black-and-white spots are everywhere on Chulu Ranch. And a variety of herbal plants are cultivated so that visitors can go to the applied botanical garden which is also a popular attraction. There are many other fun, tasty and experiential activities presented by family farms in Chulu; we invite you to come enjoy the beauty of farms.
The Organic Farming Life- LOHAS
The owner of “Chulu Recreation Farm”, Fulai WANG decided to return home after retirement and he thought of the farming work he did when he was a child, so he decided to grow organic vegetables.
Mr. WANG has many friends so that they often stopped by. Friends coming to visit would bring fruits and vegetables he grew by himself, so that they encouraged him to run a grange. Through word of mouth recommendations, they have many visitors. Mr. WANG and his wife shows the greatest local hospitality receiving them, asides from their daily farming work. Mr. WANG grows many kinds of crops, including pumpkins, kakorot, loofah, egg plants, fiddle heads, etc., the harvest in the garden seems more than those in the market. Coming here in any season, visitors have different fruits and vegetables to pick. Sometimes there is too much produce so the couple drives to Taitung downtown to share the harvest with their friends and family members. The greatest fun visitors enjoy here is to pick vegetables and cook them right away.
The little dessert titillating our palates
A kid from a farm family in Taitung, Jingjun XIAO left home to study and work in other city. One time when he returned home, he finally saw the beautiful mountains and found how fresh the air was in his hometown, so he decided to leave his life in the big city and started “Custard Apple”, a shop for desserts and soft serve made from local food materials. Jingjun XIAO is pretty insistent on the food materials and food processing. He chooses honey scented black tea made in Taitung, Roselle, sugar apple, dairy product from Chulu for handmade dessert and soft serve and to express the features of produce in Taitung. Coming to Custard Apple to enjoy the afternoon tea, you will be delighted with arrays of desserts and the cool Roselle tea.
The fresh taste of the hand plucking tea
Putting tea leaves in hot water and let steep is a general idea about tea tasting. But in “Jiafang Organic Tea Garden “, tea juice is also drinkable. Jiafang is located in between the hills, undulating over the landscape, the emerald green garden is a peaceful attraction. The owner of Jiafang, Mr. Yinde SU explained the key of tea plucking, “one tip and two leaves” before visitors brought the bamboo basket to the tea garden for the tender leaves. Then they cleaned the tender leaves, put them into the blender, then added water, some plums and honey to flavor the green tea juice. The juice smells fragrant and tastes sweet and sour, which is different from general tea soup. It trumps all other hand shaken green tea brands.
An informed plum vinegar maker Aromatic wine tasting
Drying the surface of the plums, putting them in bottles, adding rock sugar and glutinous rice vinegar to it before the bottles are sealed. Visitors can bring it home and let it sit for a year before the homemade plum vinegar is ready to be served. The production of plums in Taitung is second to those in Nantou. Coming to Quhe Liquor Village all year round, visitors can try to DIY plums. When the owner of Quhe Liquor Village, Mr. Kunlang LIAO was still a child, he followed his father to Taitung and grew the plum trees. He freezes the harvested plums for preservation and DIY. In plum and loquat seasons, visitors can pick these fruits. Because he is interested in making wine, Mr. Kunlang LIAO spent 4 years applying for license and became the first winery in Taitung. Quhe Liquor Village is a tourist winery. He makes wine with plum, sweet osmanthus, loquat and Chinese cinnamon, and produces plum vinegar, pickled plums, Chinese cinnamon seasoned sausages, loquat scented tea, and rice wine for cooking, etc. In recent years, Mr. LIAO went to Japan to learn making sake, and used local organic rice to brew sake, in an attempt to enter Japanese market.
The artisanal experience with relaxing aroma
The aroma of plants is relaxing and pleasurable. Located in Taitung, the small “Mexican Mint Shop”is behind Yuanshen Botanical Garden. All kinds of herbal plants are grown in front of it, among the plants, Mexican mint is a familiar smell to the owner, Weilan LU. Entering the shop, I found the room emanating fragrance from arrays of delicately handmade soaps and candles showcased on the table. Weilan LU once an office lady who likes cosplay. She had to wear makeup all the time but her skin easily got allergic, therefore, the idea of making her own soaps and skin care products surged up. When LU returned her hometown, she was invited to teach group visitors and her interest in this field grows stronger and stronger; therefore, she renovated her garage into a space to greet visitors and offer DIY courses for making handmade soaps, lip balms, lotions, and candles.
