Sat, Aug 21, 2021 page3

• FEATURE: Taiwanese family hooks Canadians on local cabbage

  • By William Hetherington / Staff writer, with CNA
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  A woman who emigrated to Canada with her family 30 years ago recently shared her story of taking over her family’s farm to grow authentic Taiwanese cabbage in Canada.

  On her family’s farm in Whitchurch-Stouffville, north of Toronto, 45-year-old Hsieh Mu-hsun (謝沐薰) tends to more than 7,000 heads of cabbage.

  Hsieh began handling the marketing of the farm’s produce on her own earlier this year, in addition to the day-to-day chores on the farm.

  

  Hsieh Mu-hsun’s father, Hsieh Kuo-tung, left, and his wife, Yang Su-jhen, stand in a Taiwanese cabbage field on their farm in Whitchurch-Stouffville, Canada on Aug. 9.

  Photo: CNA

  It is hard work, Hsieh said, adding that she continued the business because she could not let go after seeing her parents work their fingers to the bone over the past three decades.

  “My parents’ decision to grow Taiwanese cabbage when they came to Canada was out of my mother’s love for her children,” she said. “My mom is a foodie, and she wanted us to enjoy the sweet, refreshing taste of Taiwanese cabbage, which was much different in taste from the cabbage sold here.”

  After their arrival in Canada, Hsieh’s parents asked a friend in Taiwan to mail them seeds so they could try their hand at growing them, she said.

  From preparing the soil and cultivating the seedlings to maintaining the crops and harvesting, her parents did everything on their own without farmhands, she said, adding that they never used pesticides.

  “The freshness and juiciness of the cabbage they grew was the result of good, organic farming practices. You can even enjoy this cabbage raw,” she said.

  Southern Ontario proved to be a great growing environment for Taiwanese cabbage due to the large day-night temperature difference during the spring and summer growing season, as well as the cool, moist air, she said.

  Initially the family attempted to grow and sell their cabbage in the Scarborough area of Toronto, but the venture proved to be a bust due to the low profit margins supermarkets offered, she said.

  Three years ago, the family relocated the farm to Stouffville, where they now sell their cabbage largely through word-of-mouth advertising in the local community, she said.

  “We do our farming all by hand, which is very hard work for older people like my parents. However, our goal is to produce healthy produce, so we continue to do it this way,” she said.

  “A friend once told my mom that her kids wouldn’t eat vegetables until they tried my mom’s cabbage, which they eat up without complaint — even soup made with the cabbage,” she said, adding that hearing this convinced her mother that the hard work on the farm was worthwhile.

  “The way my parents interact with people and handle affairs is genuinely Taiwanese. They are driven by a spirit of toughness and diligence,” she wrote on Facebook. “They express their love for their family through their actions.”

  While everyone in her family have things that occupy them in their daily lives, the whole family would come together in July and August every year to help on the farm, she said, adding that this included her own son who attends university.

  Hsieh herself previously busied herself with teaching private Chinese-language classes, but this year, she took over the farm for her aging parents, she said.

  To integrate her interest in teaching with that of farming Hsieh began offering day camps for parents to bring their children to the farm and experience farm life, — activities she promotes through Facebook under an account named “Honey Lavender Farm,” she said.

  Hsieh said she hopes to introduce more people to Taiwanese cabbage, adding that she likes her parents to see her working hard on the farm.

  However, she also had plans for the farm aside from planting cabbage, she said, adding that she wanted to also grow lavender.

  She said she also hopes to bring more visitors to the farm.

  “I want more people to have the chance to eat this Taiwanese cabbage that they won’t find anywhere else,” she said. “I also want to give them a place where they can come and be surrounded by the romantic beauty of lavender.”
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