A DIY Adventure in Yilan: Farming Fun and Organic Delights

Text & Photography / Chen Guanxin, MOOK Travel Life Network

Arriving at the end of the Xueshan Tunnel, the warm sunlight of the Lanyang Plain spreads across the sky, marking the start of a much-anticipated relaxing holiday. Visiting Yilan offers more than just the iconic Children’s Folk Games Festival, the classic charm of the Traditional Arts Center, or the incredibly fresh seafood at Nanfang’ao that seems ready to leap out of the tanks. There are also numerous leisure organic farms tucked along the trails of forests, fields, and country paths, where DIY experiences highlight their unique features — all waiting to be explored by visitors. These farms not only offer delicious food and fun activities, but also let you understand how an organic lifestyle can be both simple and enjoyable through hands-on participation.

When it comes to organic produce, most people immediately think of farming without pesticides, using organic fertilizers, and distinguish it from so-called “conventional farming methods” — which traditionally involve the use of pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers. However, to truly qualify as “organic,” it’s not just about regulating pesticides and fertilizers; soil, water quality, and seedlings are also part of the inspection criteria. Just in terms of soil, crop fields must undergo a 2–3 year fallow period before obtaining organic certification, allowing any residual toxic substances in the soil to naturally dissipate. This helps explain why simply finding a piece of land and spreading some organic fertilizer does not make a product truly organic.

Summer Love with Wild Ginger — Huachuan Organic Leisure Farm

Located along a rural path in Yuanshan Township, Huachuan Organic Leisure Farm boasts an open space with lush greenery all around. The owner, Lee Li-chiu, is bustling about preparing materials for a DIY wild ginger zongzi workshop, while her husband Yang Liuke enthusiastically explains the farm’s ecosystem to us, as if introducing his pride and joy — his eyes sparkling with delight.

Adjacent to the ancient riverbed of the Lanyang River, Huachuan Farm benefits from a constant flow of underground spring water, nurturing dense clusters of wild ginger flowers. From July to October each year, these flowers are in full bloom. Wild ginger has a wide range of uses: its blossoms can be brewed into tea, its rhizomes (depending on tenderness) can be used to cook chicken soup, added to dishes or used as zongzi filling, ground into powder as a spice, and even its leaves can serve as zongzi wrappers, resulting in uniquely flavored wild ginger cuisine.

The owner, who grew up in the countryside, recalled childhood memories of catching loaches with friends, then looked at the living environments of urban children — this inspired his vision of creating a non-toxic environment, eventually leading to today’s organic wild ginger cultivation. Although friends around him believed wild ginger, with its low economic value, wasn’t worth being turned into an organic product, he stayed true to his vision, hoping to let more people enjoy healthy, toxin-free wild ginger dishes. For example, when it comes to fertilizers, he believes that letting the plants fall and decompose in place creates the best natural fertilizer, with no worries about pesticide contamination or soil pollution. No wonder his wife proudly claims, “We are currently the only certified organic wild ginger producer in the country!”

Below the wild ginger zongzi experience area, amidst a vibrant green landscape, a swing suspended about 30 centimeters above the cool, refreshing pool instantly catches everyone’s eye. The spring water gushes from underground, maintaining a constant temperature of 20 degrees Celsius year-round — cool in summer and warm in winter. On a hot summer afternoon, swinging on the swing while enjoying the breeze, with cool spring water below washing away the discomfort of heat, plus a glass of the farm’s special chilled honey vinegar drink, is simply delightful.