In Hong Kong, leisure farms – many focused on organic farming with recreational and educational visits – have flourished over the past few years, partly due to the government’s push for sustainable development of local farming.
Latest official figures show the number of leisure farms rose from 105 in 2011 to 137 this year, and almost half of them are in Yuen Long, in the New Territories.
Six years ago, Raymond Cheng Wai-man became a weekend farmer after renting a 10,000-square-foot plot from locals near Kam Sheung Road MTR station. That would eventually grow into the Hello Kitty Organic Farm.
“[My farm] was the first organic farm nearby, in 2010. But now there are, all together, seven leisure farms nearby,” Cheng said.
Simply unable to farm a plot of 10,000 square feet, Cheng sublet 50 small pieces of the land to others who shared his interest in organic farming.
Richard Klitsie was one of Cheng’s first tenants. He still goes to the farm these days with his eight-year-old daughter every weekend.
“The main reason is showing our children that food is coming from the land, not the supermarket; that you actually have to make your hands dirty,” Klitsie said.
Since 2010, Cheng has expanded his farm to almost five times its original size. And he made it more attractive to children by paying the popular Hello Kitty franchise for the right to use its name and imagery in 2014 and introducing more family-friendly activities, such as feeding animals and barbecues.
Cheng said almost all of his farming plots have been rented. They include 150 small plots, or what Cheng called “private estate,” which cost around HK$6,000 per year; and six large pieces that have tents, seats, and more space, which cost HK$20,000 each annually.
The farm provides irrigation, seeds, fertiliser, and some farm tutoring, which are included in the rent.
