Chinese young people are keen on "growing vegetables on the balcony" and become "urban farmers" and return to the countryside

　　China News Service, Chongqing, May 20 (Reporter Zhong Yan) Since the beginning of summer, the balcony of Chen Shanshan's house in Chongqing, a "post-95", has been lush with greenery, coriander, leeks, and peppers in the sky.

On the 20th, watching the watermelon seedlings bear their first fruit, she was busy asking for help on social media: "Should the first melon be removed if it has no nutrients?"

　　Against the background of normalization of epidemic prevention and control, growing vegetables on the balcony is quietly popular among young Chinese.

The netizens who were addicted to it ridiculed, "The passion for growing vegetables is like the old people's obsession with square dancing", "the end of the house is to grow vegetables", and "growing vegetables is as deep as the sea".

　　According to the "2022 Balcony Vegetable Planting Report" released by a well-known Chinese e-commerce platform, there are currently more than 3,000 kinds of fruit and vegetable seeds sold online. , leeks, watermelons, peppers, shallots, etc. are shortlisted in the top ten of the 2022 spring hot-selling seed list; Shanghai, Dongguan, Beijing, Suzhou, Guangzhou and other cities have the highest "vegetable rate" (referring to the proportion of balcony used for growing vegetables) In the top five, the crowd is dominated by "post-85s" to "post-95s".

　　"There is a saying that 'no matter where they go, Chinese people will always find a way to grow some land'. Although the form is changing, there seems to be a vegetable growing complex in the bones." Chen Shanshan, who grew up in the city, compares growing vegetables on the balcony to that of growing vegetables. "Realizing the Pastoral Dream in the Cement Forest".

She doesn't care whether the freedom of vegetables can be achieved, but more about the spiritual feeling brought by labor. "From buying seeds, sowing, to cultivating and harvesting, this is a process full of expectations."

　　Wang Xiaoxin, a native of Tianjin, is a graduate of the Agricultural College. In April of this year, he saw that there was idle soil at home, and his "vegetable DNA" immediately awakened.

"Little tomato is a surprise explosion" and "it hurts to hit the side branches", Wang Xiaoxin found that after sharing the news of growing vegetables in the circle of friends, all the friends came to comment and interact, which shortened the distance between each other.

As a "baby mother", "nature + labor" education is the "added value" derived from growing vegetables.

Wang Xiaoxin said that she takes her children to observe the growth of crops every day, how many flowers have bloomed, whether the fruits have grown larger, and the snails will come when it rains... She plans to continuously increase the types of vegetables and fruits, so that children can feel a sense of harmony at home. all seasons.

　　"Tomatoes are washed and eaten, chives are mixed with camellia oil, and peppers are used to make flavor dishes." Mao Dandan, a "post-90s" living in Guangxi, told reporters that she has been "in the pit" for nearly 10 years of growing vegetables and fruits. In addition to pollution, the sense of achievement of "no need to buy food today" is also pleasant.

In recent years, she has used social media to connect planting enthusiasts from all over the world to share maintenance experience, and has witnessed the growing number of "urban farmers" groups. Taking figs, which are relatively small, as an example, groups with a limit of 500 people have been formed 10 indivual.

　　According to relevant statistics, the market size of the "balcony vegetable growing" industry in mainland China can reach 10 billion yuan (RMB, the same below), and its industrial chain covers the entire growth cycle of vegetables, including fruit and vegetable seeds, flower pots, nutrient soil, fertilizer, Garden tools, equipment and other sub-sectors.

The reporter saw on multiple e-commerce platforms that for the "interest economy" market of growing vegetables, major businesses are doing their best to meet the personalized and diversified needs of consumers.

Many sellers have developed novice kits, and you can buy a set of easy-to-use vegetable planting equipment for about 20 yuan. Some sellers also open live teaching to answer questions, with an average audience of 20,000 to 30,000 people.

　　Pan Yu, director of the Horticulture Department of the School of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Southwest University, analyzed that growing vegetables on the balcony is actually a part of modern home gardening life.

Planting vegetables on the balcony not only takes into account the multiple functions of viewing, eating, and purifying indoor air, but also reduces stress and regulates emotions from the perspective of horticultural therapy.

She believes that with the continuous upgrade of residents' consumption, everyone can put down their electronic devices at a fast pace, return to nature, relax at home, and enjoy farming to relieve stress, which is a healthy way of life.

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