Bringing vegetables to their home gardens, Mong people in Nghe An still maintain "hanging gardens"

Bring vegetables from distant fields to home gardens

Arriving at Luu Thong, we noticed another special feature: the terrain of the village is quite flat, the residents live along the banks of a rather large stream called Canh Xa. If you do not understand the residential architecture of the highland people, many people will think that this is a village of the Thai people, not the Mong people.

A corner of Luu Thong village, Luu Kien commune (Tuong Duong). Photo: Dinh Tuan

One of the special features of Luu Thong village is that the Mong people have brought vegetables and beans from the fields to their home gardens. That is, although the land area is not large, most households have reserved a small amount of garden land to grow vegetables, cabbage, beans and some other vegetables, tubers and fruits. First, to meet daily food needs, the rest is sold at the market to have more income.

The Mong people in Luu Thong use their garden land to grow vegetables, beans and other foods. The vegetable garden is carefully fenced. Photo: Cong Kien

In the past, due to living on the top of a high mountain, the village terrain was steep, and houses were close together, so there was almost no land to grow vegetables. To grow vegetables, people had to bring seeds and seedlings to the fields, and had to walk for several hours every day to bring the vegetables home, which took a lot of time and effort.

The garden of mixed cabbages is regularly cared for so it grows well. Photo: Dinh Tuan

Currently, due to terrain conditions, many Mong villages in Ky Son, Que Phong and Tuong Duong still have to maintain this practice. It can be said that the vegetable gardens in Luu Thong are a "miracle", because the Mong people here have been able to bring vegetables from distant fields to their home gardens.

Maintaining the "hanging gardens"

But when we arrived at Luu Thong, we still encountered a very familiar scene, almost all Mong villages have them, which are "hanging gardens" for growing vegetables. Originating from the steep terrain, without a vegetable garden, having to grow vegetables in far away fields, it is quite inconvenient. Mong people have creatively created "hanging gardens", making use of broken buckets, pots or styrofoam boxes, adding soil and then placing them on wooden shelves, sometimes roofs or anything with a flat surface and height to grow vegetables.

Although they have vegetable gardens, the Luu Thong people still maintain "hanging gardens" placed on wooden shelves and roofs. Photo: Cong Kien

The vegetables grown in the “hanging garden” are mainly spices (onions, basil and aromatic herbs), used for preparing daily dishes, very convenient because there is no need to travel long distances, and there is time to rest. Although there is a vegetable garden, the Luu Thong people still maintain the old way of doing things, which makes this Mong village special.

And take advantage of the bathroom roof at the public water tank to make a "hanging garden". Photo: Dinh Tuan

Mr. Vu Giong Nhenh - Head of Luu Thong village said: "Growing vegetables in the home garden and maintaining a "hanging garden" shows that the Mong people here are both dynamic in accepting new things and do not forget the difficult and deprived years of the past."