Lotus Patch Farm Expedition 蓮花園農場考察遠征記 – 10/18/2015 9:00 a.m.
Preface - Lotus Patch Farm Story
Once
upon a time, there lived a girl in Taipei’s Ximenting (西門町) – the
trendsetting center of the business hub during the Japanese ruling era, next to
a movie theater (美都麗戲院.) She studied as hard she could from elementary, junior and
senior high schools all the way to National Cheng Kung University in Tainan,
Taiwan. There she met a young man
from Engineering Science Department one year her senior, who grew up from
Kaohsiung, Taiwan, a prosperous city in the southern part of Taiwan.
She
has a dream to own the big land to farm one day even though she thinks she
knows nothing about farming. But….
They
wasted no time to study in U.S; settled in Dallas, Texas. After years of graduate schools and
work with dedication, diligence, and perseverance, they have a happy family
with two distinguished children, a doctor, and a biostatistician; Wen Sheng a
professor at UT-Arlington, and Yaung Hwa an accountant.
But, they do not want to have a content life with the
attitude of complacency. That kind
of reasoning only makes sense, they start to think outside the box, do the
homework, infuse the life with action, and take advantage of the cheap and big
land in Weatherford, Texas. The
most important is Yaung Hwa’s sharp business acumen skills and solid foundation
laid from undergraduate - NCKU and graduate school – Purdue University.
So Wen Sheng, a thinker, a scholar and Yaung Hwa, a doer and
a farmer become the success story of a model minority at Dallas, Texas.
The Moral:
1.
Rise early (Time is Money. Early bird gets the worm).
2.
Work hard (Develop
business & managerial skills, NCKU’s mantra - trains the students to learn,
read and think),
3.
Finally you will strike oil
and plough to reap your reward in Dallas, Texas as if we have seen the movie “How
the West Was Won -《西部開拓史》” in Dallas Version.
天時,
地利, 人和
This is a story of “right timing, good geographical location
and favorable social condition.”
See Wen Sheng’s detailed schedule planning for today.
Farm Expedition
(10/18/2015 9:00 a.m.)
Oct.
18 (Sunday)-Visit Lotus Patch (Chan’s farm) and
Stockyard at Cow Town, Fort Worth
8:45 am-9:00 am: Gather at the Chan’s
house (on the way to the farm) 9:00 am-9:15 am : Leave for the farm,
Weatherford, TX. (A detail map will be provided.)
10:00 am-10:30 am: Arrive at the farm.
10:30 am-12:00 pm: Walk around the
farm.
Ben/Janice
Chang, Joseph Hsu (Ben’s Nephew), Mrs. Shinyee Chang (Janice’s friend) P.Y. and
Sue Shih and Frank Cheng and Mrs. Cheng (P.Y.’s friend)
Chih-Cheng
and Hung-Hwey Ma from Austin, Texas.
Te-Lin
Yao and his wife come with the Chan’s car.
12:00
pm: Simple lunch will be served at the farm
1:30
pm: Leave the farm for Stockyard at Fort Worth (take around 45-50 minutes)
Group
Photo Before the Expedition
With
great anticipation and excitement, 12 NCKU alumni team, plus and minus the
photographer (Frank 鄭 明 泰 66 accounting - 會統) and (許瑞昌 Joseph, Ben’s cousin, 86 Electrical
Engineering - 電機) left the “Moments in Time” smiles in front of Wen Sheng and
Yaung Hwa’s house. Chih-Cheng and
Hung- Hwey driving all the way from Austin, Texas would meet us 10:30 a.m. at
the farm.
Off
We Go, To The Farm
Three
carloads, with the most capable and responsible drivers, Yaung Hwa, our
hostess, and Pen Yuan and Joseph, were on the way to our destination. Ben and I had the privilege of Wen
Sheng, the host to be the navigator in Joseph’s car. Coming from Washington D. C. with the horror of notorious
traffic congestions, I was looking for the open road and easy ride in this BIG
TEXAS. No, it’s not any better at
all. I was surprised! I think the urban sprawling from the
economic growth between Dallas and Fort Worth where I saw on the airplane was
the major reason.
It’s about
55 miles ride to the farm. “How
did Yaung Hwa manage the 2+ hours drive to and from each day?” I asked Wen Sheng. He responded, “She waited out until the
rush hour was over around 9:00 a.m.”
It’s still a long commute though.
A strong sign of resolute determination, I gave her a big star! *
Parker
County Courthouse, Weatherford, Texas
On highways
leaving their house, Colleyville, we travelled westward on I-820, I-30, I-20
passing Fort Worth.
I saw the busy
highway patterns with multiple levels of overpasses and cloverleaf like
interchange with cars weaving through different directions.
We became the tiny moving ants from the
pictures that Ben took on the plane a few days ago.
We exited to state highway 180, the stately historical
building,
Parker County Courthouse
was in front of us.
We were in
Weatherford already.
The white Texas
limestone and the rose pink granite clock towers and roofs on the top made a
striking contrast.
It’s a
beautiful architectural design.
Her
Dream Became True
According to Wen
Sheng, “Yaung Hwa made her name known here in the Parker County Courthouse as
the only Asian Farmer from Taiwan.”
The friendly Yaung Hwa is a constant fixture in the predominately white
farmers in Weatherford. She has
been in and out of this building, processing the deed, the title, the taxes,
the zoning and the application of Texas soil conservation and farm development
project, etc., for the past 25 years since the purchase in 1990.
This grand and
imposing building seemed to declare that Lotus Patch Farm was approaching and
waiting to be celebrated with the arrival of group National Cheng Kung University alumni, Wen Sheng’s
Engineering Science '69 classmates especially (成大工科系畢業46年同學.)
We stayed on the
paved narrow country road Hwy 920, and 180 - a typical of connecting to the
rural and agricultural areas for about 5 minutes.
The scenery changed to the open field with tall hedges,
under bushes, and variety of indigenous tress and shrubs.
“Wow, was this way used to be before
the farm became the working farm today?”
I raised the question to Wen Sheng.
“Yes, it was!”
He replied. The visible signs of so many blue oil drums served as a
landmark for their farm boundary came into view.
Another big checks to both of them here!
**
Big
Gate
Yaung Hwa, the
founder, and owner of
Lotus Patch Farm proudly opened the
big iron-gate for us after she punched the secret code – interesting, the
mechanical gadget?
 |
| The Big Iron-Gate off the country road |
 |
| 2nd Iron-gate leads to the 2nd big pond |
I will let the
pictures tell Chan’s Lotus Patch Farm Story
The big farm is 178 acres.
A
panoramic view with our eyes as far as we could stretch from the front gate, we
only saw many blue oil-drums used as the boundary line. A
lonely longhorn cattle from the next-door neighbor greeted us with the sleepy
eyes.
Farm
Safari ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) Ride
Yaung Hwa got her ATV ready to start
our expedition in two groups before we had the chance to explore their 6 acres family dwelling
compound.
Wise Investment - Bermuda Hay Farm
128 acres of
pastures
“Once you till the land and put down your
first root of Bermuda grass, you become a part of the land forever.” It’s true, besides the machine took
over the major shares of planting the grass roots, certain part of the land
which was on steep slops, Yaung Hwa planted her Bermuda root one at a time.
I said, “She is really a bit of real “down
to earth” to her Baby Grass.”
She
shared with me, “Bermuda is a tough stand of grass, plant roots deep and it’s
long-lasting.”
Green Cylindrical Tank
Natural Gas was
found here before they purchased the land. The tank indicates that both Wen
Sheng and Yaung Hwa are the landowners with royalty shares from the Gas
Company.
 |
| It's in the far ground |
The
thrill of riding Yaung Hwa’s ATV over the vast countryside and open meadows was
beyond description.
Every changing
scenery from the straight lines of large round bales of hays left in the open to the
native trees reminded me of Acacia trees of Africa.
Each of the bale weighs ½ ton (1,000 lbs).
The average harvest per year is 200
bales – 400 bales for 2-3 times pending on the rainfalls.
Custom
Modular Home – The Family Compound (6 Acres)
It’s an idyllic
setting with a 4-bedroom modular home tucked in the grove of Texas live-oak and
oak trees
. The 40
acres of peaceful wooded land was around the perimeter.
Some of the areas were used for
mushroom (shiitake) farming.
Wen Sheng Explained the Mushroom Farming
A
Farmer with Far-reaching Vision
I understand
that Yaung Hwa has envisioned a farm should be diversified with multiple crops,
plant rotation, livestock, animals, trees and vegetables to improve the soils
and benefit other habitats. How
she was able to cut each log from the farm to keep in the shaded area for
mushroom growing was as intriguing as what I would like to know about the way
she operates this big hay farm?
 |
| The Bambi Family |
 |
| Hammock outside the den |
 |
| Frank relaxing on the hammock |
 |
| Family Room &Kitchen |
 |
| Party in the Living room |
 |
| Kitchen |
 |
| Living room with two Dummy Mr. & Mrs. Farmer safeguard the house at night. |
From
an Accountant to a Farmer
The family-plot
surrounds the house has variety of vegetables and herbs from everything you can
name from the garden book. The
following are October crops.
Vegetable Crops in October
 |
Yaung Hwa picking asparagus (蘆筍) on a raised garden-bed
|
 |
The group of migrant workers ransacked the vegetable garden picking yard-long beans (菜豆)
|
Vegetables Planted in 2015
Harvest is a time of joy! The following crops were already harvested before we came.
Japanese cucumber (日本小黃瓜), okra (黃秋葵), peppers (青椒), basil (紫蘇), basil (九層塔), coriander (芫荽), Taiwanese yellow melons (台灣黃香瓜), Taiwanese Mino melon (台灣美濃瓜), cantaloupe (哈蜜瓜), bitter gourd (苦瓜), squash (菜瓜), taro (芋頭), Arugula (芝麻菜), Dill (蒔蘿), peanuts (花生), cedar (香椿), A vegetables (A菜), onion (香蔥), garlic (蒜)
Fruits Harvested in October
 |
| Migrant Worker - Shinyee Picking Persimmons (柿子) |
 |
| Figs (無花果) – Rae shared a love-fruit with her husband, Te-Lin |
 |
| Aquaponics plants (水生植物) – currently, it’s a new experiment for Yaung Hwa |
Jujube
Tree (
紅棗)– A bag of goodie-bag of
home-made dry Red Jujube fruits was given from Chan’s family to take home.
Mushroom farm – Shiitake (
香菇)
Fruit Trees at the Farm
The harvest time for the followings are rather short. We missed it in October.
white peach (白桃) yellow
peach (黄桃), red plum (红梅), purple plum (紫梅), apricot (杏子), apple (蘋果), Asian
pear (水梨), 20 century pear (20世紀梨), pomegranate
(石榴), cooking pear (煮梨), table grape (鮮食葡萄)
Nut Trees
Pecan (胡桃), Almond (杏仁), Chinese Chestnuts (栗子)
 |
| Janice picking up Pecan (胡桃) |
The Livestock Raised Now
The Livestock Raised Before
Hereford cows (raised for meat) (赫里福德牛), Spanish
Goats (西班牙山羊), Mohair Goats (馬海毛山羊), Nubian
Goats (努比亞山羊)
Underground Water System
The old Indian
well and a new automatic 2,500-gallon water tank behind the wooden board saved all the rainwater as
well served as the main source for the whole farm – hays, livestock, trees and
vegetables. – Look at Te-Lin’s close inspection for that big machine pump – You
can tell he was from NCKU Engineering Science Department 46 years ago.
Lily Ponds – 4 Acres
A
charming lily pond built close to the family compound offers both ducks and
geese, the waterfowls the place to swim.
The beautiful water lily and lily pads were planted
before, but with those hungry waterfowls eating them, I think both Wen Sheng
and Yaung Hwa will figure out something else.
The 2
nd
pond larger than this lily pond was built further out in the farm.
Without this useful ATV, I doubted I
would ever see this beautiful pond!
You looked out and saw the calm water with an occasional ripple – no
ducks, geese!
It’s so serene,
inviting and welcoming.
I think
this is their plan to put the aerating fountain, gold fish, koi and other pond
fish here.
I imagine both of them
will see that the beauty of
Lotus Patch Farm is mirrored in this
2
nd pond!
Look at the
wooden-board walkway with the lovely gazebo overlooking the shimmering
water.
I am picturing that both
Wen Sheng and Yaung Hwa will spend the time together one day right here
listening to Beethoven’s symphony #6 (Pastoral) -
《田園交響曲》surrounded by the
natural beauty from their
Lotus Patch Farm.
 |
| The walkway with the gazebo is behind the live-oak tree |
Epilogue
Yaung Hwa told
me at the 2nd pond when I was picking jujube fruit, “I never have
time to think about I’m getting old.”
I know this story is about a brave and powerful woman whom I admire
greatly.
It’s certain
that by this stage of my life, the desire to try new things is ever
strong.
In spite of my anxious
request to ask Yaung Hwa to lease a small parcel of land for me to be a
full-time farmer like her for a short time;
Shinyee surprisingly shot me back with the remark, “The
Texas red ants will eat you alive.”
Look at the ants and Shinyee’s removing the stubborn splinters in my
foot!
“…And where do you get your
rehab doctor with your lumbar 4 issues- back spinal pains?”
Oh, well, Yaung Hwa probably approached
my request more with humorous joke than with serious intention.
 |
| The red ants mound |
She is a “woman
of Change, Vision and Commitment” – a person who thinks nothing can’t be done.
A remarkable
woman she is!
A big star here! *
 |
The Pivotal figure in this story
The Real Cowgirl's Spirit with her hat and Boots at the 2nd pond picturing the bright blueprint of Lotus Patch Farm |
