VietNamNet Bridge – Looking at the small pretty garden with vegetables put carefully in lines at Binh Loi residential area in Binh Thanh District, not many people would think the garden used to be a dumpsite full of rubble, nylon bags and used stuff.

Cricket Garden is seen from above.

Sitting by a clump of broccoli, Vu Thuy, who is in charge of the garden, says the 180-square-meter area once belonged to her neighbor who had moved to a new place. Over time, it has turned into a vacant land and then a dumpsite with people throwing away unnecessary stuff here, Thuy recalls.

“That makes me think why I don’t take advantage of the area for gardening and provide the children in the neighborhood a place to learn how to grow vegetables,” she says.

Thuy had nurtured the idea for a long time until she met Pham Thuy Duong, a student of Saigontourist Hospitality College (STHC) and also the one who stands behind the program “Sunday Gardening,” which plants vegetables on the rooftop of the college’s building.

With the help from Duong and her friends, the dumpsite has been removed to make room for the green. Vegetables have been harvested from the garden, which has a simple and intimate name – Cricket Garden. Children have not come to visit the garden as Thuy expects but adults and youths in the neighborhood have joined hands to develop the garden and protect it from being turned into a site for garbage again.

I met Duong one afternoon at the garden on the rooftop of STHC.

Before becoming a vegetable garden, Cricket Garden is a dumpsite - Photos: Courtesy of Sunday Gardening

“There are many vacant sites in Saigon. I want to make them green all with vegetables. If you have an area for growing vegetables but you have no clue to start, we can help,” she says.

“For what conditions?” I asked. “Only one, which is you have to strictly follow the rule of using all organic and natural materials for the garden. No chemical is allowed. Why do people have to use chemicals while we can completely grow vegetables without them?” she responds.

Pointing at the garden of STHC, Duong says all vegetables here have been grown by organic fertilizers, created from annealed vegetables and fruits with the help from earthworms.

Along with other youths who love growing vegetables and feel the urge to do useful things for the community, the Sunday Gardening group of Duong has been contributing to the development of green areas in the city.

After Cricket Garden, the group is now working on the vegetable garden at Ben Hai Church in Go Vap District and is expected to build a new garden along the river bank in District 2.

Duc Tam

SGT