Saigon couple turns empty land into vegetable garden during social distancing

Nguyen Ba Trinh and his wife Pham Thi Anh Huyen live in the city’s suburban district of Binh Chanh.

The couple owns a land plot covering 273 square meters adjacent to their house where only garbage, construction waste, and wild plants had taken refuge before the pandemic hit.

The abandoned land suddenly became the perfect blank canvas for Trinh and Huyen — who found themselves confined to their home as per government social distancing orders in early April — to bring a new look to their backyard.

Trinh told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that he had hired vehicles to transport gardening soil from Huyen’s hometown in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong to Ho Chi Minh City for the project.

Lam Dong’s red soil is both cheaper and more fertile than alternatives available in the southern metropolis, Trinh explained.

He collected dried coconut shells from local markets and turned them into hanging plant pots while using logs donated by his neighbors to make raised garden beds.

The 42-year-old man fertilized the garden with goat droppings, coir, and rice husk mixed with red soil.

With a background in construction, Trinh did all the designing and buidling of the garden by himself.

He also built a mini stilt house and a fish tank in the garden, turning it into the family’s own next-door ‘farmstay’ experience.

The entire garden was completed in three weeks, with more than 40 different types of plants now growing on the site.

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