Project Grow: Urban farm in the sky

Project Grow is a city garden located on the rooftop of a building in one of Hong Kong's underdog neighborhoods -- To Kwa Wan.

Before the 1960s, To Kwa Wan was mainly a light-industries area overshadowed by the adjacent neighborhoods of Hung Hom and Kowloon City. Today, the community is mainly made up of elderly and new immigrants living in affordable but fast deteriorating property.

"To Kwa Wan is an old neighborhood -- the residents are attached to the place but it is losing its energy," said environmentalist Pad Chu. "We are just making our tiniest effort to rejuvenate the community again."

Chu established The Organic Farm 17 years ago and now also operates food store Simply Organic. 

To set up Hong Kong's first rooftop urban garden for the To Kwa Wan community, Chu teamed up with the Film Culture Club (HK) (HKFCC) and an up-cycling design group called re:ply Workshop.

Residents are learning how to grow a proper crop.

At the opening of Project Grow, To Kwa Wan residents ate veggie soup made from vegetables just picked from the rooftop farm. The roof was filled with the aromas of vegetable soup and fresh crops and the steady chatter of To Kwa Wan locals.

"One of the main groups we want to reach out to is the residents here from Southeast Asia," said Chu. "They are often easily ignored and forgotten in the community."

There is no real plan for generating revenue with the garden at the moment. The venue will be used for educational purposes mainly.

"We may charge the organizations who would like to use the place to cover the costs but it is not a project to draw income. It is to show the others how to make a difference with something fun."

Lily Lau from re:ply Workshop is the designer of the garden. Almost everything is built from scraps here. The gardening pots are made from old unwanted furniture, the smaller ones were made of newspaper and glue.

The rooftop garden is not open to public yet, but anyone can sign up for HKFCC events taking place there. The next upcoming activity will be on November 27 and news will be posted on the website.

Activities include making recycled pots, basic farming classes and an area will also be set up for the public to grow their own edible plants. 

According to Chu, the best farming season in Hong Kong is from December to February. There are no golden rules about what to grow in Hong Kong but "it is all edible here on the roof."

Project GROW, rooftop, Tung Nam Industrial Building, 40 Ma Tau Kok Road, To Kwa Wan, Kowloon platform.hkdiscovery.com

The opening of Project Grow was like a neighborhood meeting.