More than 40 families had rented land to grow vegetables and fruits, at Xili Orchard beside Xili Lake in Nanshan District.

A man surnamed Yu took his wife, son and mother-in-law to work on their piece of land at the orchard Saturday.

Yu said he was charged 20 yuan (US$2.4) per square meter for every three months, with young plants provided by the orchard. He said the orchard was in charge of the plants' daily care and the harvest went to the family.

Two couples at the orchard said they were assigned to look after the plants on the 50-plus pieces of land. Among them, a man surnamed Li said he was an experienced farmer and could take good care of the plants.

A man surnamed Dai said he and a friend rented a piece of land each at the orchard. Dai and his family planted more than 10 kinds of vegetables including cucumbers, lettuces and water spinach. He said he drove his family to work on the land every weekend.

“My kid loves it, and it's instructive,” Dai said. “We adults can stretch out and relax. It's killing several birds with one stone, so why not do it?”

Dai found a lot of white spots on the leaves of a vegetable marrow and sought help from Li. Li said the plant was over-irrigated.

The family then harvested six bags of vegetables, enough for a week's consumption.

(Shenzhen Daily May 24, 2005)