The old teacher's strawberry garden

Returning from the podium to gardening, Mr. Nguyen Van Hai (born in 1953) - former teacher of Civic Education, Nguyen Trai High School (Trang Bang town) quietly started a new chapter of his life on the outskirts.

Leaving the podium in 2010, Mr. Hai began to think about gardening as a way to live close to nature after years of dedication toeducation . Once, a relative gave him some mulberry trees, and he brought them home to try planting them on his wild land in Loc Chanh neighborhood, Loc Hung ward, Trang Bang town.

Mr. Hai has been attached to the strawberry garden for nearly 15 years.

For many people, it seems impossible for a retired teacher to do gardening. But for Mr. Hai, it was easy because since he was a child, he was used to helping his late father in the garden. When he started to hoe the soil, plant trees, and take care of the fruit, he did not feel bewildered but on the contrary, he was extremely proficient. Although he had never grown mulberry before, with his diligence and research, the mulberry trees began to grow quickly and after 4 years, they began to produce bunches of "war fruit". For the past 15 years, he has done all the steps of taking care of this garden by himself. At first, the garden was just a place to relax in his old age. But then the first bunches of mulberry trees of the season began to ripen, friends came to visit, and former students came back. "Mr. Hai's strawberry garden" gradually became a familiar destination.

Old classes returned, both to visit their teacher and to reminisce, some even brought their children. Amidst the shady mulberry trees, the clear laughter of visitors to the mulberry garden made the quiet atmosphere much more lively. “Gardening has its own charm. Sometimes just having people visit, without having to buy mulberries, is enough to make me happy,” said Mr. Hai.

During fruit season, Mr. Hai's strawberry garden becomes a destination for many tourists from near and far.

Realizing that Trang Bang is becoming more and more urbanized, houses are growing close together, shady places and relaxing spaces for families or groups of friends are becoming less and less, Mr. Hai has the orientation to develop it into a strawberry garden. Currently, Mr. Hai's garden has 48 strawberry trees, including both domestic and Siamese strawberries. The strawberry variety that Mr. Hai grows bears quite a lot of fruit, with a light sweet and sour taste. The trees with fruits grow in clusters, have shiny skin, and when ripe, the whole tree looks very eye-catching, so young people love to take pictures. Every year, the strawberry season peaks around the end of April, beginning of May, lasting about two months. This is also the busiest time.

“Mostly people, especially students, come to take pictures and eat fruit on the spot. Before, I sold tickets per person, including fruit in the garden, but now it’s free, only charging for fruit picked and taken home,” said Mr. Hai.

Many people come to visit and buy strawberries at Mr. Hai's strawberry garden.

I thought I was growing it for fun, to entertain my retirement, but after a few seasons of sweet fruit, the garden of more than 1,000m² has now become a familiar destination for many tourists when the strawberries are ripe. The mulberry trees full of fruit are the result of years of "retirement" nurtured by the old teacher's own hands. In years of good harvest, after deducting all expenses, the profit is also several tens of millions of dong. Not much, but enough for the teacher to have extra living expenses in retirement.

The whole gardening work, from pruning, fertilizing, and picking fruit, is done by the teacher alone. He confided: “All the children have their own work, no one does gardening. I do it first to get some exercise, and I feel healthier.”

At the age of over 70, many people choose to rest, but Mr. Hai still maintains the habit of going to the garden every day. “Gardening seems like a light task, but it is also somewhat similar to the old days of teaching. Teachers have to pay attention to and guide students in every word and action, so that they can become useful citizens. Gardening is the same, you have to observe each plant, monitor their development to adjust fertilizer and pruning to suit the needs of the plant. When the plants grow healthily, I am as happy as seeing a student grow up,” Mr. Hai shared.

Mr. Hai (second from right) takes souvenir photos with tourists.

With that philosophy, Mr. Hai knows by heart every story associated with each tree. This tree bores fruit early, that tree was once bored by a borer, that tree produces so many kilos of fruit each year… he tells it clearly as if he were reading the names of each student. Those seemingly trivial details, through his slow voice, turn into vivid memories of a person who is not simply a gardener, but is living in the garden. It is also that simple, rustic love for the garden that has become a place many people want to visit every fruit ripening season. There, people come not because of professional tourism services or a sparkling check-in scene but because of a cool green space with a sincere, simple old teacher. There, teacher Hai is learning how to listen to nature and connect people in peace and serenity.

Hoa Khang - Khai Tuong

Source: https://baotayninh.vn/vuon-dau-da-cua-ong-giao-gia-a190705.html