Can a food forest thrive in the middle of a bustling city? Our second short documentary explores two very different food forests- one in downtown Hsinchu, the other in suburban Zhubei. Claire Mauquie and Solene Cornilleau discuss the benefits and challenges of working in two drastically different spaces, and how a community comes together to learn from and maintain the food forest projects.

Meet herbalist and educator May Chen 陳美慧, who will be introducing five medicinal plants found in her beautiful food forest, located in Sanxing, Yilan. Video by Emma Arkell Many thanks to Katherine Chou, Claire Mauquie and Solene Cornilleau NB: both english and chinese subtitles are available by activating them on the video settings.

The first plant in our series with May Chen is Polygonum perfoliatum, also known as Devil's Tail (扛板歸). A native vine-like herb, the leaves, stems and seeds are edible raw or cooked. Devil's Tail is full of medicinal properties: depurative, diuretic and febrifuge. The leaves are distinctively triangular, the fruits are blue in color, and very berry-like. It prefers moist or wet soil and can grow in semi-shade or no shade. Subtitles available in English and Chinese. Video by Emma Arkell Thank you to Katherine Chou, Zackie Wang and Max Berwald

Our second video focuses on Saururus chinensis, commonly known as Asian Lizard's Tail (三白草), an herbaceous perennial native to Taiwan. Asian Lizard's Tail is easily identifiable by the white markings on the leaves, and its long delicate white flowers. It grows well in coastal wetlands and low mountainous areas. The whole plant is edible and thought to be very good for the kidneys. However, Asian Lizard's Tail has a strong bitter taste, so May recommends boiling the leaves, stems and flowers to make tea. Video by Emma Arkell Thank you to Joelle Chevri-yay for translation assistance

Up next is Artemisia indica, which goes by many names: Asiatic Wormwood, Chinese Mugwort and 艾草, to name a few! Native to Southeast Asia, it is very popular in Taiwan as a Chinese herbal medicine. It is thought to be good for the lungs because it has strong qi. Because of it's fragrance, the plant is also good at repelling mosquitoes! Learn more about the uses of Asiatic Wormwood in this video. Video by Emma Arkell Thank you to Audrey Chen for translation assistance

This week we're starting with Houttuynia cordata, which earns the common name Fish Leaf 魚腥草 due to its strong scent. Native to China, its leaves are edible raw or cooked, and today May will give us a tip on how to enjoy this uniquely flavored plant. Fish leaf is known to be good for the lungs and its reknowned for its detox properties. In this video, May touches briefly on the Chinese medicinal conception of foods as being intrinsicly 'hot' or 'cold'. If you'd like to learn more about this system, we suggest checking out https://www.pingminghealth.com/article/581/warming-and-cooling-characteristics-of-common-foods/ Video by Emma Arkell

The last plant in our series with May Chen is Oxalis corniculata, a beautiful flowering herb known as wood sorrel 醡漿草. Native to Southeast Asia, this plant is often regarded as a weed, but in fact the whole plant is edible and is thought to be good for the liver. In this video, May gives us some suggestions for how to enjoy this citrusy herb. Video by Emma Arkell

Our first short documentary explores the rich ecosystem of the Yonghe food forest, which sits on the banks of the Xindian River in New Taipei City.