Incheon's Yeonsu-gu District (Mayor Lee Jae-ho) has continued its practice of returning crops harvested from idle urban land to local seniors this year. On July 3, the district held a donation ceremony to deliver about 1,000 kg of barley harvested from vacant land in Seonhak-dong to the Yeonsu-gu Senior Welfare Center. The initiative is part of the Urban Garden Sharing Project, which turns empty urban plots — often left neglected — into a scenic resource and a foundation for community giving.
 [The Korean Today] Donation ceremony of barley harvested from vacant land in Seonhak-dong, Yeonsu-gu, to the senior welfare center © Reporter Kim Mi-hee |
The Seonhak-dong barley field was not created overnight. Since 2015, the district has steadily promoted a project that plants scenic crops such as barley and buckwheat on about 40,000 square meters of vacant land in Seonhak-dong, allowing people to experience the atmosphere of the countryside in the middle of the city. As the long-empty land was transformed into fields that change color with each season, it has established itself as a distinctive local attraction.
The donation ceremony was attended by officials from the district's Parks and Green Spaces Division, the Yeonsu-gu chapter of the Korea Rural Leaders Association, and the Yeonsu-gu Senior Welfare Center, who shared the fruits of the barley harvest. Rather than stopping at cultivating scenery, the district returned the harvest to the community, showing how urban farming can lead to the spread of a culture of sharing.
 [The Korean Today] Yeonsu-gu Seonhak-dong barley donation to senior welfare center © Reporter Kim Mi-hee |
Depending on the season, the district creates barley fields in spring and buckwheat fields in autumn, putting long-neglected vacant land to public use. Along with creating scenic landscapes, the district plans to regularize the annual sharing efforts and pursue them on a continuous basis.
A Yeonsu-gu official said, "It is very meaningful that the Seonhak-dong barley cultivation project not only provides beautiful scenery but also extends a helping hand to our seniors every year," adding, "We will continue to work to develop the Seonhak-dong barley field into an advanced agricultural space."
[ Reporter Kim Mi-hee: incheonsouth@thekoreantoday.com ]
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