Tra Que vegetable- planting village

Tra Que Vegetable Village is a traditional vegetable growing village famous for organic methods exist more than 300 years of Cam Ha, the center of Hoi An ancient town is about 3 km. In particular, Tra Que vegetable planting village about 20 categories, including leafy vegetables and herbs. It has existed for at least 500 years and grows several vegetables and herbs though savoury, an aromatic herb, is its most famous product. Known as “rau hung” in Vietnamese, and similar to basil and mint, its leaves are widely used in Vietnamese cooking.

In the village, the vegetable growers are called ‘artisans’ and not ‘farmers’ because the entire farming process, from tilling the land, digging furrows, and planting seedlings, is done artistically.

A veteran Hoi An farmer, Cao Ngoc Day, said further the village’s soil, enriched by alluvium from the local De Vong River, and its traditional farming techniques gave “rau hung” its special fragrance.

"The farmers use neither manure nor chemical fertilisers but a kind of algae found only in a lagoon in Tra Que," Day said.As a result, the vegetables both look beautiful in their fields as well as possessing outstanding taste and flavour. "The savoury here is really tasty," attested Margit Martin, a foreign tourist visiting the village. "Supermarkets in my country sell several kinds of Vietnamese savoury but they don’t have as much flavour as this one."

Now, Tra Que vegetables are sold to many restaurants and hotels in Hoi An, Da Nang, and Ha Noi.The village has some 131 families farming, besides savoury, also cabbage, colza or rape, celery, kohlrabi, and herbs.

Many residents admit they do not know when their village first began to grow vegetables. A woman farmer named Ba said: "I was told by my grandfather it first started in Tra Que since the time of the grandfather of my great-great grandfather .The older people in the village always tell us the village has existed for at least 500 years."

Coming to this vegetable village, visitors not only get firsthand look at the lush green garden, stroll around the rustic countryside, but also to become vegetable growers, too!

Coming Tra Que village, visitors will be guided through sowing, planting, watering vegetables and tending vegetables and harvesting by local people.

In addition, guests will also be learning food processing, from the vegetables and enjoy delicious cuisine amid the peaceful village. These moments of labor and relax in Tra Que vegetable village promises to be one of the great experiences for visitors traveling in Hoi An.