More Than a Harvest: Growing Watermelons, Growing Appreciation
What does it take to grow a watermelon?
For the 70 students and staff participants of the HKUST Community Garden's Watermelon Growing Workshops, the answer proved to be far more complex and rewarding than many had imagined. Over a series of hands-on workshops held from March to July 2026, participants followed the journey of a watermelon from seed to harvest, gaining practical gardening skills while experiencing the realities of food production first-hand. The programme provided each participant with access to a garden plot and guidance from an experienced farming practitioner from Live Green, allowing them to learn through direct experience rather than textbooks alone.
The workshops covered every stage of cultivation, from soil improvement and organic growing practices to seedling care, natural pest management and understanding ecological relationships within the garden. Participants worked closely with the land throughout the season, observing how plants responded to changing conditions and learning that successful cultivation requires patience, care and adaptability. Through these activities, participants gained first-hand experience of how land can be managed sustainably to support food production while maintaining healthy soils, conserving natural resources and fostering biodiversity.
This year's growing season also brought its fair share of challenges, including extreme weather events and heavy rainfall which affected growing conditions and extended the programme into late July. However, these difficulties became valuable lessons, as participants witnessed how factors beyond a farmer's control can influence a crop and learnt to adapt their practices in response to changing circumstances.
Reflecting on the experience, Skiee from the Sustainability/Net-Zero Office shared, “the Watermelon Growing Workshops were a powerful reminder of the hard work by farmers and how the harvest can be affected by weather.”, she shared, “The experience has given me a new found respect for every meal on my plate!”. Similarly, Esther from the Office of the Dean of Business & Management noted that "the workshop taught me how valuable our food is. We often take it for granted and don't think about the efforts spent by farmers. It was also a good opportunity to learn how to grow something from a seed to a plant – a challenging but rewarding process that taught us to care and persevere."
Beyond learning how to grow food, many participants highlighted the opportunity to reconnect with nature. Working in the community garden allowed them to slow down, spend time outdoors and observe not only the growth of their watermelon plants, but also nature and the wildlife that shared the garden space. Through the ups and downs of the growing season, they developed a deeper appreciation and understanding of the natural systems that support food production, and the resilience required to work alongside nature rather than against it.
In a world where food often arrives on our tables without a second thought, the Watermelon Growing Workshops offered a rare opportunity to slow down, get hands dirty and reconnect with the journey behind every harvest. While the harvest marked the conclusion of the programme, the experience left participants with something more enduring than watermelons alone. By experiencing both the rewards and challenges of cultivation first-hand, participants came away with a deeper understanding of the care, patience and resilience required to bring food from seed to table.
