by chris | Mar 18, 2019 | Garden Updates, Student Experiences, Uncategorized
A visit from our neighbours
A few weeks ago, two IB students from Dover Court, a school nearby, came to visit our service, Incredible Edible and took some samples to create their own garden at their school. They came to one of our Monday sessions, and we took them for a tour of all the produce we grow and explained to them a bit about our mission and how we started Incredible Edible at our school.
We first started by showing them what we grow at school, and what grows easily in Singapore, for example, we gave them some samples of dill, Moringa and okra to grow in their school, as these are all fast-growing foods that are easy to produce. We talked about the origins of the Incredible Edible Project and that it actually started in England, and a parent from our school brought the idea to UWC. The project aims to bring people together over local produce, and some groups who participate in Incredible Edible rely solely on the food they produce to eat. We then took them to the other main edible garden we have on campus, which is the one the Wednesday team usually work in. We gave them samples of basil, mint and some other herbs that are grown in the garden.
Before they left, we exchanged emails so that they could contact us with any concerns they might have in growing produce or building a community of gardeners. One question they asked was how we got people to join in with the gardening, and we told them how we run it as a service and that we work with middle schoolers and some primary school students as well. Overall I think it’s really good that we were able to spread the Incredible Edible project to another school in Singapore and I hope to spread the initiative to many other schools in Singapore so that we can all take part in Incredible Edible.
(Kyla McHugh)
by eal | Feb 18, 2019 | Garden Updates, Uncategorized
During the second week of Incredible Edibles, the Wednesday team divided up into several different groups.
Group 1 were busy planting and weeding in the upper Garden. The quality of soil in some of the beds is pretty poor so we will try to address that next time. But we tried to break up the soil with the spades this week. We had a bit of a panic as we worried that we were weeding our own Ladyfinger seedlings, but we checked and it was ok!
Henry replanted the Tumeric in the upper garden, adding mulch (organic matter from our own UWCSEA compost bins) and a sign so we knew what was in that patch of garden.
Another group checked the irrigation system and did some watering and weeding in the lower garden. They also checked that the signage matched what was planted there.
Christian and Mia planted a Soursop tree to add to the other fruits in our lower garden – which is developing into a fruit tree zone with limes, pineapples, papaya and banans already flourishing there.
The final group focused on building and testing a hydroponic farming device gifted to our very own Mr Sparks. This week was fun and everyone at Incredible Edibles is looking forward to next week.
by chris | Feb 1, 2019 | Garden Updates, Uncategorized
The Monday Incredible Edibles team got to know their way around this week and were straight in getting their hands dirty weeding the vegetable beds. Great effort everyone, Xin Nian Kuai Le.
by eal | Jan 30, 2019 | Garden Updates, Uncategorized
On the first day of Incredible Edibles, we were given a tour of the gardens such as the upper garden, lower garden and nursery. At the upper garden we were given a taste of the organic produce such as cucumbers, peppers, whereas at the lower garden we were given a taste of herbs such as parsley and also got to sniff herbs such as sage. We then split into two groups, the planting group, who planted okra seeds at the lower garden and the weeding group, who weeded the upper garden and made it ready for the planting of more okra seeds. We really enjoyed the day and hope to continue with our stellar work after the Chinese New Year holidays!!
By Roye Ganju
by eal | Jan 20, 2019 | Garden Updates, Projects, Uncategorized
How can we encourage a passion for growing food in our community?
This is the question the Incredible Edibles team have been wrestling with. We tossed around lots of different ideas but the idea that emerged as the front runner was providing herb pots for primary school classrooms. Tebo and Koko found a great design online for a Herb Tower.
Joahne designed a questionnaire that we sent to teachers to see how much interest there might be in this idea. We had a request for 24 herb towers!
The students in infant and junior classes get to care for and learn about lovely fresh herbs. They can take herbs home to use in cooking with their families. Hopefully this will plant a seed (!) in our youngest students about the satisfaction that comes from growing your own food and it is an opportunity for teachers to talk about how we can reduce our ecological footprint and live more sustainably by growing our own food rather than importing it. In Singapore we currently import over 92% of our own food!
A collaborative project with East
Where were we going to get the herbs for our planters? We haven’t got enough in our own gardens, growing from seed is quite a fiddly process and we are busy weeding and managing our own gardens. Buying the herbs would be expensive. The East HS Propagation team came to our rescue! They are a new HS College service who take orders for plants and then grow them for people in the community.
Meanwhile we needed to get stuck in with making the towers. Last Wednesday we went to Andy’s (head gardener) garden with Nathan (Director of Sustainability) to see how we could recycle old pots to make our towers. Our team worked to create their own designs. We came up with a couple of our own versions of ‘The Tower’ using the materials we had, and Tebo and Koko taught the team how to mix up the potting compost using soil, sand and mulch. The students worked tirelessly, dividing themselves up into ‘pot sourcers’ (who found pots the right size and tried to avoid the ants and spiders); the ‘construction crew’ (who built the towers); the ‘washing team’ (who washed the pots); and the ‘soil gang’ (who made up the soil and filled the towers). We made 24 herb towers in 1 service session and are now ready for the herbs to arrive!
by eal | Dec 14, 2018 | Garden Updates, Uncategorized
On Wednesday we visited Citizen farm – an urban garden in the heart of Singapore. It was fantastic to see their Aquaponics, salad greens, botanics, insect and mushroom farm and all the innovative ways in which they are doing urban gardening. We had a guided tour with Darren which was really interesting.
Something I saw at the Citizen farm that I found interesting was…
“Tyre pot and mushroom house.”
“Marigolds!”
“All of the little chicks and the scent”
“The way that farmers could choose what type of lighting that they thought belonged in their farm. I also learnt that the lights can make the plants grow faster and that to make them grow at even rates.”
Something about the way that they do urban gardening at the Citizen farm that helps them to be successful is…
“They are always working at it”
“They are achieving a circular economy”
An idea from Citizen farm that we might want to use/adapt in our gardening could be…
“Tyre pots!”
“Edible flowers”
“the fish poop (for fertiliser)”
“indoor hydroponics / aquaponics”
What did we learn from our visit?
I thought their use of aquaponics (fish and hydroponics) was very innovative and efficient. For areas with limited space, this solution not benefits the aqua life, but also the plants.
An idea we could steal is the idea of indoor farms, we could create one in the big space between the bus bay and the high school building. We could also take the idea of making tires as the holders of the soil and the plants.
Its interesting how they have a circle of life: the bugs are food for the fish; the fish get poop making the compost for the soil; the plants are then used for food and it happens all over again.
Depending on our resources, we may want to invest in a small aquaponics tank (if it complies with the stagnant water rules) or make our gardens more efficient by introducing more insects to break down the compost in the soil.
I liked the way that farmers could choose what type of lighting that they thought belonged in their farm. I also learnt that the lights can make the plants grow faster and that to make them grow at even rates.
A secret to their success is their community outreach & great use of limited space.
