by eal | Mar 10, 2019 | It's Edible!, Uncategorized
This week we did a lot of different things. We first planned who was doing what, and split into groups. One group did some weeding as usual, in the lower garden. We cleared out the weeds in a couple of the beds that contained lime, mint, and dill. We also pulled out the Laksa, because it was not doing very well, and it could make more space for new plants.
One of our groups started to plan a new tool rack to access our tools more easily. It is going to go in the lower garden where the tools are currently, but it will help be more organised. They are planning to build it in the Ideas Hub later, when they have decided on everything.
We also are going to make a sort of zen garden, in the upper garden, along the walkway . Before planting and building it, we first needed to draw out exactly what and where everything is going to go. So far, we are going to put plants that look kind of spiky and nice. Since we are Incredible Edibles, we have limited plants because they all have to be edible, but we had some ideas of what to put in it, like lemongrass and pandan.
Another group continued the vertical garden from last week, but we found out that there is a piece missing, so we need to find it or get a new one to build the whole thing. Near the end of Service, we harvested some of the dill that was getting really tall in the lower garden and some of us brought some of it home. Next week we are planning to make a pesto pasta using Laksa leaves!
By Anila!
by eal | Feb 26, 2019 | It's Edible!, Uncategorized
This week, we introduced a few new plants to our Lower Gardens.They were brought from the East Campus. We started with a quiz to see if we could identify any of the species. What we’ve got included some little cucumber plants, a small lemongrass plant, and a tomato plant — we were especially excited to have it in the garden. The most interesting one was a small plant which produces tasty mini-melons called cucamelons!!
Same as last week, we split into two teams. One went to the upper garden and focused on weeding, and the other stayed in the lower garden.
In the lower garden, the beans were growing really well, but there weren’t enough sticks for them to climb onto. Therefore, some of us used bamboo sticks to create more space for them. Others planted the “newcomers” into our garden, but some of them were too small to be grown in the beds, so we kept them in the pots.
As new plants were introduced, there were not enough beds. We looked around and found that a part of the garden seemed to have plants that we don’t really know what they are so we will try to figure it out if it can be used to grow new plants.
We also harvested some of the plantains from one of the trees. It tastes very sweet after a few days but was not so nice when we had just cut them off the trees, because they were not yet ripe even though they had cracked already. At first we thought they were bananas – they looked quite different from the usual long, curved ones in the supermarkets. Instead,they were much shorter and bigger in diameter, and they are plantains.
We did some really good stuff this week and can’t wait to find out about the beans, the newly planted “travellers” and the mysterious pots at the end of our garden. If you know about the plants growing there, please tell us by leaving a comment on our website.
If you want to learn more about our gardens and what we grow, please feel free to take a look at this short video — A tour around our gardens — filmed by some of the students from Season 1 and 2 Wednesday group, or continue to explore our website.
Last but not least, right below the quotes, at the bottom of the page, there is an Edible Joke section that you can take a look at.
Any ideas? Leave Comments!!! ;D
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 24, 2019 | It's Edible!, Student Experiences, Uncategorized
Our last session for the Wednesday season 1 & 2 group was bitter sweet. We were sad to say goodbye but happy to see the fruits of labours (ho ho) appearing in our garden. Limes, bananas, a beautiful pineapple and some teeny weeny papaya all made an appearance in our garden.
We enjoyed a cup of lemon grass tea made for us by Koko and weeded our garden, adding mulch (thanks Nahel and Keibo), planting magic beans and saying goodbye to the beds we have tended since August.
We ended with a group reflection where we shared highlight moments from the service: things we were particularly proud of, and things we have learned.
Some examples of reflections:
- I’m really proud of how we worked together as a team.
- I’ve never been in a group that has listened to each other and got on so well.
- I’m really proud of the fact that we did everything we said we would: we went to the Citizen farm, we’ve made the herb pots.
- I’m most proud of the herb pot project
- I really like the way we created the blog. I liked writing the blog posts.
- I am so happy we focused on raising awareness about our service and shared what we do on our blog.
- I liked getting the mulch! it was really fun.
Here are some quotes from our student reflections
Having understood gardening better, I am now able to spread this knowledge along to other people, just as it was to me. I am now also able to start a garden in my house with confidence, the planting has already started. Not to mention, the amount of respect I have for gardening fresh resources is a lot more, having seen the amount of effort that has to go into gardening!
I think that this service has affected my choices by making me more aware about urban gardening and the impact that humans have on the environment. In the future I think that I will also buy more locally sourced produce as it helps support local farms and may actually be more healthy.
In Incredible Edible, we planted different types of plants in the garden, and researched a lot about plants and how to grow them. Not only did I learn many tips about gardening, but also learnt to be hardworking and patient. Gardening takes a lot of hard work like weeding and watering, and it also takes patience because not all plants manage to survive. I think that this service was very successful because we contributed to make our school better by growing plants and making the school look more green.
I think the best bit about this service was getting my hands dirty!
I think my best contribution has been writing a few articles on the incredible edible site such as Singapore’s urban gardening and fruits such as pineapples and aloe vera. This will help people learn more about plants and the environment in Singapore.
In Incredible Edible, we are taking care of two gardens in the campus, modifying them to make them better (more pots, different plants), building our service website to increase our influence and planning activities or events in and out the campus. We had visited the citizen farm, who is providing veggie boxes for some families in the UWCSEA community, to study their work and to get some ideas and advice. We are also planning to do a Class Herb Garden sell in the Junior School and Infant School.
I have learnt that it is easier and more fun to work with others when gardening because you can talk to each other and get the job done quicker. You can also help each other with things which will make it easier.
I now understand how to appreciate the vegetables that we can get in the market and the effort that was put into making them. I understand how much time, sunlight and water was put into making these plants.
I learned that I could make friends with others through gardening. I think my best contribution is planting garlic because the garlic grew more than I imagined. I think that the trip to the citizen farm was the most successful aspect of this service.
The hardest part has been working int he dust and heat and just carrying on. I used to think you don’t have to put energy in when you are growing stuff, but now I see you have to work hard for good food.
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.
by kawad50188 | Dec 5, 2018 | Learn something new!, Uncategorized
Singapore is widely recognized as the greenest city in Asia. From an unsanitary port city in the 1860s, it had become a green and livable first world city in just a few decades. The change started in 1970 when former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew directed a tree planting campaign be organized across Singapore. He personally chaired the Garden City Action Committee which was then set up within the Ministry of National Development.
Singapore aims to cut carbon emissions intensity by 36 per cent of 2005 levels, and one way of doing so is to add more greenery to the many high-rise building we have that are the biggest consumers of energy in the city.
Adding greenery to roofs and walls can reduce the amount the heat that penetrates the building by 60-70% according to Zac Toh, the founder, and director of greening firm GWS Living Art. GWS Living Art is a company which specializes in urban green technology that adds artistic green to roofs and walls. If the temperature inside the building is lowered, the need for air-conditioning in the buildings will be reduced. For example, Changi Airport Terminal 4’s wall is 550 meter square of greenery.
Today, over 13% of Singapore’s land area is dedicated to greening the urban landscape and maintaining a healthy ecosystem. This includes parks, park connectors, green spaces and nature reserves. Previously, priority was given to man-made greening of highways, streets and residential areas and not enough effort had been used to restore and preserve the natural areas left in Singapore. But in recent years, Singapore had retained several restricted nature reserve sites such as Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve (131 hectares), Central Catchment (3043 hectares), Bukit Timah (163 hectares) and Labrador Nature Reserves (10 hectares). These places are where land development had been prohibited and ecosystems protected to preserve its heritage. The reserves are used for research in preserving and revitalizing biodiversity in Singapore and educating the public.
Sustainable Singapore Blueprint Video: What if?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzj7cqXkW5c
Bibliography:
https://www.eco-business.com/news/can-singapore-the-city-in-a-garden-grow-into-a-city-in-nature/
http://www.biodiversity.sg/biodiversity-information/view-slideshow/singapore-an-interesting-case-study/vision-of-a-green-city/
https://www.nparks.gov.sg/biodiversity
https://www.nparks.gov.sg/about-us/mission-and-history
by eal | Nov 29, 2018 | Learn something new!, Uncategorized
Grade 8 made a natural pesticide at the farm stay on the Chiang Mai trip. The idea is banana roots and cultures for the fermentation, then just a bunch of naturally bitter or spicy local plants and leaves.
Banana roots- dug up and chopped into smallish pieces
Citronella
Neem
Wormwood
Dried chillies
Tobacco!
A harsh rice spirit!
This was mixed in a big bucket with water and molasses and a starter culture was added and it brewed away for a few days before being mixed 1:20 with more water and poured/sprayed on all the plants in the organic gardens.
We are going to try this with some of plants in the incredible Edibles gardens.
