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Garden Stories: Ong Chun Yeow, the Community Rooftop Farmer

In Yishun, you will find one of only a handful of rooftop community gardens in Singapore, built atop a HDB car park. Ong Chun Yeow is one of several estate residents with a garden allotment, growing lots of leafy greens like purslane, swiss chard, and amaranth, herbs, galangal, as well as fruiting vegetables like bitter gourd, okra and tomatoes.

Opened in 2014, this rooftop garden features 30 garden allotments, which residents ballot for. The diversity of plants in this garden is incredible, I saw corn, broccoli, kale, and strawberry plants, a papaya tree, different varieties of eggplants, gourds, beans, herbs and spices. Through clever space stacking and bio-intensive growing methods, one can maximise their yield, however limited the space, as can be seen in this garden. I also noticed many ladybirds, a beneficial insect and wonderful pest control agent, always good to have them around!

I got to know Chun Yeow through my circle of environmentalist friends and we have been Facebook friends for years, but I don’t recall actually meeting him in person till this year. He is keen on heritage and environmental issues, desires to have a low-impact existence, and practices intentional living. He recently received his Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) and is looking forward to more hands-on permaculture experiences locally and overseas. Whenever I ask him what he’s doing on the weekend, it seems like he’s usually involved in at least one urban farming-related event. As a lover of plants and nature, he’s also passionate about community building activities, such as those organised by Foodscape Collective.

Find out more about Chun Yeow’s journey in this interview, and check out the photos of this marvellous rooftop community garden!

August 30, 2016 by Olivia

City, Garden Stories

Garden Stories: Kenneth Tham’s Corridor Display Garden

Kenneth Tham’s zest for life is inspiring. Aside from running a hairdressing business, parenting teenagers, and caring for his dogs in partnership with his wife, he finds time to tend to an incredibly lush corridor garden, a plant conservatory at their hair salon, as well as raise funds to support the needy.

In late August, Kenneth and other cyclists will ride 1000km to raise awareness and donations to provide basic monthly necessities to 330 households. Plants are part of his efforts to gather contributions to his nominated charity – he sells Begonias and Episcias, and proceeds go to the beneficiaries of Sunlove Neighbourhood Links.

He has a great sense of aesthetics, visible from the highly complementary manner in which he presents his plants – colours, textures, shapes, and even the way the leaves sit – everything falls together nicely. As you can tell from the photos, he’s also an incredibly neat gardener.

During my visit, I noticed an Olive-backed Sunbird sitting on one of his trellises, and he pointed out that he had a family of Dwarf Pigeons living among the foliage. How delightful!

Image courtesy of Kenneth Tham

Clearly an avid Begonia fan, Kenneth has several varieties on display at his corridor and also enclosures for some of his plants at the hair salon. Not all of the plants in the hair salon are for sale, especially not the rare ones. There’s even a sign indicating so, he must have had lots of enquiries.

Many are curious about where he lives, but in order to protect his privacy, I can only divulge that he lives in the north. I can however, share that his hair salon is located at Serangoon Avenue 2, his preferred location as a pick-up point for plant purchases.

At his hair salon, he sells Begonias, Episcias, self-watering planters and accompanying sleeves that fit snugly. These sleeves are knitted by his mother, and they come in different sizes for differing purposes.

Begonias have been popping up on my radar for the last couple of years. I wasn’t very keen on them initially but I kept encountering Begonia enthusiasts, usually members of the Singapore Gardening Society. Early in the year, I attended an interesting talk organised by the society about how Gardens By the Bay staff travelled to Japan on a Begonia planthunting trip. I can now appreciate the allure of these plants.

In meeting Kenneth, my interest was further piqued, and I decided to take the plunge and purchase my first Begonia. He assured me that when anyone buys a plant from him, they are paying for a well presented plant, and pointed out how well-arranged the foliage is.

One plant of his which I found interesting is the Jewel Orchid, which looks like it has gold dust on the veins of its leaves. That one is not for sale, as it was a gift from a friend. I photographed it, but unfortunately, I wasn’t able to capture its gold shimmer.

Please read on to find out more about Kenneth, and how you can contribute to his nominated cause!

June 10, 2016 by Olivia

City, Garden Stories

Garden Stories: James Ip and his balcony fern forest

[photo courtesy of James Ip]

When I first began following James Ip on Instagram a few months back, I dreamed of seeing his balcony fern forest in person. I was amazed by his love of ferns, how he had dedicated his entire balcony to plants, and how beautifully put together his garden is. I paid a visit to his apartment in Kembangan, Singapore, to experience it for myself, it was a marvellous sight!

From his choice of plants and how he has exhibited them, it is immediately obvious that he has a keen eye for details and is a romantic at heart. The plant arrangements present lots of depth, visual texture, and demonstrates careful curation on his part. By staggering his collection of plants at various heights, he has managed to ensure that his balcony accommodates his numerous plants and their needs, as well as allow enough light to enter his home.

His two fish ponds form the backbone to his garden. With its arrival, James began adding plants, and it lends an adequate amount of humidity to his plants. Other than ferns, the garden also features begonias, ivy, dracaena, syngonium, bromeliads, umbrella papyrus, pink alpinia, among others.

His ferns require a bit of care, such as an afternoon misting on very hot, dry days. The water in his ponds experience a 30% per cent evaporation rate daily, which is as frequent as he needs to top it up.

James has done a remarkable job creating a zen balcony space. Read on to find out more about how it all came together!

[Images from James Ip’s Instagram account]

May 29, 2016 by Olivia

City, Garden Stories

Garden Stories: Alexius Yeo of Project 33

It was a real treat to pop by Alexius Yeo’s place. The permaculture educator and practitioner turned his backyard into a productive vegetable urban farm and started a tightly knit gardening community called Project 33, named such because of his house number, and also it began as an initiative to give 33% of their produce to foster community spirit.

A while ago, he had a pair of hens but they would dig up his garden and undo the hard work he had accomplished. I took in his hens, but while I loved having them, they didn’t get along with my existing flock, and I had to return them to him after AVA came knocking when a neighbour complained about too much noise in the morning. I learnt later that they had found a veteran chicken enthusiast to care for them.

I met Alexius when he was still working at Edible Garden City, but only got to know him better after he had left his chickens in my care. These days, he teaches nature-based educational programmes to schools. Incidentally, our mothers are good friends and ex-colleagues, and I found out after overhearing my mother’s conversation with his mother about our backyards turning into farms.

October 27, 2015 by Olivia

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