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Edible Gardens to Visit in Singapore

If you are a keen gardener and on the lookout for inspiring vegetable gardens to visit, these are my top recommendations of edible gardens in Singapore! Here you will find an interesting variety of herbs and also tropical fruits such as passionfruit, guava, starfruit, and also edible flowers, vegetables and spices. Some of them are not open to the public but offer tours on occasion.

These gardens are located at commercial buildings which include a hotel, mall and office block, and open spaces on the premises of a restaurant, national garden and urban farm.

1. Parkroyal Collection at Marina Bay– This garden has a lovely collection of fruit trees, edible flowers, herbs and vegetables. Featuring more than 60 varieties of edible plants, this attractive chef’s garden (pictured above) is accessible via Peppermint restaurant on level 4. At the entrance, inform the staff that you are there to view the garden and they will direct you towards it.

2. 1-Arden Food Forest at CapitaSpring – Recognised as the highest urban farm in the world, the 1-Arden Food Forest stands as a remarkable chef’s garden that is truly unparalleled in Singapore. The garden features clever interplanting techniques that give the appearance that the garden looks lush despite being harvested from. Produce from the garden is used in some of the food establishments within the building. Members of the public are welcomed to visit on weekdays from 8.30am – 10.30am and 2.30pm – 6pm excluding public holidays. To access the garden, take the lift to level 51.  

capitaspring 1-Arden food forest
1-Arden Food Forest

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Eco friendly products in Singapore: a list of items to help you live more sustainably

Living sustainably involves some degree of change but it doesn’t have to be hard, and it definitely doesn’t mean you have to give up all of your favourite things all at once. In fact, there are many eco friendly products available in Singapore that can help make your life simpler while also reducing your impact on the planet.

A sustainable lifestyle is something you can work on incrementally so do not feel bad that you cannot change your habits soon enough. What is important is for you to identify areas that you can change in the short term and then long term, and which areas you can create the biggest impact.

As someone who embarked on this lifestyle more than 16 years ago, I would recommend approaching it in these 3 ways. It is important to start with a mindset shift, so that your actions will naturally follow.

  1. Keeping your life simple and purchasing only what you need, because the more things you own, the more things you need to take care of.
  2. Buying better products that last longer, and well-designed products that are easy to clean or maintain so you create less waste
  3. Don’t make impulse buying decisions. Think it through to minimise waste and save money.

The recent plastic bag charge has made the need to minimise waste a more visible topic. While it is annoying to pay for bags, or inconvenient for some to carry a reusable bag with them, there is a good reason for implementing this charge. It gives a value to plastic bags rather than something that is free and easy to come by, and it makes us more mindful about our use of plastic bags.

There are perks to bringing your own food containers, cups or bags. Other than reducing waste, it can even result in savings. ION Orchard for one has been rewarding its ION Rewards Members with Green Points. As part of their Dining’s A Breeze campaign, members can earn 5 Green Points (worth $2 in e-vouchers) for every transaction with a minimum $20 spend, when using their own reusable containers, cups or bags to participating F&B outlets. This is limited to the first 1000 members each month, till 30 July.

These dining establishments include Le Matin Patisserie, Sunday Folks, Kee Wah Bakery, Guzman Y Gomez Mexican Kitchen, Lee Wee & Brothers, Paris Baguette, Niku Kappo By Watami and Venchi. To find out more about the campaign, please see here.

With this in mind, here is a list of some great eco friendly products in Singapore to kickstart your sustainable lifestyle!

where to buy eco products in singapore
Image by Karolina Grabowska

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A must-visit edible garden in Singapore

Unveiled just a year ago, the Edible Demonstration Garden at Jurong Lake Gardens presents a unique spectacle of edible landscaping. Here, you can find an interesting variety of crops, grown using sustainable, pest management methods. Beyond a mere garden, it serves as an interactive learning space for those keen on edible gardening in Singapore.

The garden’s design incorporates various growing structures, such as planter boxes and trellises, which serve multiple purposes. These structures are raised to ensure that the root zone of the plants remains above the high water table, preventing waterlogging and promoting healthy growth.

Edible Demonstration Garden Singapore

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Where to buy compost in Singapore

Searching for places on where to buy compost in Singapore? Here is a list of places that retail compost as well as vermicompost. Both are beneficial soil amendments that can help improve your plants’ soil condition and they are always good to have at home if you want to put together a soil-less potting mix. Read on to find out more!

Where to buy compost in Singapore

where to buy compost in Singapore
Photo by Alfo Medeiros

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