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WE’VE heard of farm-to-table, but what about garden-to-table? Gone are the days when gardening is for the green thumbs to beautify their backyard. Now, health enthusiasts who desire cleaner produce are also jumping on the urban farming bandwagon.
Whether it is the long periods of lockdowns, wanting some organic greens, or a hobby that stuck, the edible garden is a growing 21st century trend – in part nurtured by our use of social media. The Vibes speaks to urban gardeners who shared their journeys of green endeavours.
Sheikh Faisal Sheikh Mansor, owner of a small book publishing and consultancy firm, started ‘condo farming’ three years ago. He had brought home a few Brazilian spinach sprigs from his children's school – which was already growing hydroponics at the time. He planted the Brazilian spinach sprigs in spice containers that he found in his kitchen. After which, his balcony transformed into a ‘condo farm’ – filled with vegetables such as pakchoy, sawi, red and green spinach.
Despite the limitation of Sheikh’s balcony, he can build a garden with an extensive array of vegetables. Sheikh, who used to view gardening as a pensioner's activity, now counts this as a family activity. His wife would go to the morning market and bring home plants in polybags, and his children would help during harvest season.
All his efforts feel worthwhile when he steps out on his balcony in the early morning. The fresh, calm air from his garden makes him feel like he has done his part in aiding to heal Mother Nature.
When Sheikh first started, all his plants were rooted in soil. But, as he ran out of space on his balcony, a friend suggested planting them vertically. Hence, the start of Sheikh’s hydroponics condo farm. Sheikh’s garden grew upwards after a year as he set up hydroponic tubes along the balcony railing and sliding grill. Today, he has more than 80 cups and pots of vegetables and herbs.
In 2018, Sheikh set up a Facebook page called RnR Condo Farming – the Rs representing his two children – to share tips, information and experience. Not only did it inspire many friends and family to start their own green projects, it also gained the attention of the Petaling Jaya City Council's (MBPJ) Landscape Department. As the Mayor of Petaling Jaya is encouraging residents to grow their own vegetables, they paid Sheikh’s home a visit and shot a video on his condo farm.
Nina Othman from Sabah has her own approach when it comes to her balcony farm.
With a love for the outdoors and having grown up on big, landed properties, Nina struggled with her garden when she first moved into her apartment in Kota Kinabalu. Instead of being able to plant in the ground as she used to, she is now limited to planting in pots on her balcony.
In this environment, with different soil composition and other factors such as the amount of sunlight that reaches her balcony, Nina's first attempt saw her balcony garden fail. But, during the first movement control order (MCO), she made another go and it has been rewarding since.
Like Sheikh, Nina also views this as an activity that she does with her children. To her, gardening helps them be more responsible, and instils appreciation and respect for real food. They are often tasked with picking out the herbs when cooking and taking care of the plants, too. They would often water the plants with water used to rinse rice. Nina’s balcony garden has not only brought a sense of responsibility and love of greenery to her children, it also is a wave of calmness for all.
This zen space has taught Nina to slow down and embrace the vast magical moments. Her balcony garden has taught her that a good seed will not grow in unhealthy soil, or that a dried and nearly-dead plant can survive and thrive after it's showered with love, sunlight, and water.
According to Nina, starting your gardening adventure can be as easy as sticking some onions into a pot of soil and just watching it grow. After a few days of letting it grow some shoots, snip off a little spring onion, and make omelette with it. You know you’re ready once you’ve enjoyed the feeling of growing and eating your own herbs. And as you plant, follow home-gardening community Facebook groups such as Kebun Bandar and MY Edible Garden for shortcuts and tips.
Nina is not the only one who started on her edible garden primarily because of the MCO. For Allan Yap, who is a co-founder of Just Heavenly, too, the time spent at home proved beneficial.
Allan is an avid gardener, but with a family history of cancer, he resolved to be more vigilant of what he eats. Especially after learning of the amount of pesticides used in commercial farming. This pushed him to start his own edible garden. The MCO gave Allan the time and opportunity to transform his garden, tending to sprout seedlings to grown vegetables.
Since Allan lives in a terraced house, he has the privilege of having more space to grow his vegetables as compared to Sheikh and Nina. With the amount of vegetables Allan can grow since June, he rarely has to buy vegetables from the grocery store. He harvests and mixes up his greens for variety and has grown almost everything from white turnip to many varieties of sawi to various herbs.
For Allan, it is rewarding to eat the harvests of your own garden, and although maintaining an edible garden sounds time consuming, Allan reassured us that it is not. He spends about half an hour every day tending to his garden.
From his experience on the edible garden, he has learned that the soil base is important. Every week, he fertilises the garden with a handful of compost, mixed with Epsom salt, that he gets from a reputable producer. He is particular about where he buys compost from because he has found that many nurseries sell organic compost that contains hardly any nutrients and are mostly ash. His preferred producer sells soil and compost that not only has all the nutrients that his greens love but are also filled with earthworm eggs.
“They do all the hard work, these worms,” says Allan.
Allan’s tip for growing your own edible garden? Use good soil.
He explains that the health of your plant starts from the roots, and if you use good soil, keep it well-watered and fed. The nourished roots will give you healthier plants with better harvest and are more resistant to bugs and pests.
At the end of the day, these gardens not only improve our quality of living with better and fresher vegetables – they teach us about life.
During these times of struggles, instead of looking horizontally, sometimes we need to look vertically to get out of a limited situation as Sheikh did with his condo farm. Being with Mother Nature also allows us to slow down and enjoy the smallest things that are in front of us, as Nina’s balcony garden has shown. And whenever you start something, always ensure that all the roots are healthy, as Allan’s garden has displayed.
So, pick up some seeds, go green, and enjoy the fruits – or vegetables – of your labour. – The Vibes, November 21, 2020
