In this day and age where the viral nature of thoughts and opinions are rampant on various social media platforms, it was refreshing to just be out physically, in a tiny little (mostly) edible garden run by a group of open-hearted, philosophical, down-to-earth and community-spirited lovely humans from Foodscape Collective, right in the heart of Jurong Central Park.
We had a really really genuine, sincere and wholesome guide, Yihan, for our tiny tour around the humble garden (who respected the earth so much he brought us around barefoot). Here are the 5 lessons I took away from our session (heart is so so full of joy and love after the session too! ❤)
- The importance of diversity
Respecting diversity is constantly talked about for a more just society, but the essence behind the why it is important, can be found in multi-layer garden planting.
In a world where we constantly take apart rainforests and replace them with monoculture crops in order to yield greater production and subsequent profits of cash crops (like palm oil), we may have forgotten how diversity of crops ultimately helps plants in all the levels.
We were shown how the Pigeon Pea, Sayur Manis, Chinese Yam and Turmeric plant were all grown together at different levels, within the same plot of land, as their different needs allow for one another to thrive with the help of the others. The Pigeon Pea plant (a legume) contains nitrogen fixing bacteria living in their root nodules that helps to increase plant fertility for the other plants, and because it is sun-loving, it does great being the top layer to protect the shade loving plants of the Sayur Manis and Turmeric that do well in the lower levels. This brought us to the second lesson:
2. Symbiotic relationships
Because each of the different levels of plants were contributing to one another in different ways just by existing, they could thrive as a collective, not individually. They needed one another. We learnt about how all plants have a relationship with fungi as fungi excretes enzymes to help feed the plants, while in return, plants produce sugars to help feed the fungi.
When we think about the vast stretches of monoculture crops that have taken over rainforests today, the crops are barely in their best form, as they are without natural support and aid from other crop types. Wildlife in these plots are also practically non-existent. This means there aren’t any animals and organisms to assist in natural processes like dispersal of seeds or shifting of soil, for example. This in turn results in the need for intensity of employment of cheap (mostly inhumane) human labour engaged in artificially working on what nature would otherwise already have done naturally, when left to its devices.
The planet has always been made up of millions of symbiotic relationships in the multitudes of ecosystems. As we continually remove plants and animals on species level destruction, the knock-on effects can prove to be far greater than science can catch up on right now.
3. Human-centricity
When we think about farming and gardening, weeding seems to be one of the natural processes needed in both. But what if weeding in itself is a human-centric idea that actually dismisses the grand purpose weeds have, as well? Sometimes we get so busy removing the thriving weeds and trying to save the dying plants, that we forget that gardening and farming is also about letting go. Why do we need to have human control over everything? Why do we need to do weeding when every plant has a purpose, even if it doesn’t fit a human purpose?
When we try to remove the so-called pests, have we also forgotten that these pests have a role to play in the bigger picture as well? What if pests are not the enemy? Yihan shared with us about a lime plant that was brought down to the garden by a member because it was not thriving in her home. The caterpillars started eating up all the lime leaves in a week because the lime plant had become so stressed out by the move. But, in a couple of weeks, the lime plant starting sprouting new leaves and started thriving again.
It got us thinking that maybe the caterpillars knew what do. Maybe their purpose was to make the lime plant stronger. Maybe we as humans need to let go of the need to save plants from pests and weeds, because ultimately, life will make a way. Sure, we might be anthropomorphizing the plants and the organisms a bit too much there with the last thought, but resonance and connection in humans always helps in advocacy after all.
4. Learning to let go
As already exemplified in the previous point, farming and gardening is all about letting go. Plants will die and sometimes the death may not be a bad thing. Sometimes plants may also disappear beyond our will, and that’s not a bad thing too. As Yihan shared about how his laksa plant was stolen from the plot before, by a member of the public, he was sad, but it did not mean that he needed to protect the rest of the plants in the edible garden as a kneejerk reaction.
In fact, when he eventually learnt to let go of the loss of the laksa plant, a new laksa leaf started sprouting out from the exact same spot of the stolen plant a number of weeks after instead! He could have tried his best to retain control over the situation by vehemently growing yet another plant in the spot immediately after, but because he learnt to let go of the outcome, life made a way by itself and a new laksa plant grew out all on its own time and place again.
5. Always keep hearts open :)
My favourite lesson of the day. So Yihan had started the tour with the question posed to all of us, “What do you think we are trying to grow here?”. As we wrapped up the tour, it became evident to all of us that the answer to the question, beyond plants, was actually a community, a movement, ourselves. I can’t remember who was quoted, but I really liked the line shared about how “cultivating plants is ultimately about cultivating oneself.”
Even though the laksa plant was stolen, the community farmers did not decide to fence up the place or set up surveillance cameras. Instead, they learnt the importance of keeping hearts open. When a relationship fails and we suffer a heartbreak, do we learn to close off our hearts and not trust in the possibilities of love again? We do not, because then we are not able to allow another someone who trusts and wants to love us properly, unconditionally, mutually and wholeheartedly, to find us in life ahead ever again. In the same way, if the community decided to seal off the garden to the rest of the world and lose all trust in people as a result, there wouldn’t have been a chance anymore for others like me, to come and fall in love with the concept and philosophy behind community edible gardens, ever again.
I may not have green fingers, and in all honesty, quite a handful of plants have died at my hands before (not all! Some did thrive for a while and I did get to harvest some kale and kangkong for my cooking!), but perhaps those are necessary lessons in themselves, on life, for me. Perhaps also, we got it all wrong when we use the human-centric term “green fingers” to determine who can and who cannot be allowed in the farming and gardening space. Just let the process spark off and start, whatever happens along the way, happens.
Let’s support and be a part of the movement to start and cultivate as many community collective gardening and farming spaces in Singapore as possible, and perhaps that is how we can start connecting back with the earth we come from. It’s a way of reminding ourselves of how we are interconnected with the land and give ourselves a chance to learn life lessons from the experience itself, again now. :)