On the very wet morning of 16 October 2022, wethefarm at Beauty World Centre and The Circle for Human Sustainability hosted 10 members and youth volunteers from 1.5 degree to a rooftop urban farming experience.
We started off with a short talk by Catherine Loke, Nicholas Chin and Tan Jing Xiang on the importance of urban farming without artificial fertilisers or pesticides, and how we have to work with Nature to be sustainable.
Then we looked at composting methods – vermicomposting, hot composting and black soldier fly composting. Participants were introduced to different types of earthworms, what they like to eat and what not to put into the vermicompost.
“It was very interesting to see them dig the worm,
the jumping worm was so cute.”
As the rain eased, we then went out to collect mulch, and cardboard from the supermarket in the basement for use as the brown component in hot composting.
“I found the topic very intriguing and I enjoyed
the experience of seeing the farm activities in person.
The hosts were experienced and knowledgeable
and handled the wet weather conditions well, they reacted quickly.
My favourite part was the hands-on stuff that we got to try out!”
To end the session, participants were shown the edible flowers and how an ecosystem has been created to attract bees and birds who are Nature’s pollinators.
“I liked learning about the different compost mixes,
and learning about the pollinators and the open farm concept.”
Special thanks go to Too Fang Ning and Freda Lam of 1.5 degree for coordinating, managing and organizing the participants, and Tan Jing Xiang and Nicholas Chin of wethefarm for sharing their knowledge and insight, and being such welcoming hosts.
See photos of the event here.
If you would like to volunteer at wethefarm, check out our Events Calendar for available dates.
Written by Ar. Catherine Loke
on behalf of the
Resilience Working Group
