As of March 2021, Foodscape Collective has two opportunities to transfer green lawn spaces into biodiverse edible garden. The first one at Jurong Central Park was initiated by the National Parks Board and we broke ground in December 2019.
Boon Lay Nature Garden
A little update as of January 2021!
What was once referred to as the Biodiverse Edible Garden at Jurong Central Park now has a name! The local residents who begin to form the regular community, have collectively agreed on calling it the Boon Lay Nature Garden.
This is a place-making initiative for transforming an under-utilised green lawn in a public park space into a garden space for food, biodiversity and people. The National Parks Board (NParks) is interested to have Mr Tang replicate his success in creating biodiverse edible gardens in parks. NParks is also supportive of the Collective’s call for food forests, community composting and agrihood in Singapore. NParks invited Foodscape Collective and Mr Tang to work together to propose a community-based initiative that they can support.
We first dug the soil on Christmas Eve 2019. We are at the stage of nurturing the team, where Mr Tang set the philosophy and approach for growing, and there is collective responsibility and leadership by all involved. It has been interesting to observe how we step up and support one another, and how we trust one another even if we only met once or twice.
Prior to starting the garden, the team was concerned about how best to engage local residents. We realised that by being there, working on what we believe in, and having the space, time and conversations to learn from one another is a good way to draw in interested residents who are also willing to contribute.
The proposal team has ideas for secondary projects, e.g. to survey the food heritage knowledge of local residents, hold sessions for mindful gardening and eating, and children illustrated books based on the stories of the Collective’s learnings.
If you’re interested to learn more about this initiative, please write to us at foodscapecollective@gmail.com.
In the meantime, if you happen to visit the garden, feel free to explore on your own or tune in to this Garden Meditation Audio Guide brought to you in collaboration with one of our network partners Conscious Connections. This audio guide was made during the circuit breaker where the garden also served as a place for respite and quiet contemplation.
Garden Meditation
an audio guide for a walk in the Boon Lay Nature Garden
And some news!
October 2020 saw us participating in the Archifest 2020, welcoming over 129 visitors over 11 garden tours in groups of 4 visitors plus one guide. We shared our vision of an agrihood with the visitors who came from different parts of Singapore, focussing on the garden as a place to cultivate biodiversity and community care and creativity. Organised by core team member Vivian, our community members Oi Lian, Hanzhong, Cuifen, alongside Boon Lay’s local community YC and KL, step up to guide and share, supporting our individual and collective journey of learning and growing together, both in terms of personal growth, as well as growing the garden.
November 2020 saw us doing an online virtual tour of the garden as part of the Singapore Eco Film Festival. Guided by member Pui Cuifen, the tour took viewers through the garden via IG Live. Check it out here!
