Tuesday, April 7, 2009

community gardens in bukit panjang




bukit panjang ('long hills') can be found in the central north-western region of singapore. there are seven sub-zones in bukit panjang; senja, sujana, fajar, bangkit, bukit panjang, dairy farm and the nature reserve.

quite a number of official as well as some not so official community gardens are located at the fringe of the estate, close to the nature reserve.





because of its rural background (even up to the 90s, it was still very much a rural area) and quite a number of the older residents used to live in and work on farms in this area, bukit panjang has more than its fair share of community gardens. people, who used to till the land and plant crops, find comfort in going back to their old ways, especially after their retirement.




there are at least three official community gardens and the same number of more of unofficial (illegal) community gardens/farms. food crops are the main items in all these so-called community gardens. the senior citizens are usually there early in the morning or in the late afternoon.





you can actually buy your greens from these part-time farmers. they may not be much cheaper than what you pay at supermarkets and the wet markets but, at least, they are freshly picked.

3 comments:

Joe said...

From one of these community gardens, you can follow a track all the way to Mandai, to the Upper Seletar Reservoir.

yg said...

ya, but not many people use this track. can be quite scary if you are all alone because at certain points, you hear nothing but the calls of the insects.

Anonymous said...

Hello YG,

I'm Huimin, a Masters student from NUS department of architecture. I'm doing a research on guerrilla gardening in Singapore. I came across your blog and you seemed to know quite abit of the gardening culture in SIngapore. Do you happen to know of any of such 'illegal' gardens, or anybody who is involve in such gardening activities? I will be very grateful if you are able to help in any way.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon!

Cheers
Huimin
chanhuimin@live.com