Our Farming Practices
Food Forests
Food forests are gardens that have an immense variety and diversity of plants. The various heights of plants (imagine root crops and trees and everything possible in between) allow efficient use of sunlight and generates large amounts of biomass in a small area. The diversity of plant species allow for beneficial interactions (for example, pest control) between plants. Food forests ecosystems tend to be very efficient with rainwater and require almost no additional watering or irrigation. They also provide lots of habitat for biodiversity to thrive and of course, an abundance of food for us.
No-Till
Soil is the most important resource in agriculture, and the life that thrives in soil is a big part of the reason why. We avoid tilling or any other disturbance to the soil as much as possible to avoid destroying the soil life. Without tilling, we also stop weed seeds sleeping in the soil from coming to the surface and thus maintain a generally weed free garden. When we harvest, we also leave what’s growing below the surface (roots and such) untouched as food for soil life, instead of releasing that carbon into the atmosphere.
Market Garden
A market garden is a setup for a small-scale production of vegetables with the purpose of growing and selling vegetables at a weekly market (or similar). Market gardens utilise uniform straight rows of crops which allow for easier planning of crops and prediction of harvests. We practise no-till in our market gardens and intercrop/mix crop as much as possible for the health and security of the plants.
Climate Appropriate Food
We are slowly re-discovering and developing selections of plants for a more appropriate diet. Singapore has misplaced what “local” means. What is commonly referred to as “local greens” for example (think xiao bai cai, or kai lan) are in fact hardly local. Them, like alot of foods in our diet, are brought in from a majority Chinese heritage, and do not grow well in our hot and humid tropical environment. At Habitat Collective, we value food crops that are naturalised to our climate (i.e. brinjals, amaranth, tapioca) and also experiment with interesting perennial vegetables and heirloom seed varieties. Through this work, we hope to popularise a more sustainable diet across Singapore.
Composting
Composting is the process of decomposing organic materials into simpler organic and inorganic compounds. While stabilising carbon and preventing its escape into the atmosphere, regular applications of compost also makes available otherwise wasted resources into food for soil life, and nutrition for plants. We make our own compost using plant waste and neighbourhood food scrap contributions, demonstrating a key way in which composting creates a circular economy around food.
