Hayley paid a visit to my community garden this morning. She is a Singaporean who is now residing in the UK. She got to know about the garden via the BBC program “Around the World in 80 Gardens.” Hayley (a very nice cheerful name, I feel) is also a edible plants gardener like me, who takes part in Singapore’s community gardening equivalent in the UK. Over there, it is called allotment gardening.
In this visit, Heyley was accompanied by Kelly and Ephrem. Incidentally, Kelley works in NParks and she was surprised to know her visit today was to my community garden. It was a small world indeed!
I then took them on a tour around the two community gardens, namely, the kitchen garden and the tropical ginger garden, that are under my charge. It was a personalised tour that lasted almost 2 hours. I apologise for the duration, as well as, the sun that was shining above our heads. A fast and rushed garden tour will mean we would be missing out on a lot of interesting plants and sights.
I hope the tour was enjoyable one for all. The conversations we had were indeed enjoyable and although this was the first time we met up, I felt as if we were close friends. Perhaps it was because of the common interest that we all shared.
It was past noon where we then sat down in the Residents’ Committee office for a rest before adjourning for lunch at Hougang Mall. Many thanks to Hayley for the treat at Ajisen for lunch, as well as, for the cherry tomato seeds. I hope the bag of vegetable seeds will be a surprise for her allotment gardening friends back at home.
wow! wilson, im really impressed by your gardens today. and really really enjoyed learning so much about all the plants… loved the mock strawberries, the gingers, the furry cute cute leaves, the “julie waffle stick” plant, the “leaf pouch” flowers, the yummy ginger flowers, the egg spot leaves, the huge bee (wats it called again?) and the teeny weeny blue butterflies! it was really a great experience! thank you!
Thanks very much, Wilson, for your time this morning. It was such a joy, and so refreshing, to see the passion you clearly have for your plants. And not just for the bees and the butterflies too, but YOUR bees and YOUR butterflies.
And you’re so right about the sentiment regarding close friends. I think we all left the Gardens with a wide smile on our faces.
Thanks too for the seeds you very kindly gave me. I hope to reap a bountiful harvest this summer – pictures will follow.
hey! totally enjoyed the in-depth tour of the gardens! have learnt so much and am now very interested to learn more! nature is simply awesome!
i believe that the community gardening you’ve spearheading is something really meaningful. great job!