In the midst of the lush greenery of the University’s landscape are small plots tended to by members of the NUS community. Green-fingered staff and students turn volunteer gardeners in three community gardens — nestled in Raffles Hall, Cinnamon College and on the rooftop of the Ventus building.
The roof garden is a simple affair — two rows of trough planter boxes take up a small section of the space, each box housing a selection of plants chosen by different teams of volunteer gardeners. Initiated in 2014 by NUS Environmental Sustainability (OES) to promote community gardening, it has continued over the years as a means for gardening enthusiasts in the various offices to meet and share their passion.
The first plants in the garden were herbs, shared Ms Tessy Joseph, Associate Director of NUS Safety, Health & Environment (OSHE) and one of the volunteer gardeners. Over the three years of trial and error, the community garden now offers a variety of edible plants, including lady’s fingers, squash, basil, bitter gourd and curry leaves. The harvest from their garden is often taken home to be used in their own cooking.
Most of their techniques for fertilising are natural. Ms Joseph said, “Initially when we started this, we bought (ready-made compost), now what we do is use leftover vegetable cuttings or fruits when we make juice at home. We keep them in the freezer and on Monday when we come in, we dig them into the soil.”
