Singapore is one of the pioneers of a sustainable city not only in Asia but around the world. Many countries look up and follow the footprints of Singapore in achieving this stage. One of the major steps of becoming urban gardening and farming.

The indoor gardening kit you can buy everywhere in Singapore is evidence of the growing popularity of urban farming and gardening. Starting an urban farm and indoor garden is an enormous yet simple step for families to encourage sustainability in the country.

However, some things that need to be considered and understood before purchasing your grow your own plant kit in Singapore and establishing your urban garden.

Things You Need To Know About Urban Farming and Gardening

Urban agriculture is different from urban gardening

Urban agriculture refers to the planting, growing, producing, and distributing food in urban areas. Urban agriculture and urban gardening are very different from each other.

Urban gardening is a much larger system than urban gardening. It is a local system that involves commercial activity. Whereas urban gardening is more for personal consumption and non-commercial activity.

Generally, urban agriculture starts from basic urban gardening and farming. An individual can begin from an urban farming kit in Singapore even without a piece of agricultural land nor large farming equipment. It can also start as a community or neighbourhood garden and farm.

Enterprises can also be involved in urban agriculture as distributors and middlemen between the urban farmers and the consumers. Apart from produce, urban agriculture may also have animal products.

Urban farming provides access to affordable healthy food

Have you ever wondered why there are bags and sacks of food waste in the market, yet there are still a lot of people who can’t have a decent meal three times a day?

Sometimes, the supply is not the problem but the accessibility to affordable healthy food.

Urban gardening and farming help bridge the gap between food security and food waste. Community farms and gardens can supply cheaper products, such as tomatoes, leafy green vegetables, and corn to the neighbourhood.

The products are much more affordable since community gardens eliminate the need for shipping and middlemen service that drives the retail cost.

Urban gardening can also be a form of self-empowerment. Giving families potting mix and seeds in Singapore and proper education about urban farming is a step away from stable food security for a single household.

Urban soil is different from agricultural soil

Generally, the environment in municipalities and cities are entirely different from the farmlands. Cities have to deal with air pollution, acid rain, and contaminated soil.

One of the common mistakes of people starting their urban farming and even indoor gardening is using contaminated soil. There are lots of substances and chemicals that can be found in city soils. Among them are petroleum, lead, radon, asbestos, arsenic, and pesticides.

Apparently, plants absorb these substances and chemicals, which can be transferred to humans by harvest consumption. The lack of nutrients from the soils makes it harder for urban farmers to grow crops, even with neem oil for plants in Singapore.

In addition to that, farmers have direct exposure to these harmful chemicals through the skin, breath, and even ingestion.

There are several ways to prevent using contaminated soil. Firstly is purchasing a potting mix in Singapore. The potting mix contains organic compost and rich agricultural soil.

You can also submit your community garden soil to soil toxicity testing to determine if it is suitable for growing crops.

Urban gardening helps reduce the urban heat island

Urban gardening and farming cannot solve climate change and global warming. Drastic changes and climate actions, such as reducing carbon footprint by cutting back from burning fossil fuels and opting for green energy, can bring a significant change.

However, urban gardening can bring a direct environmental effect to the city or municipality. It is through reducing urban heat islands.

The urban heat island effect is when the temperature in the rural areas is much higher than in nearby rural places. It happens when there is a dense concentration of concrete and cement and less vegetation in the area.

Establishing a community urban garden or personal garden in the yard or lawn using an urban farming kit in Singapore can lessen the effect of urban heat islands in the area. Even an indoor gardening kit in Singapore can cool the room temperature by adding moisture to the indoor air.

Now that we know that urban agriculture is different from urban gardening and you should use a potting mix in Singapore instead of urban soil to grow plants, here are some quick tips on how to start your urban garden and farm.

How To Start An Urban Garden and Farm

Here is your guide to urban farming and gardening in Singapore.

Choose an approach

There are several approaches or systems in urban farming. Vertical, hydroponics, and aquaponics.

●      Vertical Farming

In vertical farming, the grow your own plant kit in Singapore should be arranged vertically. This approach is quite popular in small spaces because the plants are vertically arranged in layers in shelves, mounted on walls, and hung on fences.

●      Hydroponics

Instead of potting mix in Singapore, hydroponics uses water to grow plants.

●      Aquaponics

Aquaponics uses aquaculture water to grow plants.

Choose your plant

Urban gardening usually involves flowers and ornamental plants. You can use your indoor gardening kit in Singapore to start one.

Urban farming involves planting vegetables like tomatoes and peppers and herbs like basil and lavender. Neem oil for plants in Singapore helps to keep pests and fungus at bay.

Know the maintenance care

Every plant has different maintenance care. Some require regular watering, while others can survive without water. Some indoor ornaments need more frequent pruning than others. It is better to start and master the maintenance of one plant first.

Have fun and enjoy the harvest

The most satisfying thing about urban gardening is you witness your plant’s growth and reap its harvest!

Takeaway

Imagine if everyone has an urban garden in their homes. Each family becomes self-sufficient when it comes to food security. Urban farmers and gardeners can earn as well by selling their harvests.

Farmcity Global provides easy to use urban farming and gardening kits in Singapore to make every family empowered urban growers.