It's time to say good bye ........

More than half a year ago I injured my elbows while doing some heavy work in the community garden.
Consulted the family doctor and realized that I had contracted 'tennis elbow'. The pain on both elbows could not go away as long as I worked out the heavy loads in the garden . Even carrying plastic bags of my groceries became a pain in both elbows. So the final decision has to be made ..... everyone in the family advised me not to work in  the garden anymore as my daily family activities became affected by the constant pain.

Working in the garden had given me great joy as well as pain. So I find it's time to let go ..... let a new group of people take care and continue the good works in the garden. I will stop all postings here as I have no more community garden to take care.

Thank-you to those who have been following this blog. Please pardon me when I have no reply to your comments.

Hibiscus Patch

Xinmin students have adopted the Hibiscus Patch. The students come to visit the CG and render help to the hibiscus patch. They help by doing the weeding and watering at the patch. Usually they will pull away the grass that grows near the tires and get rid of stray weeds that get into the planters. Once I got them to fertilize the plants using the garbage enzyme solution and they were wriggling their noses as they watered the leaves ... LOL. They are really helpful and I can see the joy in them when they are doing these activities. I am sure they don't weed and water at home in their apartments. The patch is growing well and have blooms quite frequently.

The Secret Garden in Utama KL

During the recent June holidays, the three of us made a visit to the Secret Garden. My first impression ..... wow .... the plants are growing huge and lush but why no one trimmed them... LOL
Venturing further into the garden .... I realised many parts of the garden sort of needed attention. It's a big garden on the roof top of One Utama ..... serene and tranquil and when we were there a handful of visitors were also exploring the place. I am sure the garden has seen better days cos' I 've seen photos of the garden my friends posted in the GCS forum 2 years ago. Plants die off and maintenance and weeding is a perpetual chore . Still there are pockets in the garden that have lovely blooms and can be quite enchanting when seen at a certain angle. Below are the memories I have of the Secret Garden .....

Adenium

Updating the Adenium blooms in the CG .....
They have been growing here for about a year and the recent hot spell forced them to bloom.

CIB Garden Competition 2012 Award Presentation

Wu Wo Yuan was awarded the Platinum. RC chairman receiving the award on behalf of the Community Gardeners. See .... first name and first line .... :-)

News in Life Storeys .....

Here's the link to a write up in Life Storeys about our Community Garden Leader .....


Since she was a child, Hougang Ave 4 resident Mrs Iris Chua has always been resourceful, a trait that she attributes to her mother, a housewife.
"Back then, toys weren't as easily available from shops as they are today," recalls the 59-year-old retiree. "Instead, my mum would make dolls for me out of old clothes. From there, I learned to make my own toys with whatever I could get my hands on."
Mrs Chua goes on to describe how she used to make houses from shoeboxes by cutting holes in them to make doors and windows. She also furnished these "homes" with furniture she made from matchboxes, gluing them together to make little tables and chairs....... continue reading in the link below .....

http://lifestoreys.hdb.gov.sg/retired-teachers-teaching-recycling.html

Heartland Youthoria 21-27 May 2012

The CG participated in the above events during the week. We conducted a workshop for 40 students at the HDB HUB. The workshop involved hands-on-session in making an Eco-bottle for an indoor garden. We taught the students step-by-step in recycling a 1.5 litre pet bottle into an anti-mosquito pot for planting in water. Below is the end result ..... I must say it's a pretty pot using the water gel babies, colorful marbles and charming ribbons for decoration.

During the week, Northland Primary came to visit the CG. The students helped in the weeding and watering of some parts of the CG, toured the garden with interesting pointers to look at, they witnessed the CG vounteers harvesting two yam plants, a huge 20 g wintermelon, a couple of turnips and tasted the CG herbal tea. Iris also demonstrated to the group how to make an anti-mosquito plant pot using a pet bottle. Noticed in some pics you can see videographers and photographers and even have a couple of reporters interviewing us and the students during the visit.