What I Learned From Becoming An Organic Farmer in Singapore

Last week, we spoke with Evelyn Eng-Lim who, when in her 50s, set up a farm at the edge of the city of Singapore. This week, we find out more about her struggles with being an organic farmer with no prior experience, and how she got over those hurdles.

Q: Welcome back, Evelyn! Now that you’ve shared how you built your farm, can you share some of the challenges you’ve faced as a farmer? And what you do to try to overcome them?

A: The biggest challenge was altering the mindset of a commercial farm worker who had never farmed organically. Secondly, some foreign workers who arrive in Singapore do not speak English and, if that’s the case, I have to demonstrate and execute each task to them, which is exhausting. Another challenge was a reduced workforce, from 6 to 3 workers. With less workers to manage, I had to mull over problems to develop more creative and efficient solutions. 

In the last 5 years, wild pigs invaded our farm to dig for sweet potatoes, tapioca, earthworm and bananas tubers. Initially, the damage to the crops was bearable and so we let them be. However, the frequency of intrusions increased and the damage became more extensive. We resorted to using discarded furniture items to plug holes and strengthen our fences. We hoped that with difficult access they would migrate to other nearby areas. It was a battle of wills. Since mid-2019, our fences are now pig-proof!

Which 3 objects or people are most useful to you as a farmer?

See below picture of farming tools.
1–Spade – Digging
2–Iron Bar – Digging and loosening
3–Changkol – Digging and loosening
4–Watering Can – Watering plants
5–Containers – Moving soil, stones and plastic litter
6–Wheelbarrow – Moving compost
7–Metal mug – Distributing of soil and compost, watering of plants
8–Jute bag – Carrying soil, plastic litter or stones

What do you consider to be the most fulfilling part of your job?

Living off our land and zero waste! The satisfaction of harvesting and eating our own produce grown strictly according to organic principles to live the adage of “Let food be thy medicine and prophylaxis.” Making a healthy smoothie with various combinations of sweet, sour and bitter fruits each morning. The use of suitable fruit wastes to clean and slightly exfoliate my face. Discarded stems and leaves used as scouring pads for cleaning stained pots, pans and dishes. Bio-wastes then used for mulching or composting instead of incineration into greenhouse gases. Only rainwater used for farm irrigation as we minimise the use of PUB [Public Utilities Board of Singapore, which provides the water supply across the country] water and every drop of PUB water recycled into the tanks for making liquid fertilisers.

Last but not least, minimal plastic use!   

What would you advise Singaporean professionals who are thinking of doing the same—leaving the corporate world behind to be farmers?

A solid year of farming experience is minimal. Learning all aspects of setting up a farm and the day-to-day operation, including the ever-changing weather conditions. Prudent choice of a farm site that it is not waterlogged, does not have buried building waste, and soil that has not been without vegetation for years. Moreover, set aside enough capital to finance at least 5 years and keep all costs low. Treat Mother Nature as THE Teacher. 

What setbacks have you had in all your years as a farmer and how did you get past those?

Just when we were poised to enjoy our food forest, a setback came in 2010. A chicken farm nearby started operations but their facilities were not fully in place to treat chicken waste. The horrendous stinking smell of chicken and their dung was unbearable for us.

At the same time, the conventional vegetable farm near us was making piles of sky-high compost beds so they had to resort to using building cranes to turn their compost. And when they did so, it was as if they were piling dead bodies everywhere. 

Both these situations became so horrendously intolerable that I complained numerously to the AVA [Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore]. The AVA took almost a year before they were able to gather all responsible parties to find a resolution. Until today, when there are high winds, chicken feathers and the stench of chicken dung still lingers on Neo Tiew Road.

What did you learn from setting up a farm and working on it that you didn’t know before? How did you change as a person?

I have realised that when I have a poor harvest for a particular crop, it is not that I am a bad farmer but that the weather is the ultimate determinant as my fellow organic farmers will also be in the same situation. So one has to accept what Nature provides and eat what is in “season”.

For instance, we tried very hard to produce all year round the popular leafy brassicas like caixin, Chinese cabbage, pak choy and kailan but without success when the weather turns very hot or has continuous heavy rainfall. The vegetables then weaken, pests set in and the yield becomes very low. One day it dawned on me that the vegetables are not native. They had been introduced from Southern China, a cooler climate, as I remembered my father recounting that those vegetables were so much tastier at his birthplace, Shantou, China. So I began to educate our customers to eat rural greens like ulam raja, asystasia, wild watercress, wild bayam, tamarind leaves, noni leaves and moringa leaves. These vegetables thrive in our climate. And so I became more convinced that each and every one of us must live by the Rule of Nature to survive Climate Change!

If you could go back and replay your entire process of setting up a farm in Singapore all over again, what would you do differently?

With the experience that I have now, I would better design the Food Forest and water management layout, and then seek an experienced permaculturist familiar with our climate to critique and discuss and improve. This is now possible with the convenience of Social Media. The farm would be a Social Enterprise with a work force of paid, experienced organic farmers and passionate volunteers.

What’s the worst advice you’ve been given, or have heard people giving, with regards to farming? And what’s the best?  

The worst advice was that fruit vegetable crops like brinjal should not be planted near to trees and that I should make sure there are no weeds growing in the same bed.

The best advice is that I shouldn’t be afraid to mulch thick in between, but not too close to the food plants to prevent root and stem infection from pathogenic fungal growth.

Lastly, what else do you hope to achieve in the future and who can LUCK-IT interview to assist you in achieving those?

I hope to convince the relevant Singapore authorities that they should not just emphasise high-tech farming but instead advocate and promote diversity in farming. They should also embrace the Food Forest concept of farming—an eco-system in which Mother Nature has proved to be most resilient and sustainable.

I wish to convince our government that our food forest legacy should be carried forward. Physical security of our country is of utmost importance but so is our food security. All they need is a few willing National Service men and I would be happy to conduct courses and give them practical training in farming.

Evelyn is presently networking with communal groups to raise awareness and get communities interested in Food Forest Farming and improving yields. You can find her at her farm, Green Circle Eco-Farm (www.greencircle.com.sg) or chat with her about farming and becoming a farmer using the comment box below.

Photographs courtesy and copyright of Evelyn Eng-Lim. Interviewer: Sy
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