4 April 2015 – The National Parks Board (NParks) today announced the inaugural Community Garden Edibles Competition which provides a platform for gardeners to showcase their gardening talents and to recognise them for their growing skills. The competition was launched by Minister of State for National Development, Mr Desmond Lee, at the Gardeners’ Day Out event at HortPark. Open to all amateur gardeners, the competition aims to cultivate an interest among Singaporeans to grow vegetables and fruits in their homes and neighbourhood community gardens and to improve their knowledge on food sources.
Gardening enthusiasts who are interested to participate are encouraged to register online at www.nparks.gov.sg/edibles by 30 May 2015. There are two main categories for this competition: Individual and Group. Participants can choose from 12 vegetable and fruit categories including chilli (cayene type), lady’s finger, brinjal, bitter gourd, cucumber, long bean, winter melon, lettuce, pumpkin, tomato, watermelon and papaya. They have the option to use seeds provided by NParks or source for their own seeds.
To assist and guide interested participants, NParks will organise a series of special talks and workshops on growing vegetables and fruits at Gardeners’ Day Out events. They can obtain more details on the schedule for the talks and workshops as well as register for them at www.nparks.gov.sg/edibles. In addition, customised information sheets with various horticulture tips on growing vegetables and fruits will be available on the website.
The entries for the competition will be assessed on their size, condition and colour. The top 10 entrants with the best fruits or vegetables in the individual categories stand to win attractive cash prizes of up to $800. The competition, including the judging criteria, has been modelled after similar international competitions such as the Royal Horticultural Society’s Fruit and Vegetable Competition.
The competition will culminate with the judging and weigh-in at the inaugural Community Garden Festival at HortPark on 6 September. The top 10 entries in each category will be showcased at the Festival. Members of the public can also join in the fun by guessing the weight of these vegetables and fruits and stand to win vouchers.
Mr Lee shared, “I am told it is not just a matter of luck. It takes special care and skill to grow such ‘competition-worthy’ edibles. With this in mind, the Community Garden Edibles Competition will showcase our gardeners’ talents and recognise their growing skills. Like the gardeners, I am very excited to see what the final entries will be like in September. With the competition, we hope to cultivate an interest among Singaporeans to grow edibles in their homes and community gardens.”
Fun activities at the new Community Garden Festival
The new Community Garden Festival, an annual event to appreciate and recognise our community gardeners for their efforts in helping to green Singapore, was announced by Mr Lee today. As one of NParks’ milestone celebrations commemorating SG50, the Festival will be held over two weekends – 5 to 6 September and 12 to 13 September 2015. A series of fun activities for gardening enthusiasts and members of the public of all ages have been lined up for the inaugural Festival.
During the Festival, five celebratory “SG50 Community in Bloom Gardens” at HortPark will be unveiled. Co-created with 50 community gardening groups, the gardens are the embodiment of a shared love for gardening which underpins the spirit of NParks’ Community in Bloom programme. More than 250 community gardeners from Residents' Committee and Neighbourhood Committee groups, schools, corporations, religious organisations and volunteer welfare organisations came together to develop these commemorative Community in Bloom gardens. The themes for the gardens are “People & Plants”, “People & Spaces” and “People & Landscapes”. The public will be able to view the SG50 gardens during the Festival.
Other highlights include a Gardeners’ Market for gardeners to sell their produce and evening performances under the stars. There will also be fringe events such as gardening related product demonstrations, talks and workshops, a gardening bazaar and a food bazaar. Visitors will also have the opportunity to tour the Pasir Panjang Nursery.
“Streets of Singapore” at HortPark
At the launch, Mr Lee also planted a Keranji tree (Dialium indum), which Kranji road is named after, to kickstart “Streets of Singapore”. As one of NParks’ initiatives to commemorate Singapore’s 50th birthday, “Streets of Singapore” will showcase 16 different species of trees that are associated with road names such as Katong, Sembawang and Tampines.
The showcase will enable Singaporeans to learn more about trees along our streetscape and relate them to familiar road names. Members of the public will have the chance to view “Streets of Singapore” during the Community Garden Festival in September.