Ana's Reviving Nature with Eco-enzymes
Plot B03, City Sprouts @ Punggol
Introduction
Meet Ana, a passionate farmer at City Sprouts who has transformed her greenhouse into a self-sustaining space where nature takes the lead. With a focus on eco-friendly practices like fermented eco-enzymes and natural pest control, Ana grows thriving plants that require minimal intervention. Her approach embraces the wisdom of nature, creating a harmonious balance that’s both efficient and sustainable.
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Q: “Hello there! Can you introduce yourself and your greenhouse?”
Hello, I'm Ana. I'm a farmer at City Sprouts. The concept of the greenhouse is we are not growing whatever we want to grow, but we're growing on what the condition can support.
So given the condition that this is sand, the soil is poor, it's also clayey, and it tends to get waterlogged, what are the foodstuffs that we can plant that's suitable so that they can thrive without us taking care of them. And here is laksa. I think laksa and taro will do well here.
And then tapioca, just tapioca helps to loosen the soil. So we're planting tapioca as much as we can as a pioneer species here. So all this, we don't have irrigation in the greenhouse and they all take care of themselves. All we do is to mulch so then the water doesn't evaporate so fast. And then the soil ecosystem takes care of itself. And we need the support of making enzymes and to grow bigger microbes in.
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Q: “That’s amazing! What got you into this farming idea?”
I started working with these fermented fruit peels during COVID, so 2020. When I first came across it, I knew it could change the world. Nobody taught me how to do it. I just looked on the internet and I made it. And then I used it to grow potatoes. It was my first time growing potatoes and the soil became so black and so loamy. And the potatoes tasted like chestnuts. There was no fertiliser, there was just like nothing. And it was just the eco-enzyme itself, kitchen stuff. I was so amazed by how much goodness an eco-enzyme can bring.
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Q: “Oh wait…What is an eco-enzyme?”
Eco-enzyme is this solution that we fermented from fruit and vegetable peels. You ferment it in a silk container for three months. And then we ferment it with sugars. And then after that, you will get something that smells like this fruit juice that you make or fruit vinegar and everything. So it allows the plant to absorb nutrition better. It also creates the good soil microbiobes in the soil.
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Q: “Interesting! So what else do you use to care for your plants?”
So then, say, for pest control, I'll probably use this soap nut. Soap nut is good. And also the nitrogen base. Yeah, so this too will help to control pests and also help the leaves to grow. They're kind of the chicken essence for plants.
And you kind of give them the supplements and they will know how to make use of it. Usually, before the sun gets really hot, I spray enzymes. So we've got the spray enzymes at the underside of the leaves. Yeah, so tree land pests. And it makes the plant grow really well. And then after that, we check on our compost, because there are forest cockroaches inside and they help to break down the fruit scraps. So they are very helpful. And I always check on them and see whether they are alive. Because sometimes it gets so hot. The rest of the time, we'll be planting a little bit, a lot of mulching, clean compost.
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Q: "What inspired you to pursue this path in farming?"
To me, the soil on earth is rapidly degrading because of a lot of large-scale synthetic fertilisers. And it's very key for us to regenerate soil in the bigger context.I think what really inspired me was during my undergrad years, I did research with a great professor. And he said the best design is from nature. The things that you can get from nature are very durable.
So that's when I learned that nature is the best designer. And nature can take care of itself. So when I got into this, I knew how amazing the golden ratios, how plants can arrange themselves, and how there's a larger design of the plants and soil.In nature, they're supposed to take care of themselves. And we just have to discover the way to facilitate it.
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Q: “Thanks for sharing! Any last words?”
To me, eco-enzymes are alchemy, because you just need a little bit of the enzyme and can purify soil and purify plants. So it has a lot of... To me, it's just the parallel with the ancient practice of alchemy. And I don't really say it because it kind of... It makes me look really stupid. But I really like... It's like very, very... A lot of witchcraft there.
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