You guess right, is Mr. Alan Tan! 

And who would ever guess this amazing garden of international sunflowers varieties and wild organic edibles garden existed at all if Alan had not shared pictures with the gardening communities of Singapore?!

It existed not in some plush location, but a corner of a construction site office where he works.

 

DRAGONFRUIT

Awesome Gardeners in Singapore

 

GIANT SUNFLOWERS 

Many varieties from around the world were grown here.

 

Singapore awesome gardeners
2016 January 04

 

Amazing Private Gardens in Singapore

 

Singapore awesome gardeners and amazing private gardens

 

Singapore amazing private gardens
Alan’s Giant sunflower

 

Sunflowers were not the only crop that he grew well.

Where he worked in the middle of an industrial park, Alan Tan tends to a lush organic garden of amazing edibles.

He grew a variety of gourds, beans, melons, pumpkins, papaya, dragon fruits, okras, etc so well that he often shared his vegetables with colleagues, passers-by, and every visitor to his garden.

 

 

Awesome Urban Farmers in Singapore

 

CUCUMBERS

 

Awesome urban farmers
Alan Tan’s cucumbers

 

BITTER GOURDS

 

Singapore amazing private gardens
2016 January 6 

 

Small bitter gourds like these are claimed to treat blood disorders and diabetics.

 

Amazing private gardens in Singapore

 

Alan Tan recycled used construction materials to grow his crops.

This is such a good idea for climbing plants.

 

Amazing private gardens in Singapore

 

And then, there were more bitter gourds!

 

Singapore awesome gardeners and amazing private gardens
2015 December 

 

Look at the size of this bitter gourd from Alan Tan’s Boon Keng work site.

 

Amazing private gardens in Singapore
2015 September 15 – Regina Fok from USA, was awed by Alan’s amazing garden!

 

Singapore amazing private gardens

 

A hidden organic edibles garden in the middle of Singapore industrial site.

 

SNAKE GOURDS

Amazing edibles gardens in Singapore
2015 October 16

 

JAPANESE MELONS

 

Singapore awesome gardeners and amazing private gardens
2015 December 4

 

LONG BEANS VARIETIES

 

Singapore awesome gardeners and amazing private gardens
2016 January 18 

 

Singapore awesome gardeners and amazing private gardens
2015 December 21

 

Singapore awesome gardeners and amazing private gardens
2015 December 26

 

BUTTERNUT SQUASH

Singapore awesome gardeners and amazing private gardens
2015 December 24 – Gigantic

 

A whopping 5.25 kg butternut squash at harvest time on January 5, 2016.

 

Singapore awesome gardeners and amazing private gardens
2016 January 5

 

WHITE GOURDS

Singapore awesome gardeners and amazing private gardens
2015 December 26 

 

OKRAS, GREEN & RED VARIETIES

Organic okras
Priceless okras from Alan Tan’s garden

 

Singapore awesome gardeners and amazing private gardens
2015 December 18

 

Singapore awesome gardeners and amazing private gardens
2016 January 02  – Red Okras

 

Singapore awesome gardeners and amazing private gardens
2015 December 26 – Red Okra

 

JAPANESE PUMPKIN

Singapore awesome gardeners and amazing private gardens
2015 November 29 

 

Bountiful harvest from Alan Tan’s work garden in 2015.

 

Singapore awesome gardeners and amazing private gardens
2015 November 29

 

His black gold of compost.

He recycled all the green waste into compost for his gardens.

Everything green (peels) and browns (soil, tree barks, leaves) were buried.

This is how to compost for apartment dwellers.

Everyone can do this as well.

 

Singapore awesome gardeners and amazing private gardens
Alan Tan buried raw greens for compost too!

 

His office is not the only place where we can find crazy cool plants!

 

PASSIONFRUIT LIFT LOBBY

Singapore awesome gardeners and amazing private gardens
2015 December 13

 

Amazing private gardens in Singapore
2016 January 21 

 

GRAPES VINES

Amazing private gardens in Singapore
2015 November 22

 

Singapore awesome gardeners and amazing private gardens
2015 December 30 

 

 

CHOCOLATE MINT

Singapore awesome gardeners and amazing private gardens
2015 June 

 

STRAWBERRIES

Singapore awesome gardeners and amazing private gardens
2015 December 2

 

Not only did Alan Tan grew plants well, but he is also very willing to share his 10 years of gardening knowledge and fruits of his labor.

 

Singapore gardeners who shared and gave generously
Jan 13 2016 – Harvesting seeds to share with fellow gardeners

 

Singapore gardeners who shared and gave generously
Dec03 2015 – Old Cucumber left to ripe for seeds

 

Singapore gardeners who shared and gave generously
2016 Jan 02 

 

Whether cucumber, pumpkin or sunflower seeds, Alan prepared his own seeds for the next harvest or shared with other gardeners.

 

Singapore gardeners who shared and gave generously
2016 Jan 16

 

Many who visited his garden in Boon Keng Road, were amazed by his garden and I am sure, touched with his generosity.

 

Amazing private gardens in Singapore
2016 Jan 14 – Alan Tan (waving hand)

 

I am sure there are two phases that Alan Tan heard very often.

” Wow! Amazing!!! “

and

” Thank you” 🙂

 

Singapore gardeners who shared and gave generously

 

 

This neighborhood will miss Alan’s organic edibles garden at Boon Keng Road soon.

I can’t wait to see what Alan will be planting this year at his new worksite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7 thoughts on “Mr. Green Fingers”

  1. Hi Mr Alan, i am deepa. I am interested in gardening and have started growing small plants like mint, chilly, tomato and corriander. I stay in a hdb in 11th floor and have a good space to keep my potted plants with enough sunlight. Recently i spotted okra seeds and planted in a 6 l container with 4kg soil. Is it possible to grow okra in a 6 l container in a hdb? As i know that the stems grow upto 6 feet longer, pls advise… also pls let me know where i can get soil for a lesser rate..

    1. Hi Deepa,

      This is Alan’s reply – ” There are few type of okra plants, the tall and the dwarf. The tall plant can grow up to about 2 to 3m and the dwarf about 1m tall. You can grow one plant in a min of 12ins pot diameter with potted mixing with compost soil.” . Many gardeners in Singapore, bought fairer price soil from World Farm. There is a post here on okra as well. I accidentally snipped off the top branch, and made a discovery. This stopped the plant from growing taller, instead fruits start developing at the bottom most part of the stem instead.

  2. Hello SG strawberries.
    May I know how can I start to grow Okras. I’d like to try to grow an organic garden starting with Okras. Are there any good quality seeds recommendation and also the soil. Any recommendations and tips are great.

    Stella.

    1. Hi Stella,

      Okras are easy. Gardeners in the gardening communities (Facebook, example SeedsEx SG) often shared them or they can be bought. Any gardening soil suitable for edibles are very good. Let me ask my friend who has excellent compost and soil to email you. He is helpful and knowledgeable about starting edibles as well. Good luck!

  3. Hi, my cucumber plant leaves show white edges and there are some white spots. They also look yellowish. Some leaves are ok but not very green. Should I move it from my hdb corridor to under sun? Will the leaves can sun burnt ? My tomato plant leaves were burnt and I am concern. By the way, what plants can be grown beneath the cucumber trellis? Thank you.

    1. Most fruiting plants need sun to grow well. Sometimes leaves displaying some discolouration may not be from sun. It can be for other reasons. The most common one in our crowded urban spaces is that we plant in pots that are too small for their needs. When roots are pressed for space, they won’t be as efficient to carry water or nutrients to the plant. Another reason is spraying water ( or some pesticide) on leaves when the sun is very hot.

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