From rubble to harvest
Beside the flats of Perai Utama, a 1,742 square-foot plot had become a dumping ground for rubble, rubbish and abandoned bicycles. Urban Permaculture Pockets by Cultivate Central and the village community committee, MPKK Perai, set out to turn it into a food garden that residents would build, run and enjoy themselves.
Learning by doing
Residents built the garden over seven workshops:
- Observing the space, and a gotong-royong to clear it
- Regenerating soil with the no-dig method
- Layering soil, planting vegetables and building a banana circle
- Raising seeds and setting up a nursery
- Urban composting
- The green cycle, from seed to harvest and back to seed
- Painting the garden’s sign with Georgetown artist Francis Tan
The team made 17 working visits, nearly three times the number planned, coaching four community champions to keep the garden going. The garden itself showcases small-space growing ideas: raised beds, upcycled blue-barrel beds, grow bags, a banana circle and simple ways to restore soil.
What changed
- 37 kinds of plants now grow where rubble lay, and insects, birds and lizards have returned.
- More than 10 kg of vegetables went to three to five B40 families, through weekly harvests.
- Residents now weed, fertilise, make natural pest sprays and build new beds on their own, and two committee members have taken an urban farming course with the Agriculture Department.
- Leaves collected by the council and discarded florist stems now feed the compost instead of the bin.
- The committee hopes to turn more unused plots into gardens, and is planning a second phase focused on growing food for families in need.
See the garden’s transformation, video guides and planting tips on Cultivate Central’s Kebun Rasa Sayang page.
Partners
Co-funded by Think City, APPGM-SDG, Warisan Maju Global Sdn Bhd and Ragnas Tailoring, with support from the office of the Penang EXCO for Housing and Environment.
