The Green Workshops @ Green Is The New Black Asia 2016

I recently attend the Pop-event, Green is The New Black Asia, organized by The Wedge Asia and I was so glad that I came! The line-up of workshops they had was very interesting and I was so tempted to sign up all of them but I also wanted to listen to the talks on conscious living and conscious fashion. This event pretty sums up what my life philosophy is all about – living consciously each day, being mindful of what you are eating, saying, thinking and doing. What is conscious living? To me, it is all about being present, tracing the roots of it and being aware of the impact and consequences of each action you take and each thought you harbour in your mind. Only then, you will harvest out a heart of gratitude. My idea of conscious thinking is slowly invading my blogosphere as well as my other social media channels as I wanted to share this powerful thought that would change the lives of others through various small ways. 

Before I digress further, I would like to share with you about the two workshops I attended where I get to learn how to grow your own herbs at home and how to make a terrarium.

This workshop was conducted by Cynthea from Super Farmers who introduces some of the herbs and vegetables we can grow right at home even with space constraints. 

Most of the plants she planted were done via stem propagation where part of the stem is cut and being transported to another pot of soil. It is a faster way of growing more plants as compared to the usual way of growing plants through the sowing of seeds.

She even brought over some plants like Indian Borage, Purslane, Mint, Sweet Basil leaves and Kang Kong. 

The workshop was very insightful as I learnt about the characteristics of these herbs and how to grow them. For instance, mint cannot be planted with other herbs because its roots release a type of toxin that kills the neighbouring plant.

Plants are interesting, isn’t it? They have their temper too. Recently, there a research done to show that plants can feel when being touched. No doubt, they are really LIVING too!

Cynthea also made her own compost for us to fill our recycled containers to grow the plants.

The purslane plant (Portulaca oleracea) is one plant that piqued my interest. This edible plant has got really hardy stems and juicy and succulent leaves. It actually contains omega-3 fatty acids and Vitamin A. It has got this sweet herbaceous taste and it can be added to salads.

Purslane grows very well in such hot climates and it requires little water and nutrients to grow which makes it a perfect plant for us to grow in Singapore.

We were given recycled milk carton boxes to make a container for our plants to grow.

We cut them in half and draw out rabbit ears for our container. After filling it up with soil, we added a portion of the stem and bury it underneath the soil. It is that easy!

Look at our creations! We left them on the table outside the workshop room for the paint to dry.

After that, I headed up to the third story of The Working Capitol to attend the free talks. It was an interesting discussion about conscious living and conscious fashion. These talks have provided me insights about conscious fashion and now I’m convinced to wear simply and avoid being clothes on impulse. It’s so important to buy only what you need.

Before the next workshop starts, I headed over to Keong Saik Road as there was a festival held there. I bought an acai berry bowl from Selva foods. It was just so creamy and good!

This hands-on workshop is another interesting one. It was conducted by IN OUT, set up by a group of young designers who wanted to make terrariums affordable. Yes, terrariums can be really pricey but it is also affordable if you can make it on your own using simple ingredients.

We had glass jars (with lid), mosses and rocks.

What is a terrarium?

It is a clear container that displays a collection of plants that are able to sustain and live on their own. They usually require little maintenance and can sustain on their own. For the medium-sized jars of terrarium we made, it probably requires about a spoonful of water after every 6 months. But we still need to monitor because if it becomes too dry, we would need to water it more frequently.

Non-flowering plants like ferns and mosses are often used as terrarium plants. Such plants are probably hardier and can thrive better in such environments. In addition, they don’t require much sunlight.

These rocks will help to filter out any excess water.

Look at the mess we’ve created! Making terrariums is more than just filling glass jars with plants and stones. It is actually a form of landscape art where you can create a miniature landscape within the small jar.

There are even tools designed for making terrariums!

For that final touch, we were each given a plastic toy horse or cow to place into our jars.

That’s my horse in the enclosed terrarium!

This is no different from painting.

What a beautiful mess!