May the forest be with you

The University’s Campus Greenery Plan, “Planting 10,000 Trees” initiative continues with seven tree planting sessions this year. The annual event led by Facilities Management (OFM) was attended by a total of 60 participants.

Left: Student volunteer Matthew Kho (first on the right) and his team of volunteers planted these trees. Right: Matthew Kho gets down to connect with the fertile soil to ensure growth of the young tree.

At one of the planting site, 10 NUS staff and student volunteers planted 24 trees in less than an hour on the morning of 13 November. Year 2 Science student, Matthew Kho who volunteered at the event was hesitant to sign up initially as he had to attend a practical exam on the same day. He talked matter of factly about taking the “bait” from OFM when he learnt that free seed packs would be distributed to all volunteers.

Matthew records his tree planting experience below:

….

I decided to take an hour off to step outdoors to de-stress after a week of intense studying. When I reached the designated planting plot behind University Health Centre, I was quite surprised that most of the work was already done. All I had to do were these three easy steps – remove the plastic cover from the root ball, cover the ground with soil and then stake and water the tree sapling.

Steps 1 -3 (left to right): Remove plastic cover from root ball; cover the ground with soil; stake and water the sapling.

Having participated in other tree-planting activities as part of a school trip to Indonesia and in Pulau Ubin, one would think that I would be quite proficient at the art of tree-planting. However, there is little truth in that. I had to learn new things with each experience that come my way. For example, I had to form a donut-shaped ridge around the sapling in order to hold water to allow the water to flow straight down to the sapling’s roots.

I was recently introduced to hydroponics by a friend in RC4 and was really excited to receive the free seed packs. I got bitter gourd and French beans! To date, I have successfully grown a lettuce and currently trying to grow ladies’ fingers, another lettuce and chili plants. It has been very satisfying to watch my plants grow slowly and even more satisfying to eat them! I am grateful for this opportunity to plant trees at my home ground, and I hope to see more initiatives like these to create a more sustainable campus!

Left: My free seed packs! Right: Nothing is as satisfying as growing your own food.

If you have always wanted to try planting, give hydroponics a go. It might not succeed the first time, but the process of trying and learning can be rewarding. Climate change can start with initiatives such as these, or even small habits such as bringing your own containers for take-away. The best part is when you get to do it together with your friends.

All the best to everyone during this trying period, and may the forest be with you.

…..

Read more on NUS Climate Action Plan here: https://uci.nus.edu.sg/oes/

Contributor: Matthew Kho, Year 2, Faculty of Science

This article was first published by NUS’ Office of Student Affairs on 26 November 2020 at
http://nus.edu.sg/osa/stories/details/Index/may-the-forest-be-with-you