photo above: wheatgrass 'farm'Mushroom, Aloe Vera, Wheatgrass, Edible Cactus Farm In Singapore
Due to space constraints and lack of a farming heritage, few farms exist in ultra-urban Singapore. Of the farms that cultivate crops, most offer a rojak spread of common farm vegetables to tantalize visitors who live in concrete jungles. To discover a vegetable farm in Kranji Singapore that specializes in four combinations of unique crops (mushroom, aloe vera, wheatgrass and edible Mexican cactus) is a needle-in-a-haystack find.
Situated at 220, Neo Tiew Crescent in Kranji Singapore, I stumbled upon Kin Yan Agrotech in Kranji of Singapore. This organic farm cultivates mushroom, aloe vera, wheatgrass and edible Mexican cactus plantations in four mini-farms spread out throughout the Kranji countryside.
photo above: aloe vera plants
Visitors to this Kranji farm do not need to pay entrance fees to look at the aloe vera, wheatgrass, cactus and mushrooms as they wander around the neat farm. A large paved compound for free car parking sits next to a single-storey building, which serves as a visitor centre, mini-supermarket and office.
When you first arrive, hide from the heat by ducking into its air-conditioned main building to familiarise yourself with the end products dished out by the farm. You can sample juices and syrups of various kinds made from aloe vera, wheatgrass, edible cactus and mushroom, or try to chew on bits of these less common plants until stocks run out.
photo above: Mexican edible cactus farm
Once done with exercising your taste buds, move over to the Cactus and aloe vera corners that are lined up next to the visitor center. The edible Mexican cactus, its plump stem covered by a thick green layer, looks like a flattened baseball bat adorned with pointed thorns. Underneath that prickly appearance of the cactus however is a load of supposedly healthful ingredients. The Mexican cactus is a popular herbal cholesterol-lowering remedy in Mexico. Traditional Mexican healers use cactus for treatment of sunburn and minor rashes, hemorrhoids, insect bites, and abrasions. Sweetened cactus tea is said to lower fever and relieve chest pain.
Doubling up as decorative artifacts, Aloe Vera plants stuffed into large earthen pots line the periphery of the car park. Looking like an electrocuted green-coloured octopus with its stiff tentacles pointing to the sky, the Aloe Vera plant appears to have beneficial health-related surprises despite its rigor mortis posture.
In another single-storey building opposite the visitor centre, Wheatgrass are grown on shelves in a dark and damp environment. The rows of green Wheatgrass at maturity can reach up to 24 centimetres tall. Wheatgrass is believed to be a powerful detoxifier, which lessens risk cancer, reduces high blood pressure and lowers sugar levels, although no random controlled studies have been used to prove these claims.
There is a small area next the Wheatgrass plantation where chairs have been arranged in front of a table and whiteboard marker. Write-ups, photographs and newspaper clippings on various aspects of wheatgrass cultivation can be seen in what appears to be the health education center of this farm.
photograph above: mushroom farm
Walk past the rows of Wheatgrass deeper into the building and step into the indoor mushroom plantation farm. It took a while for my eyes to adapt to the dim lighting before I could discern a variety of mushrooms extending from a wall of wires filled with bags of nutrients. At full bloom, some mushrooms resembled chunky clouds floating on air while others looked like fat bean sprouts wearing safety helmets.
For an unusual place to learn more about mushroom, aloe vera, wheatgrass and edible cactus, look no further than this organic farm in Kranji for a distinctive farm visit in Singapore.
Read about other farms in Singapore:
1. Dragon fruit farm, Kranji Singapore
2. Animal Farm In Kranji Singapore
3. Vegetable Farm, Kranji Singapore
4. Frog Farm in Singapore
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