How To Survive a Zombie Apocalypse: Grow Your Own Food With Edible Garden Kits and Smart Gardens

I always imagined myself to be one of the first ones to die in a zombie apocalypse.

Because I’m not the fittest, not the smartest, and I get hungry easily.

While the previous circuit breaker sent most of us into a world of isolation and social deprivation, I relished in the fact that I could bask in my introverted cocoon.

And it would’ve been perfect if I didn’t have to head out to grab some food.

So when the NParks announced that each household would each be getting seed packs to grow our own food, it was a pretty exciting moment for me.

It seems like we don’t have to head out of our homes anymore in the near future.

I went down a rabbit hole of googling which types of edibles can be grown right at home, and what are the kits that are available to start this little project.

It piqued my interest when I came across edible gardening kits and innovative smart gardens that can turn any of us into modern farmers.

A foolproof way to grow my own food without having to step out of my house?

Yes please!

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Why Grow My Own Food When I Can Just Get It Downstairs?

We have our supermarkets that offer a great variety at a low price.

So why grow it when it’s already so convenient?

Well, there are several benefits when it comes to growing your own food!

Growing our own food is one of the solutions to Singapore’s food security and waste management challenges, where over 90% of our food’s currently imported.

Growing our own food also eliminates the concern of the use of pesticides which might be in our imported fresh produce where the food sources are unknown, and offers more nutrition since it is most likely fresher with lesser ‘food miles’.

If you’re a parent, doing this could allow your child to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the origins of food too.

With the gardening kits and gardens that are available today, there is no need for big spaces and time to grow our own food, suiting our lifestyles here in Singapore.

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Edible Garden Kits To Grow Your Own Food

If you’re looking for something that’s more affordable for a start, edible garden kits are suitable for beginners.

What you need to take note is to have a sunny (but not direct sunlight) spot at home that has enough ventilation as well.

Edible Forest Grow Kit by Root Farm

Root Farm offers one of the most affordable gardening kits, allowing us to give a try at urban gardening without having to break our banks.

They offer a range of microgreens that could sprout in two weeks – ranging from Red Russian Kale, Red Cabbage, to Wasabi Mustard.

This kit includes:

• Four hydroponics grow mat
• A pack of seeds (for 4 batches of microgreens)
• A manual
• An edible forest grow box (base + cover)

Root Farm also offers individual seeds and separate grow boxes to expand your little microgreens collection!

What you can grow: Black Tuscany Kale, Red Russian Kale, Red Cabbage, Mizuna, Scarlet Frills Mustard, Genovese Basil, Red Amarath, Wasabi Mustard

Price: $6

Where to get it: Go Pasar website

Fresh Herb / Seishin Tougei by Miss Hosay

Miss Hosay offers a number of affordable gardening kits which are adorable, and seem perfect for children to give urban gardening a go.

Their cheapest kit is the fresh herbs kit, where you can grow your own herbs in this simple hydroponics setup.

What it includes: 

• Seeds
• Transparent container

What you can grow: Lemon Balm, Peppermint, Italian Parsley, Basil

Price: $9.90

Where to get it: Miss Hosay website

This website also has a few other interesting gardening kits below $20, including growing your own strawberries!

Basic Starter Kit by Crops and Co

For aesthetically pleasing gardening kits, Crops and Co is the place for you.

Their packaging makes everything gift-worthy, allowing you to rope in your friends and family to give food-growing a go.

This basic starter kit allows you to grow some beginner-friendly crops without having any extra tools.

This kit includes:

• An eco-friendly paper pot
• A bag of potting soil (250g)
• A SeedCell
• Growing Guide

What you can grow: Courgette, Cucumber, Rocket, Pea, Pumpkin (cucumber and courgette are beginner-friendly!)

Price: $12.80

Where to get it: Crops and Co website

For those with a slightly higher budget and would like an Instagram-worthy gardening kit, this Crops & Co Basic Urban Farming Set might be perfect for you.

This kit includes:

• An eco-friendly paper pot
• A bag of potting soil (250g)
• A Grow Your Own SeedCell
• Basic Plant Mister
• Basic Gardening Mat
• Basic Gardening Tools Set
• Basic Table Cloth
• Crops & Co Postcard
• Crops & Co Birthday Card

Price: $38

Where to get it: Crops & Co website

Best Starter Kit For Beginners by Agromax

If you’re someone who likes surprises, Agromax offers a beginner’s kit as well, where the two types of leafy vegetable seeds are randomly selected.

Which means that you would only know what you’re planting when it has spouted.

Kinder surprise level-up?

This kit includes:

• 1 Agromax 3L
• 1 gift packed of leafy vegetable seeds(2 types of veg seeds)
• 1 Biodegradable seedling tray
• 1 spray bottle
• 1 Modular planting pot (can be placed on any surface or hang on BRC fence)

What you can grow: 2 leafy vegetables

Price: $29.80

Where to get it: Go Pasar website

Urban Farming Kit by Super Farmers

Another gardening kit that is perfect for the ‘gram.

Super Farmers offer an urban farming kit which consists of three separate pots of vegetables we commonly see and eat – Kang Kong, Chinese Kale (Kailan) and Chye Sim.

Each Urban Farming Kit is also lovingly assembled and packed by underprivileged elderly ladies who are supported by the AMKFSC COMNET Senior Services, an agency under the Ministry of Social and Family Development.

A meaningful cause along your journey to urban farming.

This kit includes:

• A bag of organic soil (350g)
• 2 simple-to-grow Seed Sticks
• A growing guide

What you can grow: Kang Kong, Chinese Kale (Kailan) and Chye Sim

Price: $39

Where to get it: Super Farmers website

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Smart Gardens

For those who are looking to up their gardening game and take a more sustainable approach towards this, smart gardens are also available.

While it comes with a higher price tag, having a smart garden also meant requiring almost zero effort due to its passive watering systems and built-in LED lightings.

Hydroponic Mini Garden by Easi Grow

For starters, Easi Grow offers a slightly more affordable option for us to start building our smart garden.

The smallest unit available is the Hydroponic Mini Garden, which uses a self-irrigation system and vermiculite planting medium which provides growth in the plants and herbs.

According to the website, it uses a Wick Hydroponic System technique, where nutrient solution is stored in a reservoir and is moved into the root systems by capillary action using wick sticks.

What you can grow: Herbs, salad greens and edible flowers

Price: $68 onwards

Where to get it: Easi Grow website

Indoor Smart Garden by Click and Grow

I was personally super intrigued by Click and Grow’s Indoor Smart Garden because of its technology and how sleek it looks, blending in perfectly into our current workspaces and homes.

This Smart Garden runs on NASA-Inspired Smart Soil which releases nutrients in sync with the plant’s life cycle.

Sounds super high-tech and mindblowing.

This setup is also perfectly calibrated automated watering, light and nutrients, allowing healthy plant growth with minimal effort.

Each Smart Garden 3 comes with 3 complimentary plant pods (U.P. US$9.95), while a Smart Garden 9 comes with 9 complimentary plant pods.

What you can grow: Fruits, greens, herbs, flowers, mixes

Price: Smart Garden 3 (US$99.95), Smart Garden 9 (US$199.95)

Where to get it: Click & Grow website, Lazada

(Tip: If you find the price a little steep, do take a look around Carousell if you don’t mind a second-hand smart garden!)

Smart Garden by Plantui

Plantui is a Finnish design & food tech company which focuses on hydroponic indoor gardening.

The Plantui Smart Garden uses a hydroponic system which means that no soil is need – only water and nutrients.

This adorable-looking system comes in two sizes as well, allowing us to harvest either 3 or 6 types of vegetables at once.

This Smart Garden’s has software that helps in managing the growth process, allowing changes in light intensities and irrigation that best fit different phases of plant growth.

What you can grow: Herbs, salad greens and edible flowers

Price: $238 (Plantui 3e), $398 (Plantui 6)

Where to get it: Far East Flora Garden website (currently OOS), Plantui official website

Aerospring Garden Mini by Aerospring

In a country like Singapore where space constraint is an issue, Aerospring’s mini smart gardens allow our plants to be grown vertically to save some space.

Aerospring is of Danish design and is proudly made in Singapore.

It starts with an Aerospring Garden Mini which allows for three sections (nine plants), and goes up to 12 sections of 36 plants.

If you’re one who is interested in turning your place into a sustainable food-growing paradise, you can go for the bigger systems.

What you can grow: Herbs, Leafy Greens and Salads, Vegetables, Chillis, Tropical Edible Fruits and Flowers

Price: $399 onwards

Where to get it: Aerospring website

Grow Your Own Food: A Quick Guide To Edible Garden Kits and Smart Gardens

We no longer need huge plots of land and fertile soil to grow our own food.

With such a huge selection of plants and kits to choose from, it’s something we can easily start to do from the comforts of our homes.

Being able to both nourish our tummies and have these beautiful plants to also jazz up our homes, what’s there not to love?

If there are cheaper ways to grow our food, do share your knowledge with the SeedlyCommunity!