Belarusian Woman Created a Vegetable Garden in a Warsaw Apartment

Photo Most

Five years ago, she and her husband bought a dacha in a Belarusian village, but they didn't get to see their first potato harvest: the family had to leave urgently. The Belarusian woman told Most about her "gardener's reflexes" and what can ripen in such limited conditions.

"We placed the plants like stray puppies"

Iryna recalls how, before their forced relocation from their dacha in Belarus, she and her husband made two raised beds – they built a fence from planks and filled it with soil.

— We joked that it turned out to be a sandbox, but only for those over 40. We managed to grow greens and tomatoes in that sandbox. But we never got to see the first potato harvest – our acquaintances harvested it, — the Belarusian woman says.

Павялічыць

In the city apartment, the windowsills remained full of ornamental plants. The couple would have been very sad if they had died, so they distributed them among acquaintances – "placing them like stray puppies."

"We brought the gardener's reflex with us"

After their forced departure, the family settled in Georgia, and then moved to Poland.

— We left the gardens in Belarus, but the acquired gardener's reflex, as it turned out, we brought with us. I would probably grow cacti here too, as I once did, but my husband doesn't share my love for thorns. But he does share it for greens.

The couple came up with the idea of creating a balcony garden by chance: they once went to buy a bunch of cilantro for lobio – it cost 8 zlotys. After Georgia, where greens cost pennies all year round, it seemed expensive. That's when the thought came to try growing it themselves. Iryna calculates that a packet of seeds costs two to four zlotys – and in five to six weeks, fresh greens are at hand.

— Just re-sow every couple of weeks to ensure continuous growth.

Buckets from food, soil from a nearby wasteland

Iryna fundamentally doesn't buy any additional equipment – no lamps, no hydroponics.

— With our limited space and semi-nomadic lifestyle, we vowed not to buy anything extra. The windows are on the sunny side – there's enough light, only watering is required. For containers – two plastic containers were in the apartment, I found three clay pots on the street – neighbors had put them out as unwanted. Then plastic food buckets also came into use.

Iryna buys some of the soil in the store, and partly takes it from a nearby wasteland. At first, she thought: what grows, grows. But unexpectedly, a lot grew.

— Besides cilantro, dill, basil, parsley, although for some reason it grows less willingly than everything else, — Iryna lists. — Arugula grew well, but it's tasty and cheap here in stores – it's easier to buy. Instead, this year we sowed lovage – an interesting, fragrant, unpretentious plant, sprouts have just started to appear. And this basil bush has been growing since last autumn, — Iryna touches the plant, and the basil scent spreads around. — We've almost stripped it already: we added it to pasta all winter and spring. Now we're waiting for a new harvest.

"My hands would constantly itch to dig up a corner for tomatoes"

The woman recalls being guests at acquaintances who rent a house near Warsaw. She was surprised that none of the neighbors planted anything.

— Just green lawns, garden chairs, and a grill. At most – a compact rose garden. Beautiful, stylish, but my hands would constantly itch to dig up a corner for tomatoes. Perhaps something like that is sown in my genes.

Iryna emphasizes that the main motivation for gardening is not to grow something that cannot be bought in Poland. She is interested in the process itself: observing how a plant breaks through, sprouts, grows, strengthens.

— There's something meditative, life-affirming, and comforting in it. And the taste is still very different. The same sandwich with herring and onions – and on top, a sprig of your own fragrant dill… At that moment, you realize that all the efforts are worth it.

"Onions from the store smell like a basement"

The other day, Iryna planted onions.

— I saw an old man on the tram coming from his dacha with a bundle of long green onions – I envied him. Because the ones from the store somehow smell like a basement. Purely for the soul, I'd also like to plant night-scented stock (Matthiola) – they smell incredible in the morning and evening. I've already bought the seeds. Oh, it's a shame the balcony isn't made of rubber.

For now, the interviewee can only dream of a full-fledged garden in Poland, and she doesn't think about the Belarusian one.

— I don't know if we will ever see our Belarusian dacha again. I've stopped thinking about it altogether, just put it out of my mind. One must live today, find joy in something here and now, — Iryna smiles, nodding towards her small garden.

• 1
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 2