I took up gardening in 1986. Before telling about our garden I would like to explain about our collective garden plots in our country.
About 1970 the Government decided to give citizens a plot of earth for planting of fruit-trees and for kitchen garden. Every family (which wanted) could take usually 6 Ares of earth, sometime more (0,405 hectare = 1 acre and 1 hectare = 100 Ares). We have 9 Ares. The societies of gardener were established by work places.
Our society of gardeners is society of medical staff (my husband is a doctor). Every society has own president and administration (or board). They arranged for the electricity, water supply, and collected the utilities fees and the rent for the garden plots. A taking of garden plot was voluntary. In these garden plot every gardener is master for himself. Don't misuse please this with collectivization in Soviet times. The people took the earth with pleasure. When it all started it was interesting enough. Every could build a cottage they could afford. Today there are some riches cottages like palaces with sauna and other equipments. They had possibility to get construction materials in easier and cheaper way. Conscientious people couldn't build palaces with their salaries or wages. Our cottage is very common and modest.
We bought all together because my husband had no others possibilities. We are mad about gardening very much. When we first married my mother took the earth plot and we, with my husband helped to plant the first trees. We were young and didn't have any interest in working at mother's command. We got away as fast as we could.
Our time came later. For that maybe must come some special age for people. It happened that we bought the garden in the same collective garden plot later. We started and we loved it. Working for ourselves is different, we can do it our way.
Now all our thoughts and all free time from work we spend in the garden. When I come to the garden after working week, at first I am walking among bets and watching every plant, every flower, and vegetable.
It is very interesting to see how they grew during the week. I like to spend the night there, we go on Friday evening and return to the city on Sunday evening. The change after working week is very important and pleasant.
I like to get up in the garden cottage and see much sun and to hear
birds songs. I
go out in the morning and feel like in my estate, where I am mistress and in the
same time serf or pursuant (my ironical notice), because we work very hard. I
can't stop when I see much work not done. There is always something that must be
done. And when a strawberries lay on my table, I keep eating them, and I am like
in the heaven: I like them very much, and I think that I deserved them.
Usually I keep order in my kitchen garden, keep weeding and fighting with diseases of vegetables. It is very nice in our garden. We work not only for use but for the beauty too. My favorite flowers are camomile and other like these. My husband takes care of roses and nice grasses. He learned grafting of fruit trees.
What do we are grow? All what can grow in our climate. All sorts of vegetables, fruit, berries. Even those, which don't ripen in our climate, I try to grow covering them with plastic: that is eggplants, red water-melons. We have greenhouse and all tomatoes grow there.
What is use from garden? There is a very large use. I have all vegetables, fruits and berries for my table for all year. We use fresh and what we can't eat, I can, jar, dry, salt, make juice and wine too. Therefore I have all my harvest in cellar in winter. Only one thing what I have to buy for winter: it is potatoes. I grow potatoes for our use in the garden, when we live there and when early potatoes are expensive. We eat potatoes in winter very much, and there is not too much space for growing much of potatoes in such plot.
Now you can imagine how we work hard. But we like it very much. Our garden is 13 km from my apartment. It is not far (1 km=0,6214 miles).
In these time, when we are going to capitalism and with every day the prices for everything are increasing, many people don't have a possibility to go somewhere for a holiday. Then they spend their holiday in their created paradise, having a nice corner outside of city.
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The bacground is made by Anthea Bate |
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