TRue treasures
Fruits of the garden
enjoy with all your senses
Fancy – on ¼ sqm ?
I lived in the city for many years. Initially I had no balcony at all, but later I had a small terrace where two tomato plants were actually planted every summer. Surprised at how good the tomatoes tasted, at some point I started sowing, pricking out and planting old varieties – not available commercially – myself.
Always fascinated by how a single small seed from the previous year’s harvest could grow into a complete plant with dozens of fruits, I gradually tried my hand at growing other personally preferred fruit and vegetable varieties and one or two valuable herbs. It’s incredible what you learn about plants, their preferred locations, soil conditions, etc. in the process – different creatures with different needs.
Of course, I also made mistakes (for example, when I think of the poor tomato plants in the early years that were exposed to wind and rain without the protection of a house wall). But my rural roots, the internet, a few books on old gardening knowledge and, above all, healthy intuition helped me to stick with it and try again the following year.
A few hundred years ago, this would probably have been laughed at. Somehow, over the course of time, we seem to have lost our automatic connection to the basics, to nature. New territory, in every respect…
Why does this remind me of my special little apple tree that I planted myself? And why special? Well, these are apples that you can’t buy anywhere. Because this little tree was grafted with an old apple variety from a tree that my grandfather planted over 80 years ago. Childhood memories of delicious deep red apples that tasted best at the beginning of December and came true again with last year’s harvest.
I would never have imagined what other useful things would grow on a small, yet manageable, planted area – very often without any action on my part – and what small biotopes would be created for the colonization of other creatures! Within a few years, wild birds, hedgehog families, insects etc. have actually found a home there, without having primarily intended it, but the joy is all the greater.
But what I like at least as much is simply going outside the door to “shop” for tasty little treasures – regardless of opening hours, free of charge and just in time – for their culinary enjoyment! But not only that, I also like to capture them in photographs. Ideally before the culinary part. Also with pleasure!
For my artistic passion, photography, the fruits of nature literally serve as my motifs time and again. Just last summer, I was able to create a wonderful series of abstract photographs of vegetables, berries and fruit, of which I am presenting a combination of four square pictures entitled “Stadtmensch – 0 m2 Garten” (“City dweller – 0 m2 garden”) as part of an art exhibition in Munich, based on the jargon of the urban housing market and with regard to my more or less equally cramped early years in the big city and the status quo of so many.
But who knows, maybe some ‚city dwellers‘ – living in a more or less urban environment – will even feel motivated by my photo art to adapt their own ‚garden size‘ to over 0 m2: a container with fruit or vegetable plants on the balcony or simply a few self-sown herb pots on the windowsill… Every step towards a small feeling of appreciation in interaction with plants and ideally nutrition and enjoyment counts.
Good luck!
Incidentally, the selected garden motifs recently even won an international award.
TRUE TREASURES
Fruits of the garden
enjoy with all your senses
Fancy – on ¼ sqm ?
I lived in the city for many years. Initially I had no balcony at all, but later I had a small terrace where two tomato plants were actually planted every summer. Surprised at how good the tomatoes tasted, at some point I started sowing, pricking out and planting old varieties – not available commercially – myself.
Always fascinated by how a single small seed from the previous year’s harvest could grow into a complete plant with dozens of fruits, I gradually tried my hand at growing other personally preferred fruit and vegetable varieties and one or two valuable herbs. It’s incredible what you learn about plants, their preferred locations, soil conditions, etc. in the process – different creatures with different needs.
Of course, I also made mistakes (for example, when I think of the poor tomato plants in the early years that were exposed to wind and rain without the protection of a house wall). But my rural roots, the internet, a few books on old gardening knowledge and, above all, healthy intuition helped me to stick with it and try again the following year.
A few hundred years ago, this would probably have been laughed at. Somehow, over the course of time, we seem to have lost our automatic connection to the basics, to nature. New territory, in every respect…
Why does this remind me of my special little apple tree that I planted myself? And why special? Well, these are apples that you can’t buy anywhere. Because this little tree was grafted with an old apple variety from a tree that my grandfather planted over 80 years ago. Childhood memories of delicious deep red apples that tasted best at the beginning of December and came true again with last year’s harvest.
I would never have imagined what other useful things would grow on a small, yet manageable, planted area – very often simply without my intervention – and what small biotopes would be created for the colonization of other creatures! Within a few years, wild birds, hedgehog families, insects, etc. have actually found a home there, without having primarily intended it, but the joy is all the greater.
But what I like at least as much is simply going outside the door to “shop” for tasty little treasures – regardless of opening hours, free of charge and just in time – to give them a culinary treat! But not only that, I also like to capture them in photographs. Ideally before the culinary part. Also with pleasure!
For my artistic passion, photography, the fruits of nature literally serve as my motifs time and again. Just last summer, I was able to create a wonderful series of abstract photographs of vegetables, berries and fruit, of which I am presenting a combination of four square pictures entitled “Stadtmensch – 0 m2 Garten” (“City dweller – 0 m2 garden”) as part of an art exhibition in Munich, based on the jargon of the urban housing market and with regard to my more or less equally cramped early years in the big city and the status quo of so many.
But who knows, maybe some ‚city dwellers‘ – living in a more or less urban environment – will even feel motivated by my photo art to adapt their own ‚garden size‘ to over 0 m2: a container with fruit or vegetable plants on the balcony or simply a few self-sown herb pots on the windowsill… Every step towards a small feeling of appreciation in interaction with plants and ideally nutrition and enjoyment counts.
Good luck!
Incidentally, the selected garden motifs recently even won an international award.