I'm sure you guys will not be surprised to know that one of the things I do when visiting other places is to observe the gardens and take pictures - to be inspired and to learn from. You may even remember what I learned from a special Arizona garden last year (yes- even for a cold Northwesterner!). Well, it was no different in Kosovo and Greece - while Brian was snapping photos of strange and funny things (remind me to do a post on just these, they'll crack you up!), I was scoping out the gardens.
I'll share the fun garden ideas I found in Athens next week, but this week we'll start with Kosovo - actually the village of Kamenica, which is pictured above. It looks quite pastoral from this view - and the outlying communities are - though the main village (we would call it a town) has 6-7 floor apartment buildings, big grocery stores, and lots of buildings as well as single-family homes on town-sized lots.
We were able to visit a farm similar to the one you see above. It has a couple houses (there is usually more than one family on each farm) with a barn, garden area, plastic-covered greenhouse, and pasture for farm animals. This was in mid-April, and most vegetable gardens were plowed, but not planted yet except for onions. The climate seemed very similar to ours here in the PNW - trees and tulips were blooming.
Okay, I can hear you: "Yeah, so what? That's a farm...it doesn't look too much different than here. Where's the lesson?"
Here, lovely garden friends is the take-away: 80-90% of the houses on regular lots in the village looked like this: a couple of fruit trees, yard plowed and ready for planting, and a greenhouse with warm-weather starts inside. Actually, I'd go on record saying probably 98% of the occupied houses have a front or side-yard garden and a greenhouse (there are many homes in this village that sit empty for most of the year as the owners live in a different country and return only for a few weeks each year).
So, almost every house uses what available ground they have to grow food - and almost every garden also has a greenhouse.
And it's these greenhouses that I found so inspiring - I've always viewed greenhouses as an expensive proposition with the need for a huge cash outlay, fans, heaters, automatic openers, thermometers, etc. But here they are - simple pipe-and-plastic construction (and most actually without a door like the one pictured) - being used in every garden because they are relying on the food they grow and they are able to start tomatoes and peppers a lot earlier by using the houses.
If you look closely in the doorway of the house above, you'll see the tomatoes planted right in the ground inside the house and since it was a mild day, the door is propped open. I also saw houses that held strawberries and lettuce that were already producing. As far as outside planting, you can see in the bed on the right a plot of onions and I believe a few potato hills behind the greenhouse.
The people of Kosovo are resourceful, using the land they have, as well as the equipment they have, to grow their own food. They trade and share flowers to be able to add beauty to their landscapes and I saw many, many new mini fruit orchards in yards of all sizes. As we drove to the capital city of Pristina past one small village after another, it was the same: ground ready for planting, fruit trees, and plastic greenhouses.
So, the lesson? Use what you have or can get cheaply - do what you need to in order to grow food for your family. I think of all the land I have in comparison, and I know I've been inspired to figure out how to use it more efficiently. And how to make a simple greenhouse like this!
Has anything inspired you lately in your gardens?
AndiW says
I REALLY like that greenhouse. Thank you for sharing this particular post. Very interesting.
Jami says
Thank you for all your comments, Andi! Isn't it great to see what they do with much less than we typically have? 🙂
AndiW says
Indeed. Gets one to thinking...
Mindy says
The first photos are gorgeous and the greenhouses are DEFINITELY inspirational. I, too, have always dreamed of the ever-elusive greenhouse, but looking at these, what an accessible way to do it! Now all I need is the room! 🙂
Shannan says
I love it!
yes please - I'll take a huge front yard garden (I would be way more proud of that than a stupid green grass lawn), a handful of fruit trees, and a greenhouse. Hey, let's start that in America!! 🙂
Jami says
Ha! I think in the PNW, we probably have more front yards that produce food than other parts of the country - but still, not every yard. Can't imagine what the HOA's would say. 😉
Shelly says
We usually cover our raised beds at least some of them with hoop houses. But this year we purchased a cold frame from our local garden store that is closing. I used it to get my plants going well and then with the warm weather we have been having I planted them into the garden. I usually will cover my tomatoes with recycled bottles with the bottoms cut off. But this year I have a huge roll of plastic wrap so I will be wrapping the cages with that until the weather gets warm enough for to remove it. I did the same thing with my cucumbers this year.
Jami says
That sounds great, Shelly! I try to use plastic and row covers, too, but I was just surprised at the amount of greenhouses. You can tell I'd like one, huh? 🙂
Shelly says
My husband has offered to make me a greenhouse out of old windows. I may need to take him up on the offer.
Athena at Minerva's Garden says
How exciting that you got to visit Greece and Kosovo, Jamie! I've been to Greece once, to visit my Dad's side of the family, and just loved it!
Jami says
How fun to have family there, Athena! That must've been a special trip.
Savannah says
Thanks for hosting!
Michelle @ Simplify, Live, Love says
What awesome pictures. I love the idea of an inexpensive green house. I'll have to get my helpful hubs on that... 🙂 Thanks for hosting! Have a great week.
daisy says
Love that! Wouldn't that be great to see here? Maybe, someday...
Tammy says
Such a charming area. Love your photo's. I want to put in some mini hoop houses over a few of my beds next year to protect from early or late frosts. You can do them simply with just the purchase of cheap plastic and pvc pipe. I am really excited about my garden this year with the Mittleider method. I have high hopes especially after seeing the crazy growth of my strawberries in just 8 days.
Barb @ Frugal Local Kitchen says
I love the pictures! We always assume we need the latest and greatest when we can make do with what we have. I also love seeing the entire backyard dedicated to food growing.
debra@ HOMESPUN says
That is interesting! I wish I had the resources here to do more of that ( $$ for dirt, building more raised beds etc ) or just a bit more land or something! 🙂
Little Sis says
Wow! I would so love it if my neighborhood was covered with gardens instead of pesky lawns that everyone gets so obsessed with. Thanks for sharing - and for the greenhouse reminder. I'm afraid I talk myself into a short season by assuming they're expensive. Good lesson!
angi says
That's a great takeaway! I hear all the time that gardening is expensive and my response is always, "It doesn't have to be." My friends from Kenya have a similar story as these people in Kosovo...everyone grows their own food as much as possible. Thanks for sharing!