Going green Get into the garden and get into a healthy lifestyle - from the ground up
ng, the most popular “sport” among Ukrainians, means a mass weekend exodus to the dachas to till the soil, sow seeds and tend produce.
No dacha? Even city folk can find spots for growth. Many Kyivans find it takes less time and money to get the same goods at the market and do things in their neighborhood.
Whatever the case, it’s all about healthy eating and living, explained schoolteacher and avid gardener Natalia Borsuk.
“It’s not only about the harvest, although it’s nice to have homegrown fruits and veggies,” Borsuk said. “At least you are certain that these are ecologically pure products.”
For the 45‑year‑old Borsuk, the main thing is health. People often become much healthier, she feels, once they start working in the garden.
“By the end of the winter, I can barely creep to work,” Borsuk said. “But as soon as I head out to my dacha, I feel fresh and energetic.”
“Nothing fights cellulite better than a spade,” Borsuk continued. “And in June, my colleagues who are still milk‑white envy my bronze tan.”
Fresh air, sunshine and physical labor are three things doctors prescribe to sedentary townspeople who often otherwise sit in front of a computer or television.
“A good weekend at the dacha increases life as much as it decreases a working week,” writes popular healer and health philosopher Mirzakarim Norbekov. In his best‑selling Russian book on healthy daily living, “Teaching a Fool Is Like Healing a Dead Man,” Norbekov highlights many of the benefits provided by gardening. Even still, keen gardeners insist that the list of its benefits is understated.
“Gardening never becomes boring,” said Kyiv resident Galyna Kryukova, 69. “It is a very special feeling to see the tiny green leaves breaking through the ground, to watch them grow. Your plants become your pets, almost your friends.”
In Ukraine, gardening is an easy hobby to get involved in. All you need is a strip of land or some pots, a handful of seeds and a bit of patience.
For those who don’t own a dacha, but would like to buy one, there are plenty of options – from abandoned picturesque farmsteads in remote villages to a designated cluster of garden plots near the center of Kyiv called “shist sotok” (six hundredths of a hectare).
Classified ads in Aviso and other publications contain separate sections listing dachas for sale, where you can find a small wooden house and full‑grown garden for as little as $3,000.
But how does someone who’s green become a green thumb? There are many options, whether the intention is to carefully plan, measure and record the results, or to simply plant something and watch it grow.
The Petrivka book market offers guidebooks on gardening, such as “Entsyklopediya Sadivnytstva” (the Encyclopedia of Gardening), which covers everything. There is always the advice of neighbors, whose experience comes in handy when covering any holes left open by guidebooks.
For a healthy combination of theory and practice, Kyiv’s greenhouses sell plants, seeds and gardening tools – and offer plenty of advice of their own. Though seeds and small plants can be bought at most any Kyiv bazaar, experienced gardeners such as Bursuk prefer buying from greenhouses or farming cooperatives.
“I might want to pay an extra hryvna or two, but buy from a source guaranteeing that I can come back and address them with a complaint if I have one,” she said. One greenhouse Bursuk frequents is the Agrus gardening center where, as it turns out, the prices really aren’t higher than at the bazaars.
“Our saplings cost one or two hryvna less than those sold on the highways,” claimed Agrus director Serhy Karabut. “And we sell only tested, trustworthy varieties.”
Agrus has been in business for 11 years, having started out as a small venture growing and selling gooseberry plants (‘agrus’ in Ukrainian). Today the company is one of the country’s largest providers of berry and fruit plants, and offers everything from home and garden plants and seeds to tools, fertilizers and garden design help. And at Kyiv’s gardening centers, help is always on offer – even the basics.
“First of all, you need to decide why you want to buy a dacha [and land],” said Agrus Deputy Director Volodymyr Dmytriev. “It depends on whether you wish to support you family, grow your own ecologically pure products, or to rest and relax.”
In the lattermost case, most any landscaper worth his or her salt can easily help arrange park‑style grass lawns or flowerbeds and gardens in a stylish or easy‑to‑maintain manner.
Otherwise, it’s always possible to start by figuring out which crops are most economically suitable for your needs, and how much of each you need per year, for consumption fresh and for preserving. It’s also advisable to take into account the crops best suited to local growing conditions. With enough land, Dmytriev claims that on a standard 600 square meter lot one can accommodate 10 trees – apples, cherries, pears and/or apricots, and 30 bushes for raspberries, for instance – with space left over for a flowerbed or kitchen garden.
Argus offers many varieties of potted plants such as strawberries, or seedlings for bushes such as raspberries, black currants and gooseberries.
Even without land, most houses or apartments in Kyiv have small gardens in the yard. And at a pinch, a balcony or south‑facing windowsill is a perfect place for a flower box, a bean jungle or even a small tomato vine. Kryukova has been growing cucumbers on her windowsill for years.
“You just need to buy special seeds for the hot bed and find a sunny spot on your window,” she said. “Don’t forget to pollinate the flowers with a paint brush, and soon you will have a sweet green addition to your meals.”
On April 5‑6, the city is hosting a large‑scale street market on Khreshchatyk. It will feature goods for sale direct from farmers, gardeners and fruit‑growers. The market begins each day at 10 a.m.
Agrus
67 Peremohy Prospekt, 442‑7189 or 442‑8460.
Perennials, biennials, annuals, seeds, gardening tools and accessories.
Vash Sad
1 Kominterna, 234‑6259 or
239‑3144.
Seeds, decorative plants and landscaping.
Green Gallery
(Several locations) 51/53 Volodymyrska, 246‑4912.
Flowers and flowering plants.
Podil Grower’s Market
Nyzhni Val
