Explore the secret life of plants and the magic of gardening

Hi all, my name is Varduhi. I am a mother of four and have two sweet grandchildren. We have family land in the village of Hovouni, close to Gyumri. I work as a geography teacher at the local school, but after the classes, I work on my land, fertilize and water it, prune the branches, plant new vegetables and flowers. In 1995, we got this land as a young family. It was dried soil full of stones, which me and my husband cultivated and raised these trees from a seed. I remember our elder daughter being an active and naughty kid back then; we tied her leg to this fence to be able to do our work. 

We have apples, pears, cherries, plums, blackberries, walnuts and nuts. During the bloom, my garden looks divine. I plant different root vegetables, herbs and flowers. Since the beginning, I haven’t used any chemicals for my land. I learned to make compost and use eco fertilizers. I like touching the soil with my bare hands, it fuels me with energy and heals my body. The location of this village is very impressive: you see the wheat fields in front of you with the mount Aragats behind. If there are travelers who love reconnecting with nature and working with land, I will be happy to work with them, show them my garden, tell them about the local agriculture and wild plants. Here you can also find the traditional Armenian oven “tonir”, where I make the special lavash bread. You can try baking your own lavash after the hard working day in the field, or just lay in the shade of the trees to rest. 

Sometimes I experiment in my garden. Once I collected old curtains from my neighbors and wrapped the sweet cherries, so that the birds did not eat them. Everyone was laughing at me, but by the end of the season, none of my villagers had a full cherry harvest, while I had so much of it that I turned half of those cherries into delicious dry fruits.