The gardens of Georgia

Home Gardens

Kato's outside garden in the spring

An old lady built herself
a little piece of paradise
in the city

When you first arrive in Georgia, try not to arrive in winter. Nothing is in bloom, the only color in town and in the country is …grey! As things start blooming, you start seeing things that you didn’t think existed. You see gardens! You see grape arbors being trimmed all over the buildings, you see cherry trees, apple trees, almond trees, and other all wonderful happenings spring up everywhere! It turns out that even in the darkest of situations, people are still wanting to till the soil, and see things grow. A simple apple blossom made my day. A park that was full of holes and armed steel cement pieces even became a real park in a matter of days! The city is rejuvenating itself with plants! How wonderful!

In the era of communism, everybody worked. The gardens existed already, of course. After the separation from the communist Russia, people took it upon themselves to build all kinds of structures in the city, mainly on their buildings, such as enclosed balconies and other very unsightly things. They also managed to claim small pieces of land on the parkings and lands, simply encircled them with all kinds of materials, corrugated steel and all, and called them “gardens”! If the result is not always happy, it however offers an oasis in the cement world. It is a little like the people of the country came to town, and started planting. You see little old women all in black tending the gardens with love.

Daffodils bloom and violets are everywhere. Most gardens are covered with a steel frame, to be able to grow grapes, and provide a little summer shelter in a hot summer. The private garages with flat roofs grow grapes and make them a super terrace. 

Start with grapes
and then the rest will
follow naturally..

Makhwali's garden in Surami is like that. A web of arbors with gardens all around.
The grapes will of course be the source of wine, and allow for cool afternoons in the shade.

Pit toilet in the back
and water faucet in the front.

In the countryside, gardens can be planted in late March, and you can already see plots of cilantro and parsley come up. Next to them, the ever present walnut trees, the apple trees, the sour and sweet cherries, the fig and the pomegranate trees. The Georgians depend on their trees to bring them “muraba”, or fruit preserves, or canned fruit, for their sweetness in the gloom of winter. They will put the sour cherries in their cup of tea in January. They will munch on a preserved fig.

Parsley and cilantro are grown extensively, since parsley is used in most dishes and also served fresh on a plate. Cilantro is also a major staple. As it is a favorite of the rabbits, so the plots are covered with wire cages.



Up on the hills around Tbilisi, where Katia's garden is, it is cooler in the summer, and of course, less protected in the winters. A particular hill has provided the town with fresh products for generations. The inhabitants grow flowers also, and come down to sell them at the many markets around town. It makes sense that they would have greenhouses, of course.
Katia and her husband grew tomatoes that year in their huge greenhouse. The invasive grape broke through the glass and provided support, and shade...for the tomatoes below. Here are the results: tomatoes 3 meters high and great grapes. 
But any reason is good to plant yet another grapevine. Katia's husband, Tamazi, told me this was a Cabernet grape. Going down to the garden becomes a pleasure, wouldn't you say? 
You can of course, find other things than veggies and fruit, and berries in the garden. This little guy will certainly be invited to the Christmas dinner this year. 

Our garden is still in its infancy. Mainly, it is waiting for a designing touch. It will look quite different next year. For now, it is planted and seeded with edible stuff, such as tomatoes, cucumber, red basil, a Georgian favorite, potatoes, carrots and other goodies.

Being able to produce veggies here will feed the family members in the city. They depend on it, and work to that end. 
Visit our page on the garden for more info.