My journey into urban gardening and community composting

Living in the largest city in Dalmatia has its advantages, but when you're too immersed in it, it's hard to develop habits that directly put food on your table, like growing your own fruits and vegetables. Although I'm still far from self-sufficiency, I've started a system that not only brings food to my table but also keeps most of what would otherwise end up as waste within a closed loop.

How volunteering sparked my change

In the early 2010s, alongside my first steps in gardening, I began volunteering. Through collaborations with other civil sector organizations, I became increasingly interested in ecological topics. The biggest realisation for me was that if you have a favourite tomato, the best way to preserve it is to save its seeds – then you can have it for the rest of your life.

At the beginning of 2018, I made a significant shift and joined the association Permaculture Dalmatia as a member and occasional volunteer. Soon, I learned about seed banks and exchanges and decided to grow food from seeds to better understand the food I eat.

Around that time, I also set up a garden composter to minimise the amount of kitchen and garden waste ending up in landfills. I worked on cultivating daily habits that would reduce waste, both directly (with household members) and indirectly (through online content).

The importance of community impact

Just then, I figured out how to successfully grow seedlings, and when my composter started producing quality compost to nourish them, I had less and less time. Still, I remained persistent in wanting to know the origin of the food I grow, but the results were getting worse.

A big motivation to stay involved came from my growing engagement in the association. I realized that my individual gardening efforts weren’t as important as the impact I could make as a member of my community. So I shifted my focus toward gathering and supporting the community. I was very active in many seed exchanges, lectures, workshops, and work actions – but never in the spotlight. And that still fulfills me to this day.

From composting to balcony gardening

Through permaculture thinking and my own experiences, I realised that what brings me the most joy in my garden is composting. Composting takes time to show results, but you don’t need to be constantly active in the garden. Over the years, I’ve left more than a ton of biowaste in my yard, which has since turned into fertile soil. Together with my small and invisible collaborators, we’ve turned waste into food, and we continue to do so. That’s why I believe anyone who wants to garden should start with composting. And anyone who has the opportunity to compost should consider it a responsibility.

Still, as much as I enjoy composting, I missed the moment of growing something, because fruits and leaves are visually more appealing than humus. The crops I want to grow require almost daily care, and due to my lifestyle, I can't visit my garden often enough. So the only viable locations for growing are my balcony and windowsill. 

Growing on a balcony requires bringing a lot of quality soil into your home, which is often physically demanding and expensive. But in my case, the cost isn’t an issue because I get enough quality soil from my yard, and most of the containers I use were gifted rather than bought. So for the past two years, most of my growing has been happening on the balcony. It’s mostly a mix of tomatoes and peppers, along with herbs, especially basil. But there have been various experiments, and we even ended up growing potatoes.

Finding joy in the process of growing on the balcony

Balcony gardening is pure joy for me, and I believe it’s the same for many of us. Let your balcony garden be a source of pleasure, and find joy in it throughout the year. Try to involve children and other household members in the process: it becomes even more fun that way. Also, don’t forget about the community: by including it, your work gains even more meaning and purpose. And definitely share your joy – both in real life and online – because you never know whose day, or even life, you might brighten.

Croatian Version

Moje putovanje kroz urbanu poljoprivredu i kompostiranje u zajednici

Marko Ban

Život u najvećem gradu u Dalmaciji ima svojih prednosti, ali kada si previše u njemu teško je steći navike koje ti direktno donose hranu na stol kao što su npr. uzgoj voća i povrća. Iako sam još daleko od toga pokrenuo sam sistem koji, osim što mi donosi hranu na stol, većinu onoga što bi od iste završilo u otpadu ostane u tom mom začaranom krugu. 

Kako je volontiranje potaknulo moju promjenu

Početkom prošlog desetljeća paralelno s mojim vrtlarskim počecima sam krenuo u svijet volontiranja. Kroz suradnje sa drugim organizacijama iz civilnog sektora počele su me sve više zanimati ekološke teme. Najveća spoznaja mi je bila da ako imaš omiljenu rajčicu najbolje sačuvati njeno sjeme i onda je možeš imati do kraja života. 

Početkom 2018. godine radim veći zaokret i priključujem se udruzi Permakultura Dalmacija kao član i povremeni volonter. Uskoro saznajem za banke i razmjene sjemena koje postoje i odlučujem uzgajati hranu od sjemena kako bi bio više upućen u hranu koju jedem.

Negdje u tom periodu sam formirao i vrtni komposter kako bi što manje našeg kuhinjskog i vrtnog otpada završilo na odlagalištima otpada. Radio sam na kulturi svojih svakodnevnih navika koje bi vodile ka smanjenju otpada, ali i kod drugih što direktno (ukućani) što indirektno (online sadržaji).

Važnost utjecaja na zajednicu

Taman tada sam uhvatio sistem kako uspješno uzgajati presadnice i kada se u mom komposteru počela praviti kvalitetna smjesa za prihranu istih imao sam sve manje vremena.   

I dalje sam bio uporan u nastojanju da znam porijeklo hrane koju uzgajam, ali rezultati su bivali sve lošiji i lošiji. 

Veliki motiv za ostati u ovoj temi sam dobio kroz sve veći angažman u Udruzi. I kada sam shvatio da nije bitan moj pojedinačni uzgoj nego koliki utjecaj radim kao član svoje zajednice, te sam sve veći fokus stavio na okupljanju i držanju zajednice. U mnogim razmjenama sjemena, predavanjima, radionicama, radnim akcijama sam bio jako angažiran, ali nikada isturen. Ovaj dio me i dan danas ispunjava.

Od kompostiranja do vrtlarenja na balkonu

Permakulturnim načinom razmišljanja i poučen vlasitim iskustvima sa shvatio da u mom vrtu mene najviše veseli kompostirati. Jer u kompostiranju dugo čekaš rezultate, ali ne trebaš biti stalno aktivan u vrtu. Tako da sam kroz sve ove godine sigurno više od tonu biotpada ostavio u svom dvorištu koje je kasnije pretvoreno u plodno tlo. U suradnji sa mojim malim i nevidljivim suradnicima mi smo otpad pretvorili u hranu i to konstantno radimo. Zato smatram da svatko tko se želi baviti vrtlarstvom mora isto započeti sa kompostiranjem, a svatko tko ima priliku kompostirati to bi mu morala biti obaveza. 

Ipak koliko me god veselilo kompostiranje nedostajao mi je i taj momenat uzgoja nečega jer ipak puno bolje vizualno izgleda plod ili list nečega od samog humusa. Za uzgoj kultura koje ja želim uzgajati treba skoro svakodnevna briga, a ja zbog svog tempa života ne mogu vrt u vlastitom dvorištu posjećivati toliko često pa mi jedina moguća lokacija za uzgoj ispadaju balkon i prozor. Kakoj na balkonu treba puno kvalitetnog tla dovesti u svoj stan što je često fizički težak i skup posao.Kod mene ovaj dio sa skupoćom nije točan jer dobivam dovoljno kvalitetnog tla iz svog dvorišta, kao i posude u koje sadim sam većinom dobio, a ne kupio. Već dvije zadnje godine većina mog uzgoja dolazi sa balkona. Tu je najviše riječ o kombinaciji rajčica i paprika te začinskog bilja u kojem svakako dominira bosiljak, ali bilo je tu raznih eksperimenata tako da smo na kraju imali i krumpir uzgojen na balkonu.

Pronalaženje radosti u procesu uzgoja na balkonu

Balkonski uzgoj je za mene jedna čista radost, a mislim da je tako i kod velike većine nas. Neka vam uzgoj na balkonu bude gušt i da u njemu pronalazite radost kroz cijelo vrijeme. Pokušajte uključiti i djecu i ostale ukućane u proces jer tada postaje još zabavnije. Također ne zaboravite na zajednicu je s uključivanjem nje vaš rad dobiva još veći smisao i svrhu. Svakako dijelite svoju radost što u stvarnom svijetu što u virtualnom jer nikad ne znate kome možete uljepšati dan, a možda čak i život.