I was away for a few weeks doing some, uhhh, research in Greece. Actually it was more of an exercise in musical tourism, but I also realized that as a small, dry country famed for its food culture I thought it would be an interesting source for food and farming strategies. In Athens I was introduced to some folks who have re-purposed a parking lot into a beautiful park with fruit tree, flowers, and other vegetation. The park added a lot of vitality to the neighboring store fronts and made me long for the prking lot behind the werehouse to get the make over it deserves. I was impressed by the DIY ethos of these young anarchists and wished that they had more of these activities attached to their reputations.
The popularity of rooftop and balcony gardens and solar water heaters was also an inspiration, especially since it seemed to come from a strong tradition of personal gardening that I noticed in the country. Many of my friends’ parents grew a lot of their own food and made their own wine, and there didn’t seem to be the level of detachment from food that you witness in the States. Of course, this is also a country where olive and citrus trees grow along the sidewalks.
I took a nice long train trip through the north eastern country side of greece and although I didn’t snap any pics along the way, I did observe how the small, hilly terrain reduced the potential for large monocultural plots, as did the greater number of small farms. As a result each hectare of land seemed to hold a diverse selection of crops and livestock pasture with plenty of non-agricultural buffers in between.
And then onto some islands where many of the goods are shipped in, but there’s still some emphasis on local specialities like the honey from Syros. One experience worth noting — in the area surrounding our studio on Mykonos there were multiple olive trees, a lime, apple, pomegranate, and persimmon tree as well as grapevines — all in about 100 square feet. wow!
