Even if your “vegetable garden” is just a basil plant on the windowsill, look closer and you’ll find a vast world, an ecosystem in itself and a metaphor for so much that happens in urban lives. Come DENTRO and explore it with us!

Here is a vegetable-garden glossary to inspire you, divided into categories (click the small triangles to open the definitions):

seeds

1. SEEDBED A “nursery” for seeds, warmed naturally by sunlight.
2. ROW SOWING Row (or furrow) sowing means digging long, regular, parallel and shallow furrows at varying distances.
3. BROADCAST SOWING The quickest method: the seed is scattered evenly and then covered with a thin layer of soil.
4. HILL SOWING 2, 3 or 4 seeds are placed in evenly spaced holes arranged in rows, then covered by raking the soil in one direction.

plants

1. TOPPING Pruning of tender growth by cutting off the tips of the shoots.
2. DIVISION Cutting off a part of the mother plant that has buds and roots so it can grow on its own.
3. PHENOLOGICAL STAGES The events that follow one another in a plant’s life.
4. GERMINATION The process by which a plant develops from a seed.
5. SHOOT A young branch or sprout of a plant.
6. GRAFTING A practice that improves plants’ resistance by inserting a bud or branch from one plant into another.
7. GROWING SEASON The part of the year in which the plant grows.
8. CUTTING A piece of a plant placed in water or soil so that it regenerates into a new plant.

soil

1. BORDER A strip of soil that edges a flowerbed or a path.
2. COMPOSTING Making organic fertiliser from kitchen and garden waste, which is then turned into humus.
3. NPK FERTILISER A fertiliser containing the 3 main fertility elements: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
4. COMPANION PLANTING Growing different vegetables in the same space.
5. CULTIVAR From “cultivated” and “variety”: the cultivated varieties of a botanical species, for example of olives, tomatoes or potatoes.
6. BREAKING GROUND Deep ploughing of the soil to restore the circulation of air and water and increase its fertility.
7. ACID SOIL Soil with a pH below 7 (on a scale from 0 to 14).
8. ALKALINE SOIL Soil with a pH between 7 and 14, rich in limestone.
9. CHALKY SOIL Soil rich in limestone and calcium oxides, usually also alkaline.
10. LOOSE SOIL Made of fairly large particles (sand, gravel, pebbles).
11. TOPSOIL The uppermost layer of soil, where organic matter and microbial activity are concentrated.
12. PEAT Organic material formed by the decomposition of organisms in marshy or wet areas, widely used and valuable for growing plants.

techniques

1. HYBRIDISATION Crossing individuals that differ in one or more inherited traits.
2. BLANCHING Covering the plant with straw, paper or soil to keep out sunlight.
3. MULCHING Covering the soil with materials that stop weeds from growing, such as straw or weed fabric.
4. PRICKING OUT Transplanting young plants into larger and larger spaces to improve root growth.
5. EARTHING UP Piling soil around the base of the stem to encourage root growth and protect the plant from frost.
6. HOEING Cutting or turning the top layer of soil to destroy weeds and let air circulate, while retaining moisture.
7. WEEDING Removing weeds from a cultivated area.
8. GREEN MANURE Digging specific crops (such as legumes) into the soil to maintain or increase its fertility.

pests

1. APHIDS Parasitic insects that harm plants’ health.
2. PHYTOPHAGES Organisms and insects that attack plants by feeding on their tissues.
3. BIOLOGICAL CONTROL Protecting plants from pests by pitting living organisms against each other (ladybirds vs. aphids).

Prefer a freer, more literary approach? We hope this text inspires you!

You sink your hands into mud and roots. What survives under the mulch while winter bites? And when summer blazes? What will sprout at night in the dark of the earth?

When the first little leaf opens, you might feel like the keeper of an ancient secret or the architect of a living microcosm. Will it all be so romantic?

Will a rusty spade, a pair of gloves and a little rain at the right moment be enough?

Will you follow the lunar calendar, or try a graft among the city’s stones to grow a garden out of nothing?

And the pests? And the birds? What will your scarecrow look like?

If these words sow an idea, this OPEN CALL is for you!