Sowing obsession, or how to transform your balcony into a garden

During the pandemic, we’ve observed an unusual increase of the interest in growing one’s own food – instead of flowers, many balconies started to house pots of tomato plants, kitchen window sills became full of herbs and lettuce, and in garden allotments hammocks were replaced with tiny greenhouses.

Gardening mania gripped entire Europe. In the initial phase of the lockdown, orders in British seed cooperatives went up 600%, and producers of seedlings could hardly satisfy the demand. Warsaw residents also proved that the slogan “edible city” is no longer just a projection for the future, but our new day-to-day. If you want to join the community of home gardeners this season, but you don’t know where to start, come to our family gardening workshop. Children’s presence is mandatory, because digging around in the dirt is the best kind of fun.

During a 3-hour workshop new gardeners will learn what do plants need to grow well, they will discover the secrets of the soil and see how you should tend to your garden and fairly share it with other living organisms. In our climate, May is traditionally the time for planting, so each participant will receive at the end of the workshop their own seedling which can become a start of a balcony garden. In the spirit of zero waste, bring your own garden gloves. If you don’t have any, we will have several spare pairs.

What else we will do during the workshop?

— learn fundamental rules of permaculture

— dip our hands in the soil and test its structure

— dig around in the compost and learn who lives there

— talk about seeds and sow some old species

— create our own planting pots and name tablets for plants

— put our own seedlings in the ground

The workshop will be conducted by

The workshop is in Polish only.

Participation is free. Registration required via the application form on our website. The number of places is limited, participants accepted on the first come, first served basis.

The workshop is intended for children aged 7–14 with guardians (1+1). We’ll meet up in Służewski Dom Kultury (ul. Jana Sebastiana Bacha 15). 

There will be a photographer present to document the workshop. Participation in the workshop means you consent to the use of the image of both the child and their guardian by Biennale Warszawa for the purpose of the promotion of its activities, and conducting its information policy.