Yana loves to work at her ‘edible garden’ at her Dubai villa

Dubai: Yana Samir, whose blog on her home farming experience is now helping several residents in the UAE enjoy the fruits of labour, was first exposed to the beauty of nature and gardening as a child growing up in Russia.

“I spent most of my summer holidays in the countryside with my grandparents who would tend to their big garden. I would help with the planting, weeding, and other tasks. They planted the seed of love for gardening in me,” said Yana, who moved to the UAE in 1996.

“I was always surrounded by green things,” she said. So when she moved here, she was determined to start home farming.

“I was pregnant with my youngest daughter and I saw a small plant kit. It had a little pot with soil and a round paper with seeds in it. All we had to do was fill the pot with soil, cover the seeds with paper and water them.

“It grew into a tiny herb garden.” Following this green endeavour, Yana and her kids began planting more things. “We planted beans and watched them grow.”

Beans, she said, grow fast and are an excellent tutorial for children in the science of growing.

“Parallel to this, I would always have a few onions growing in water, atop a fridge. Basically, you take an onion bulb, seat it in water (only the lower part) and you have fresh green onions for a good time.”

When the family moved to their own villa in Al Warqa in 2011, Yana got a good-sized plot. “I had grand plans. But little did I know about the challenges of gardening in the UAE. My basic knowledge was based on what my parents did in Russia. So I started planting in the sand with little potting soil in the middle of spring, closer to summer.’

Impatiently, she watched every year to see if something sprouted.

“Nothing came up. Maybe a few sprouts and that’s it. I was frustrated but not discouraged.”

Next, year, she embarked on round two.

“I grew the seeds in pots this time. But again almost nothing. The next year, I did my research and finally figured out my mistakes. I spent hours on the internet, bought gardening books and learnt. And [eventually], I had an edible garden,” said Yana, who now has a collection of books.

“In 2014, I started a blog mylittlegardenindubai.blogspot.ae. I wanted people to avoid the mistakes that I made, to be inspired and encouraged. I also have a Facebook page by the same name.”

In her garden, Yana grows most of the common vegetables. “During winter I almost don’t buy any from the store.

“I also have Asian greens such as kangkong which grows year round in my garden and Chinese cabbages, arugula, lettuce and more. I plant most of them in September-October, but some like lettuce are planted in late fall. I also grow melons, pumpkins, luffas and gourds.”

In addition, Yana has fruit trees such as Indian almond, pomegranate, citrus trees, mango, a date palm, moringa (drumstick) and others.

“Some of them have already fruited, some not yet.”.