Feri and his vegetable garden

Feri was born and raised in Velemer, where he now lives alone.

In the beginning, Feri and his parents worked together to construct the original house.

The vegetable garden is essential to him, and it not only looks beautiful, but it also produces a large number of veggies, far too much for Feri to consume, but it serves as a reminder of his late mother. She used to take great pleasure in taking care of it. So it is for him a solid and lovely connection with her.

He is reviving the old-fashioned practices that his mother used. For example, to irrigate the field, he needs more than 40 buckets of water, which he then transfers to smaller ones for water not to harm the plant and its roots!

In the olden days, every single household in Velemer, as well as in rural Hungary, used to have a vegetable garden. It was essential to provide food for the family, but it was also a matter of pride to grow the best, richest, and tastiest produce. Some of Feri’s plants, particularly those of the spice Paprika, have been passed around for decades or more!

Hungarian 🇭🇺

Feri Velemérben született és nőtt fel, ahol ma egyedül él.

Kezdetben Feri és szülei együtt dolgoztak az eredeti ház építésén.

Nagyon fontos számára a veteményeskert, amely nemcsak gyönyörűen fest, de rengeteg zöldség is terem ott, túl sok is ahhoz, hogy Feri maga elfogyassza mindet, de ez a néhai édesanyjára is emlékezteti, aki nagy örömmel gondozta a kertet. Számára ez egy erős és kedves kapcsolat vele.

Feleleveníti azokat a régimódi praktikákat, amelyeket az édesanyja alkalmazott. Például a szántóföld öntözéséhez több mint 40 vödör vízre van szüksége, amit aztán kisebb vödrökbe tölt át, hogy a víz ne tegyen kárt a növényben és a gyökereiben!

Régen Velemérben és a vidéki Magyarországon is minden egyes háztartásban volt zöldségeskert, mivel nagyon fontos volt a család élelmezése, de egyben büszkeség kérdése is volt, hogy a legjobb, leggazdagabb és legízletesebb növényeket termésszék. Feri egyes növényei, különösen a fűszerpaprika évtizedekig vagy még tovább is öröklődtek!

Slovenian 🇸🇮

Feri se je rodil in odraščal v Velemerju, kjer sedaj živi sam.

Feri in njegovi starši so skupaj gradili hišo.

Zelenjavni vrt je zanj zelo pomemben. Ne le, da lepo izgleda, ampak daje tudi veliko zelenjave, veliko več kot jo Feri lahko porabi. Gre za spomin na njegovo pokojno mamo, ki je včasih zelo uživala pri tem. Zanj predstavlja močno in ljubečo povezavo z njo.

Oživlja staromodne prakse, ki jih je uporabljala njegova mama. Na primer, za namakanje polja porabi več kot 40 veder vode, ki jih nato pretoči v manjša vedra, da voda ne poškoduje rastline in njenih korenin!

V starih časih je imelo vsako gospodinjstvo v Velemerju, ter na splošno na podeželju na Madžarskem, zelenjavni vrt. Zelo pomembno je bilo zagotoviti hrano za družino, prav tako pa so bili ponosni, da imajo najboljši, najbogatejši, in najbolj okusen pridelek. Nekatere Ferijeve rastline, zlasti začimbne paprike, se prenašajo naokoli že desetletja ali celo dlje!

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Irén in Velemér Orseg

Irén lives in Velemér, where she was born in the early 1930s.

Her parents built the house where she now resides between 1945 and 1956 with a great deal of love, care, and attention. In addition to Irene's love of pastel colours, most details can still be seen today.

During a wedding reception in 1956, she met Sándor, her future husband, for the first time; he had only recently returned to the area after working away in Budapest for several years. As a result of his inability to find work, his friends advised him to relocate away from the neighbourhood.

His family had, in fact, suffered as a result of Communism's repression. They had been evicted from their home and their land during the years of the "kolkhoz," a farming cooperative set up in rural areas of Hungary at the time of Soviet Union occupation.

When they were younger, they farmed their land and kept some animals, including everything from cows to pigs to chickens. Irén has fewer chickens now, but she still has a fantastic vegetable garden, which she lovingly tends to every day.

She is a mother, grandmother and great grandmother, and three generations live nearby.

Not to mention she knows how to brew an excellent coffee!

PS to read more about communism in rural areas I suggest :

Gergely Krisztián Horváth COMMUNIST AGRICULTURAL POLICY AND THE FIRST WAVE OF COLLECTIVISATION IN HUNGARY

Hungarian 🇭🇺

Irén Velemérben él, ahol az 1930-as évek elején született.

A házat, amelyben él, a szülei építették 1945 és 1956 között sok-sok szeretettel, gondossággal és figyelmességgel. Az eredeti kialakítás részletei még ma is láthatók Irén pasztellszínek iránti rajongása mellett. 

1956-ban egy lakodalomban találkozott először Sándorral, a jövőbeli férjével, aki csak nemrégiben tért vissza a környékre, miután éveken át dolgozott Budapesten. A barátai ajánlották neki, hogy költözzön el a környékről, mert itt nem tudott munkát találni.

A családja a kommunista elnyomás áldozata volt. Ki lettek lakoltatva az otthonukból és a birtokukról a „kolhoz” idők alatt. A kolhozok mezőgazdasági szövetkezetek voltak Magyarország vidéki területein az orosz megszállás idejében. 

Amikor fiatalabbak voltak művelték a földjüket és számos állatot tartottak a tehenektől és a disznóktól kezdve a csirkékig. Irénnek már csak néhány csirkéje van, de van egy csodálatos zöldséges kertje, amelyet minden nap szeretettel gondoz. 

A családjának három nemzedéke él a közelben, akiknek anyja, nagyanyja és dédnagyanyja.

Ráadásul kiváló kávét tud főzni! !

Slovenian 🇸🇮

Irén živi v Veleméru, kjer se je rodila v zgodnjih tridesetih letih prejšnjega stoletja.

Hišo, v kateri zdaj prebiva, so njeni starši zgradili med letoma 1945 in 1956 z veliko ljubezni, skrbi in pozornosti. Poleg Iréninega navdušenja nad pastelnimi barvami je še danes mogoče videti detajle prvotnega oblikovanja.

Leta 1956 je na svadbi prvič srečala Sándorja, svojega bodočega moža, ki se je šele pred kratkim vrnil na to okolico, saj je pred tem kar nekaj časa delal v Budimpešti. Prijatelji so mu svetovali, naj se preseli iz soseske, ker ni mogel najti delo.

Njegova družina je bila žrtev komunistične represije. V letih »kolhozov«, kmetijskih proizvajalnih organizacij, ustanovljenih na podeželskih območjih Madžarske v času ruske okupacije, so jih izselili iz njihovega doma in posesti.

Ko sta bila mlajša, sta obdelovala svojo zemljo in gojila številne živali, vse od krav in prašičev pa do kokoši. Irén ima zdaj le manjše število kokoši, ima pa še vedno fantastičen zelenjavni vrt, za katerega z ljubeznijo skrbi vsak dan.

Je mama, babica in prababica, v bližini živijo tri generacije njene družine.

Povrhu vsega zna skuhati odlično kavo!

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Rural Life in Monochrome

Rural areas have a low population density and small settlements, also agricultural areas are commonly rural, as well as other types of areas such as forests.

Different countries have varying definitions of rural for statistical and administrative purposes……but no matter where the style of life is very similar

Rural living offers the opportunity to reconnect with nature. More trees and less traffic means cleaner air. Fields, forests, and streams make for great outdoor living and a healthier lifestyle

Advantages

• More privacy. In the countryside there’s a good chance your nearest neighbour won’t be directly next door. You may not even be able to spot their home at all.

• You can have a bigger garden. If you’ve always wanted to grow your own food or have more space for children or pets, this is a huge benefit.

• You’ll be able to own pets you may have always wanted but couldn’t have owned in a city or town. Cows, llamas and horses are all examples of these. You could even keep hens and have your own free-range eggs.

• You’ll be closer to the various wildlife of the area and to walks in areas of natural beauty.

• City-dwellers usually suffer higher levels of stress than those who commute in for work or live and work in the country. There is a reason living and working in a city is called “the rat race”. By decreasing the number of people surrounding you, you could become more relaxed.

• You can be fully, or semi self-sufficient. You could grow your own food. If you do decide to keep animals, you may also be able to sell produce from them (milk/eggs/honey) to create a small income.

Disadvantages

• If you have children of school-age, they might be faced with a longer journey to school, whether they walk, take the bus or get a lift in.

• Shopping can become an inconvenience. This may not seem all that important, but staples that are purchased a couple times a week, such as milk and bread, may be further than just a 2 minute trip down the road.

• There may be limited job opportunities, unless you already have a job nearby or if you commute into a town or city.

• Television and Internet connectivity could be weaker or patchy in more rural areas.

• During the winter months, nearby roads might not be in the best shape or not be as well maintained as urban roads.

• Trade services, such as a mechanic, are harder to find. In urban areas, if you have car trouble you can make do with a local taxi or bus until it’s fixed. Services like these are scarcer in the countryside, leaving you with limited options.

• Entertainment and eateries may be further away, which involves more time, a higher expense and extra planning.