– On the street, a dried-up cherry tree was growing tomatoes on sunflower stalks. Do you have any other ideas?
Not now, but they will be next year. Gardening and growing crops is my old passion as a kid on a farm. I also learned that the best is what you produce yourself. Peppers, tomatoes, onions, vegetables and potatoes should always be in the garden, and there should be a place to reach them. According to the logic of common sense, you can quickly cook sour-potato soup with eggs and sausage at any time, and for the second time you can bake pancakes with homemade milk, which are topped with homemade apricot jam. But we ate this a lot when I was a kid! Still a family favourite.
“Is raising cattle also important to him?”
“In the beginning, it was mostly rabbits.” My young son received a rabbit as a gift before we moved on to Csaba, which we brought with us from Nagyszénas. Since there was only room between the hens, we put them there. They ate well and gained a lot of weight. Later, a small buck rabbit joined the team, although experts said that such a fat rabbit would have no offspring. Well, they did! One day, after dark, I went to collect eggs, and to my annoyance I picked up chicken dirt again instead of eggs, but there were eight newly born rabbits hidden in a huge ball of fur. This gave me the impetus to start raising rabbits full time in the rabbit breeding group. So I was able to work at home and raise the kids. This was helped and supported by my husband, who loves to cook, so we complemented each other really well.
He also grows tomatoes on his doorstep in a variety of ways. Are you a fan of constant experimentation? Why tomato running?
– With the cattle, the space where I could grow vegetables has shrunk, but there was still room upstairs. I have tomatoes in balcony boxes, in buckets outdoors, in a UV-protected polycarbonate greenhouse. The changing weather and the emergence of new varieties made it necessary to test new cultivation methods and techniques. Every garden has its own microclimate. The same species behave differently in another garden, they may be more beautiful and stronger, but they may be weaker and sicker.
– When did you think of the tomato project?
– I had plenty of time to reflect during the Covid lockdown. I have come to the conclusion that what brings me joy must bring joy to others. I would like the knowledge accumulated not to be lost among the older gardening enthusiasts. I would like to preserve this knowledge, adapted to today’s needs, for future generations. You choose to introduce and teach tomato cultivation. I knocked on the door of schools in Piquiscapa, where it was needed, and we started the program with teachers and department heads.
– Is it true that you also taught the children to say “good morning” to heaven?
Plants feel when they are nurtured with love. In one session, she reported on one of the latest research findings at Tel Aviv University: a tomato that screamed in an eerie voice. When plants are stressed, they emit ultrasound that can be heard up to 1 meter away. We can’t hear it, but insects and other plants can feel it. Tomatoes were stressed by water withdrawal. Emits 30 to 50 pops or clicks per minute. But when all was well with him, he remained silent. Humankind has long felt that plants are also sentient beings, but until now there has been no evidence for this. It is now.
– Students can also practice work procedures in the mobile garden. Why did you consider this important?
– I showed the tasks related to the care of the tomato rootstock who was appointed as a traveling ambassador. The “advanced” state of development showed what babies will look like in a month. We started sowing seeds in March, germinated plants. After the session, the children also sowed the seeds in the house. After emergence, daily care was also important during the cultivation of the seedlings, and the tomatoes had to be sheltered and protected in order for them to grow well.
What has been your greatest project experience to date?
– When I saw a little boy petting the tomato seedling I gave him, he put it on his seat before leaving the room to play. Because I told you before that scientists have discovered the tool with which they can measure the conversation between plants and their signals to the outside world. I feel like these shots are worth it. We discussed with the children that with the help of their family members, they could also take pictures of the harvest and show them to each other. They tell you how different the tomatoes that are the fruit of their labor taste.
Business card
Erika Lehoczkiné Megyik was born in 1956 in Szarvas. They lived on a farm in Kisinas, and later in Nagesinas. He graduated from Vajda Péter High School in Szarvas and also acquired a profession as an irrigated plant mechanic. He worked in the corn-breeding farm of the Irrigation Research Institute as a seed test technician. In 1979, she married Janos Lehoczki. Then her two children, Geza in 1982 and Erica in 1985, were born, and she took care of their upbringing. They have lived in Piquiscapa since 1985. Erica was a member of a rabbit breeding group, in 1990, for example, she delivered 15.7 Maza rabbits. He took care of his mother-in-law and elderly parents. Later he worked in several places. His hobbies include reading and baking, he knows a lot of cake recipes, and makes them whenever he has time.
