Yesterday at 20:12
One farmer from Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region planted the largest dogwood garden in Europe. He plans to export seedlings of the plant to the European Union. And products made from his dogwood berries are already being sold in Japan, Germany, and other countries.
It’s the only industrial farm for growing dogwood seedlings in the whole of Europe. Sergyi Olshansky created the seed plot from scratch.
“The demand for planting material is really high now in Ukraine and in Europe. European farmers are particularly interested in seeds from Ukraine since they are frost resistant and really good for industrial processing,” Olshansky said.
The building of a 40-square-meter experimental greenhouse cost Olshansky $4 thousand dollars. It’s now home to 1500 dogwood plants.
“In order for the seeds to take root, the temperature should be not lower than 25 degrees Celsius. Now it’s 26 degrees here. Also, humidity should be around 80 percent. We alter the temperature with shade and watering. Humidity is created by mist,” Agronomist Serhiy Bohomol said.
The Ukrainian farmer also produces sauces, jams, pastille, and compote. All made of dogwood. This year, some of the products will appear on the shelves of German supermarkets. To make it to the Japanese market, though, some changes to the recipe had to be made.
Olshansky managed to organize a non-waste production process. Dogwood pits are the main ingredient for special oils that don’t have any analogs in the world.
“I have an idea to create a cooperative, give the planting materials to the villagers and let people grow it. And we will buy the harvest by wholesale prices,” Olshansky said.
The farmer has ambitious plans for the future. In ten years Olshansky wants to harvest at least 500 tons of dogwood annually.
