We Explored Urban Farming

Imagine a huge field on the terrace of a shopping mall in the heart of the city. A field where many different plants, vegetables and fruits are grown. An area with the same ecosystem and the same diversity as in nature has been created there. Everything here is grown according to the principles of permaculture. We are talking about Akmerkez Terasta Tarla, which covers an area of 750 square meters.

The field at Akmerkez is looked after by the Ek Biç Ye İç team. Ek Biç Ye İç is a group of nature and natural living enthusiasts who grow their own produce at their location in Taksim and run a restaurant serving dishes made with this produce. They maintain this field together. Two days a week, together with volunteers who look after the field, they carry out activities such as sowing seedlings, transplanting seedlings, producing compost and cleaning the field.

As future chefs studying Gastronomy and Culinary Arts at BAU, we take part in trips to learn where and how the products we use in the kitchen come from, and to see the conditions under which they are produced and grown. Our latest trip was to Akmerkez Terrace, to see how fruit and vegetables are grown in a field on a terrace in the middle of the city.

First, we toured the field with the Ek Biç Ye İç team. We learned about methods of compost production and received information on rainwater storage, a hydroponic wall garden and an aquaponic system. We tasted the dishes the team prepared for us with produce from the field. Then we gained hands-on experience by transplanting and sowing seedlings.

We saw once again how much effort farming requires and how important our farmers and producers are. We also realized how much it contributes to nature to turn every possible space into farmland in this way.

As the BAU Culinary Arts Center, let us also share the good news that we will soon have an area on our own terrace where we will do farming.