On Friday, July 19, 2019, a new didactic garden was opened for visitors. The Oliwa Zoo has created a unique place for all those interested in learning about the biodiversity of our world. The Matylda Garden is a project of the Gdansk fundraiser Anna Jędrzejewska, in which families, school groups and all interested parties will be able to observe the year-round vegetation of plants.
The garden has received over twenty frames (boxes where plants grow) filled with various vegetables and fruits. All of them are marked with colourful plates, so that even the youngest can recognize the planting. They contain fragrant herbs, as well as vegetables, including beets, potatoes, kohlrabi, tomatoes, pepper and a garden surprise – eggplant. In all-year-round greenhouses you can admire the growth of tomatoes, as well as such exotic plants as coffee and tea shrubs.
The garden is also a mini orchard with several fruit trees and a pond, on the banks of which grows edible sweet rush. There is also a place for frog Helena. Houses for insects, or welcoming Mr. Awokado – these are just a few of the many attractions waiting for visitors to the garden.
– The Matylda Garden project is primarily a story about fruit and vegetables, conveyed in an easy and accessible way for children. It is also an answer to questions: Does a carrot have tops? And why is the beetroot red? The whole project is to introduce children to the origin of food. Food does not come from the market, but from fields, meadows, plots – from the earth. Children’s active participation in light gardening activities will show them the effort that has to be made to grow a plant which can then be eaten. The experience of diversity, the personalised little creatures like frogs and bitterns in the garden will develop children’s creativity and imagination. Tasting, smelling, touching different plants will stimulate their senses and enrich in new, previously unknown experiences. There is nothing more beautiful than participating in a world so rich with plants or animals, and knowing that we are a part of it – says Anna Jędrzejewska, the author of the garden.
on the photo: Anna Jędrzejewska, the author of the garden
Matylda’s Garden is another garden in Oliwa created with active participation of DORACO Building Corporation. Let us remind you: a few years ago the company reconstructed the gardens in Oliwa in the area of its headquarters, surrounding the area of the former Farm together with the Saltzmann manor house. In this way, the French and English gardens, existing in the eighteenth century in this place, were restored. Since 2014, this area has become a natural extension of the Oliwa Park and a favorite place for walks of residents and tourists. In winter, the gardens are illuminated by festive illuminations.
The unique garden was created in the company’s jubilee year of 2017. For its 25th anniversary, DORACO designed and built for the community the first garden in Gdansk with sensory elements. On the area of the garden at the Mill Pond in Oliwa, there were various elements stimulating the senses. Among them were flower beds planted with herbs, affecting the sense of smell, taste, touch and sight, a path that allows to discover different textures and shapes, elements of small architecture made of wood or educational boards.
The Matylda Garden in the Gdansk Zoo can be visited daily, 10.00-16.00, after purchasing a ticket to the Zoo.
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