Russian Horticulture, wait, really?

Yes folks, what you read is true. Even those brutal Russian winters can not stop horticulture from being practiced worldwide.

This past spring, I was fortunate enough to study abroad in Moscow, Russia. I participated in an international agricultural seminar, a three-way program between Clemson University, Pennsylvania State University, and the Moscow State Agro-Engineering University. I lived in Moscow, Russia from January 15th to May 12th, 2008, and loved absolutely every second of it. I loved it so much, that I would like to return there some day (hopefully sooner than later) to live and work in the field of horticultural production.

I know that some of you are thinking to yourself that "wow, this kid is crazy," and you are exactly right, I am. Who in their right mind would think about moving to Mother Russia, suffer through bitterly freezing winters, and leave life in America? Well, I would, but enough of all of that, let's talk some plants, huh?

Throughout the semester, our Russian-American study group went on weekly tours throughout the Moscow Region to different agricultural facilities. Some of the places we visited were the Moskovsky Greenhouse, a fruit farm with a juice processing facility, various dairy farms and processing plants, potato, canola, and soybean farms, and one of my favorites, a swine processing facility. (NOTE: swine means pigs, or pork, or those lovely oinkers that taste so good when they have been sitting in a cooking vessel all day, not plants).

Although the pigs were great, the vegetative biodiversity was absolutely beautiful and my favorite part of living in Russia. Once the snow and icepack melted and spring came around, it was like living in a completely new environment. Beautiful bulbs started to poke their way through the soil, birds migrated back for the beginning of spring, and you could feel a new sense of life in the air. Over were the days of sub-freezing temperatures, endless snow-showers, and barren plants.

Here is a picture of Alexander's Garden, just meters away from the Kremlin Walls, and the ever-so-famous Red Square.




Even though much of Russia's landscape is dominated by tunda, borreal forest and temperate woodlands, there is an enormous amount of plant productivity that takes place. Russia is the second largest producer or wheat in the world, the United States is first. Russia is also the 3rd largest apple producing country, China and the United States are first and second. The country also features over 300 wineries, a world leader in sour-cherry production, and is famous for their vodkas. (NOTE: Russian vodka is made with potatoes, unlike most vodkas worldwide, especially in the United States where wheat is the crop used for alcohol production. Talk about putting horticulture to work!)

So if you are ever thinking about going to Russia, feel free to contact me. I will be more than happy to answer any questions about Russian horticulture, or just Russia itself. It truly is an amazing place.

Pictures from: Personal photo collection.