garden of friends
The Garden of Friends is the headquarters of Sporos, our main learning and teaching hub where most of our seminars take place. It is also the place where we grow all the goodies we eat and happily share with all. It is a meeting space, a center for creativity, hard work and regeneration. It is our exhibition site, where we aim to present a big variety of growing, building and living techniques so as to inspire our visitors.
It is based on the coast of Gera Bay in Lesvos, in the Dipi-Larsos wetland area, a pristine natural environment which is part of the Natura 2000 network of core breeding and resting sites for rare and threatened species, and some rare natural habitat types which are protected in their own right.
In and around the farm there is a wide variety of wild greens, flowers, herbs and wetland plants which we respect and protect. The area is also a popular landing site for the many migratory birds which fly over Lesvos on their annual journey to Africa and back as well as a sanctuary for numerous wild animals such as deer, foxes, ferrets, hedgehogs, many reptiles and last place where sea otters were spotted on the island in previous years.
Our farm protects two and a half acres of land, part of which is coastal and is currently being respectfully transformed by implementing a chinampas design. In the farm we grow olives, pomegranates, pears, grapes, cherry plums, walnuts, almonds, persimmons, apples, quinces, plums, peaches, mulberries, tangerines and most of the seasonal vegetables you can think of.
Our farmhouse stores our seedbank and hosts our volunteers, interns and visiting teachers and friends. Our dome-greenhouse is where we raise our seedlings and our larger dome is where we hold our seminars.
The Garden of Friends is dedicated to the memory of our beloved friend Vasilis Kapsouros, the cinematographer whose vision gave birth to the idea but left us before we could materialise it together.
