I live and breathe to see plants growing

Small Farming

“I live and breathe to see plants growing.”

Vasile Mătrășoaie

Suceava, Romania

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"I don't watch television: I watch my plants."

Vasile Mătrășoaie

Suceava, Romania

A story of an exceptional person

Vasile’s story is the story of an exceptional person, who lives for and with his plants. He is an autodidact who tended a vegetable plot for his family while working as a car mechanic. After the coup in 1989 he began a new life as a vegetable grower in Dumbrăveni.

On a piece of land measuring 0.3 hectares he grows fifty varieties of tomato, a hundred or more herbs and “every variety of vegetable in the world. Well, not all of them, but close.” Vasile can always be found in his garden. He doesn’t watch television: “I watch my plants.”

“I have met some incredible people, like Dr. Vânătoru from Buzău. He brings plants from all over the world. The plants are brought to Romania by our ambassadors in various countries. They bring seeds to the station in Buzău. Mr Vânătoru sends them to me in Suceava, so I can test them.”