MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

Amed – Harvest time of vegetables planted in the spring in the Hevsel Gardens has started. The Hevsel Gardens are the seven hundred hectares of cultivated, fertile lands near the Tigris. Many vegetables such as basil, mint, and lettuce are grown in the gardens. Women have gone to the gardens early in the morning to collect vegetables and they have worked until the evening to prepare the vegetables for sale. Emine Özdemir is one of these women. She has worked in the gardens for 25 years. After planting vegetables in the spring, these women water their gardens until harvest time. The women don’t work only in winter. Emine Özdemir has gone to the Hevsel Gardens early in the morning along with her husband and relatives to collect vegetables.

Harvest time for Hevsel Gardens

“After planting the vegetables, we come here every day to water them. The harvest time begins this month. We collect the vegetables such as tomato and green peppers. We collect basil, mint, and lettuce in the morning,” Emine Özdemir told our news agency.

“We make a living by selling vegetables”

Emine Özdemir and her family have worked in the Hevsel Gardens for years. “This garden is our only means of livelihood. We have worked in the gardens for years. Together with my husband, we plant, water, and harvest the vegetables. We sell these vegetables. We make a living by selling vegetables. We don’t work in winter.”

“I teach my children”

Emine Özdemir’s mother also worked in the Hevsel Gardens, “Working in the gardens is a very hard job but we do this job despite everything. I learned how to work in the gardens from my mother and now I teach my children.”