WHO IS GRĂDINILE MĂLÂNCRAV?
Grădinile Mălâncrav which translates to the Gardens of Mălâncrav, grow vegetables in rhythm with nature in the beautiful Transylvanian village of Mălâncrav, Sibiu County. Owned by Andrei Călugăr and his family, the story begins in 1950, when a North Korean horticultural engineer was tasked with finding the best place in the valley for growing vegetables. The garden that they were looking for had to have the best soil, sun and water conditions. He studied the area in depth and established the location, which is where the Mălâncrav Gardens are positioned today.
After a period of gardening, the engineer was called to fight in the Korean war. Andrei's great grandfather Stefan then became the guardian of the garden for many years. After the fall of communism, the former garden was divided into several plots with several owners. One of the plots went to Andrei's grandmother, who still helps to run the garden today with Andrei and his parents. She cultivated the land and kept it as a vacation spot for her family, until more recently when Andrei decided to take on the land and cultivate vegetables under the open sky, as it was done in the time fo his great grandfather.
WHAT DO THEY DO?
The vegetables are not forced or influenced by other factors, but grown traditionally in the open air, in clean soil with plentiful nutrients that give them that special taste. The garden is an agricultural land with High Nature Value Farmland on which they practice sustainable agriculture, which blends harmoniously with the rich biodiversity in the area.
THE PRODUCE...
In 2018 the garden started to produce more fresh vegetables than they could consume, so they started to sell to the local market. From 2019 Grădinile Mălâncrav created a processing point, where they started to produce their own preserves, both traditional products and more unique ones, from the fruits & vegetables that they had grown with great love. Their aim is to take the story of Mălâncrav Garden further, to continue to grow clean vegetables and to create delicious products directly from the garden to your table in the most sustainable way. Andrei proudly tells the story of his family and the joy of being able to carry on the legacy.