The Flowering Citadel
Den’s creative team chose the topic “Axiom-Farm” for the first summertime glossy issue not by chance. Considering the most common things, summer is a season one wants to spend out of the city, cultivating flower gardens and gathering first crops – strawberries, cherries, raspberries, etc. – and starting the mornings with a meditation before a blooming efflorescence. It is a time when one wants to have the view from their windows resemble the paintings of Kateryna Bilokur. Strengthening and enhancing this beauty is what one needs to have an island of personal happiness. Additionally, there is a deeper symbolism – the private sector, from large farm to even the smallest cottage, is the space of individual freedom; and this view explains a lot and gives clear guidance.
“In my opinion, Ukrainians carry inside, in some way, the surviving worlds of individualism. And such worlds must be preserved – secured by personal welfare, which looks different at different levels of development, but in its essence have the fact that people who own their six hundred square meters of backyard are no longer slaves to the state,” writes Larysa Ivshyna, Den’s editor-in-chief, in her traditional editorial article. “So, the image of the farm contains not only a juicy garden, morning glories, nasturtiums, and the entirety of an estate, but a dimension of individual freedoms, security and the British principle of ‘my house is my fortress.’ This is, so to say, an individual autonomy, but it has the connection between communities constructed properly – with a rapid Internet!; because good mutual relations are possible when there are equal opportunities for everyone: those, who want and are able to work on the ground, have the freedom to do so. And children who grow up with such an understanding of the concepts of property and ‘their own’ are quite different even in their attitude to military service...”
The latest glossy combines these two dimensions of private farms – the freedom and the beauty. This unusual interpretation is even hinted on the cover. As explained by Anna Havryliuk, the artist who created it, “the farming is a hard and meditative perennial work, which is very similar to the Japanese bonsai growing. Therefore, on the one hand, the cover has a farm resembling a pot of bonsai. And on the other hand, it looks like a bright bowl of salad dish – we are what we eat. And we should eat the food that had been grown with love...”
Den’s creative team has a lot of interesting things to show in the Route No. 1. In particular, there is an interview with Yurii Fomenko, warrior-farmer, with whom Den got acquainted on the ATO frontline – without a doubt, this talk will be a revelation for the reader. Additionally, there are articles about urban gardening and the first urban garden beds in Ukraine.
On the glossy pages you will also find a report from the mountain pastures – “Secrets of Carpathian shepherds.” Moreover, you will read some very practical advice – for example, what clothes and basic tools are required for beginner farmers; or the five steps to launch a successful small farm. Here you can read an inspiring story – an interview about the image of a modern Ukrainian agrarian with Pavlo Kalenych, director of “Olhopil” agricultural company...
And the new Route No. 1 has many more to offer!
The 33rd issue of Route No. 1, Axiom-Farm will be available after June 26 in press kiosks or at Den’s website.
Anyone so inclined, including business representatives, may join the circle of our partners and present themselves and their projects in the upcoming issues of the Route.
