A permaculture garden around an office building—in the capital city? Why not!
The headquarters of Grapoila, producer of cold-pressed oils, seed flours, seed creams, and natural cosmetics, moved a few years ago to Budapest’s 22nd district, to the former site of the Vegetable Research Institute (ZKI). At the time, the building, property, and the attached greenhouse had been abandoned for over 10 years. In spring 2020, we began cultivating the 3,000 m² plot using permaculture principles, with the aim of regenerating the environment.
From idea to reality
The idea to use the garden space sprouted during a lunch break.
One of our then-colleagues, Gábor Molnár, was offered some imported Italian arugula, and it sparked the thought—how wonderful it would be to harvest leafy greens from our own garden. And how unique it would be if a company that has been committed to zero waste and healthy products from the very beginning could also supply its own employees with chemical-free vegetables and fruits.
The philosophy of permaculture aligns perfectly with our company’s values and sustainability goals. The idea was given the green light by management immediately—even though, in Hungary, nothing like this had yet been done by a non-agricultural company.
Since then, we’ve been working continuously on soil regeneration and creating water security to protect ourselves from the extremes of weather. We’ve created many new habitats, established a forest garden and a kitchen garden to preserve biodiversity, planted a Miyawaki forest, built a rainwater collection pond, and are trying to offer an ideal environment for as many beneficial species as possible (pollinator meadows, wetland habitats). We’ve even started saving our own seeds!
What do we do with the vegetables from the garden?
The garden supplies our team with chemical-free vegetables, provides seasonal ingredients for developing new Grapoila recipes, and offers a place for office workers to relax, garden, and discover new vegetables and flavors.
More than just a garden…
We owe far more to the garden than we ever imagined at the beginning.
Over time, our office garden has grown into an educational hub, where, during our annual Open Days, visitors can take part in guided garden tours, culinary, permaculture, and natural cosmetics workshops (such as fermenting, porridge blending, composting, hand cream making), attend presentations, and even take home chemical-free seedlings.
We’re truly delighted to share our experience with so many gardening enthusiasts from the district—people who, after getting a glimpse into this regenerative way of farming, go home and put what they’ve learned into practice.
Year after year, our Open Days attract more and more visitors—surprisingly not just from the local area, but from all over the country.
In line with permaculture principles ("Share the surplus!"), we donate the remaining plants from our annual seedling sales to charitable causes—such as homeless shelters, kindergartens, and schools. We maintain close relationships with the Budafok CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) group, local mushroom growers, and permaculture experts in the area.
Experience-based permaculture workshops for young people
We believe it's essential that young people growing up in urban environments do not become disconnected from nature—but instead, get to know, love, and respect it, as this is the foundation of environmentally responsible thinking. That’s why we’ve developed an experience-based educational program, through which several school classes have already visited us.
We tailor each workshop to the specific age group, reaching everyone from primary school children to teenagers and even students from horticultural vocational schools, with the aim of inspiring and sensitizing as many young people as possible to the themes of environmental protection and sustainability.
If you’d like to take a peek around our permaculture garden, get your hands on some chemical-free seedlings, or connect with this little permaculture community in any way,
follow us on the Grapoila Permaculture Facebook page, where we always announce our Open Days first — or get in touch with our gardeners via email at farm@grapoila.hu!
Subscribing to our newsletter is also a great option — subscribers are the first to hear about our latest events and programs!
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The Facebook page and newsletters are only available in Hungarian, but we will work on the English versions as well soon!
