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The Organic Garden at Otočec
Bed by bed and day by day ... beauty takes shape
Sometimes, the best news is that nothing changes. That something continues to thrive, grow, bloom and enrich everyday life in the same dependable way. This is the Castle Garden at Otočec – a place where nature and people breathe in harmony, and where every morning confirms that good things do not need major changes.
Mornings in the garden have a special charm. Freshness still lingers close to the ground, drops of dew rest on the leaves, and gentle light paints each garden bed in different colours. The garden is orderly and carefully tended, yet at the same time very much alive, free and relaxed – just as a true garden should be. A colourful mosaic of vegetable beds, flowers and shrubs creates a pleasant sense of homeliness.
This year, the Organic Garden will be especially proud of its many varieties of courgettes, which promise an abundant season. Among them, numerous other vegetables are already thriving: tomatoes slowly gathering strength for their summer redness, peppers rich in vitamin C, and both stalk and celeriac varieties, known for supporting digestion and the body’s natural detoxification processes. There is also fennel, which has a beneficial effect on the digestive system, as well as home-grown onions and garlic – natural allies of the immune system that should never be missing from a healthy kitchen.
In the kitchens at Otočec, fennel is most often used as a side dish with Krškopolje pork. It is also served fresh as a salad, as this allows it to retain its freshness, distinctive flavour and full nutritional value.
The curly leaves of kale, the delicate green tops of carrots and the glossy leaves of aubergines make for a particularly beautiful sight. Potatoes also grow in the garden beds, while the raised beds offer an abundance of lettuce, beetroot, spinach and sweet strawberries. Beetroot is known for supporting healthy circulation, while spinach is rich in iron and vitamins. All this garden produce is harvested at just the right moment – when it has reached optimal edible ripeness and its nutritional value is at its highest.
The Swiss chard grown in the raised beds is most often used to prepare a purée served with gnocchi. It is also an important ingredient in vegetable ravioli served as a side dish with sea bass.
The castle kitchen regularly uses vegetables for soups, including celery, parsley, carrots and curly kale. Celery is used to prepare a spicy cold sauce, while carrots and parsley are indispensable in soups and ragouts. Curly kale is currently used to make crispy chips, which provide an attractive garnish for gnocchi and are also served alongside veal cheeks.
Sunflower stems rise confidently between the beds, and their flowers will soon begin to follow the sun. Here and there, the eye is drawn to oxeye daisies, old varieties of roses and clary sage, whose pink-and-white flower “bunnies” attract bees and butterflies. These floral accents give the Organic Garden an almost painterly appearance – as though someone had created it with a brush.
The herb spiral is filled with delicate chamomile and refreshing lemon balm. At the most suitable time, the chamomile flowers will be picked by amateur gardeners – including employees from various departments of Terme Krka – and dried for homemade tea. The lemon balm will be harvested and used to prepare the castle’s iced tea.
Selected flowers from the Organic Garden also complement the hotel experience at Otočec, as they are used to decorate the reception area and restaurants.
Life in the garden has its own rhythm ... On my arrival, I disturbed the silence before the beginning of the working day. Soon, nutrition adviser Janja joined me on a working walk among the garden beds, followed a little later by gardeners Tamara and Jure. They immediately realised that they would have plenty to do this time, as another wave of ever-hungry slugs had enjoyed young cabbage for breakfast. This, too, is part of the reality of gardening – the constant search for balance between nature and the challenges it brings.
The Organic Garden, however, is not merely a feast for the eyes. Another of its distinctive features is the close collaboration between the gardening team and the chefs at Otočec, as the garden is their first and finest seasonal market. The chefs agree in advance with the gardeners which ingredients they would like to serve on their plates. In this way, the garden grows precisely what will later become part of a culinary story – fresh, seasonal and local. With zero kilometres travelled from the garden to the kitchen and then to the guest’s plate. The ingredients therefore retain as many vitamins and minerals as possible, while also offering the unique flavour that only fruit and vegetables picked on the same day can provide.
I left the garden with a promise that we would meet again soon. Tamara and Jure said goodbye with an eloquent gesture – a bouquet of oxeye daisies and lavender, along with a few crisp cherries and strawberries for my journey through the bustle of the city ... A simple reminder that a garden provides not only food, but also a sense of warmth, beauty and connection.
And that is precisely why the Organic Garden at Otočec does not need to change. It remains as it was designed – alive, fertile and inspiring.