Vatican vegetable garden goes 100% organic

A vegetable garden and orchard inside the Vatican walls, which historically provided food for the pope’s household, is now cultivated using exclusively organic farming techniques. The private garden covers almost a tenth of an acre of cultivable land inside the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery property, where Pope Benedict XVI once lived and where cloistered Benedictine nuns from the Abbey of St. Scholastic in Victoria, Argentina, now reside.

Sometimes known as "the pope’s garden," the vegetable plot has always been a defining feature because the Vatican Gardens were originally created primarily to provide sustenance for the Apostolic Palace, according to Stefano Giampaolo, forestry expert and head of the Gardens and Environment Service of the Vatican. Giampaolo explained that the plot is now more accurately understood as the vegetable garden of the Vatican Gardens — an area covering roughly half of Vatican City at 57 acres.

The Benedictine nuns at Mater Ecclesiae Monastery eat the produce grown in the garden and use it to make jams and other food preserves, while excess crops are given to a Vatican soup kitchen run by the Missionaries of Charity. The move to biological farming techniques has been underway for several years, partly in response to Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato Si', Giampaolo noted.

According to Gilberto Bianchi, the head gardener since 2008, managing a completely organic vegetable garden presents distinct challenges regarding aggressive insects, soil drainage, and water conservation. Without chemical fertilizers or insecticides, natural predators in the soil are used for pest control. To conserve water in the fast-draining soil, workers add coconut fiber to retain moisture and utilize a targeted drip irrigation system.

Organic agriculture also requires strict adherence to seasonal cycles. The late-summer harvest includes tomatoes, eggplants, green beans, zucchini, cucumbers, and peppers, whereas fall and winter crops feature broccoli, spinach, lettuce, and pumpkins. Vatican Media reports the garden also yields garlic, basil, and Peruvian chili peppers, alongside newly added kiwi plants requested by the Argentinian nuns. Adjacent to the plot is a small orchard of about 15 citrus trees, some dating back 150 years.