Stepanakert resident Zaven Sarukhanyan has turned his love of farming into practice by growing beans and carrots on a small plot of land outside his apartment building.

It’s his approach to circumvent Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin Corridor, now in its seventh month, that has severely decreased the availability of food in the country.

Mr. Sarukhanyan has a larger plot of land in Nor Aresh, on the outskirts of Stepanakert, where he’s planted potatoes and other crops.

Zaven Sarukhanyan

"I’m a village boy, from Khndzristan in the Askeran District. I am a lawyer by profession, but farming is my second profession. I like working with soil. The land never leaves a person dissatisfied. We get a harvest every three days. But the children have already eaten so much they’re full of beans,” says the sixty-six year-old

The urban farmer has to walk to his larger plot of land since public transportation in the Artsakh capital has been suspended due to a lack of fuel.

"At 7 o'clock in the morning, I go to the vegetable garden on foot, water it, spend almost the whole day there and walk back. I spend almost two hours on the road," says Mr. Sarukhanyan.

He says the neighborhood kids no longer damage the garden. They now understand its benefits.

Susan Badasyan created a small vegetable garden in the yard of one of Stepanakert's guest houses. She says that when she moved there with her son's family, the area was filled with building debris.

Susan Badasyan

"We have cleared the area and decided to cultivate the land this year. I sowed tomatoes, cucumbers, beets and pumpkins. It is not fertile soil. I can only pick beetroot. I’ve given up on tomatoes and cucumbers. Sometimes I feel it’s a waste of water,” says Mrs. Badasyan

Fifty-four-year-old Susan Badasyan was displaced from the Tumi village of Hadrut and resettled in Stepanakert with her family.

While working on her vegetable garden at the guest house, she fondly remembers her Tumi garden.  She says there’s no comparison.

"I had a big vegetable garden, I cultivated everything and everything grew, and it was enough for us all winter. And what kind of winter supply can I get here?" she asks.