This small vegetable garden belongs to Giannis Philippaios, also known in the village as Apithanos (the Uncanny). Giannis’ father bought if from his brother and worked it as a vineyard for a few years. Unfortunately, it was destroyed by animals that managed to get in. When Giannis inherited it in the ‘90s, the small garden was full of oleander bushes, reeds and couch grass (Agropyron repens).
Gradually the terraces were restored, the grass removed, trees and vines were planted and climbing frames and a patititiri, a stomping ’vat’, were erected. The stomping ‘vat’ is a cistern for the grapes to be placed after harvesting. The stompers crush the grapes with their bare feet and the juice produced is the must.
Giannis built the keli (the cell), as well, near the chapel of the Soter (Christ the Saviour), whose feast day is celebrated on 6 August). The feast is sometimes moved to September, on the feast of Panagia Myrtidiotissa (found among the myrtles) or the feast of St. Thecla. Big feasts were held under the mulberry tree in the summer to the music of violins and lutes.
The small garden produces red wine, strawberries, oranges, tangerines, lemons, pomegranates, figs, and apples. This is a typical sample of a small-scale agricultural holding within a stream bed using the occasional water supply.
Kythnos has preserved its agricultural production unlike other Cycladic islands. Local production includes barley, miadi (a mixture of barley and wheat), vetch for animal fodder, legumes, potatoes, garden vegetables, vines, and a few olive trees.
Garden vegetables are mainly grown in family gardens for the family’s own consumption. Ambelofasoula (cow peas – Vigna unguiculata) are picked and boiled along with vlita (amaranthus greens – Amaranthus blitum) to make a summer salad when Giannis and his wife entertain friends in the summer.
Onions, garlic, large aubergines (flaskoutes), and plum (burnella) tomatoes are the basic produce. Fruit trees may be few for the area of the island, but their variety is wide. Lemon trees, almond trees producing three types of almonds – small, nail shaped and soft), as well as large and hard ones, quince trees, pomegranate trees, mulberries, small apricot (kaisi) trees, plum trees.
Thermia residents seem to have loved pears, because there are many varieties and they used to harvest pears from June to November. Some of the best known ones are Krystali and kondoules (short ones), milapida (Asian pears), green and hard pears, gialiniatika or beides, which are less juicy but more butter-tasting, loumbardiatika (like a Lombardia cannon), large and ball-shaped, juicy fouskoules (bubbles) later in the season, agoritsakia (from agoritsies,i.e., wild pear trees) and the large mouchritikes (from the Slavic name for weeds) achlades, which seem to have disappear.
