A Peach Of An Idea For The Bulgarian Village Farm

Peach Tree Blossom

It was a great idea today that sprung to mind when slaving away on the sticky mud trying to prepare the soil for the cold season that should have been on us, but the winter has been delayed for some reason with the warm weather that is set to continue this coming week.

Over the last few years the stress of living in the town and playing catch up in the village at weekends during the growing season has been something I have tried to eliminate. Growing crops that don’t need water every day was a tactic that didn’t work. I needed the help of my neighbour to bale me out in the really hot weather and they had their own crops to take care of. This was another stress I could do without.

So, today the thoughts were all about how to overcome this and trees were the answer. Peach trees were the answer to be exact. The area in which the produce is grown each year could take nine peach trees and of course they need no daily or bi-daily attention. Spaying is needed and of course keeping the jungle down around them, but this could easily be done each weekend without the need for assistance from neighbours.

Peaches are common in Bulgaria especially in this area and are eaten fresh, as a conserve in winter and used for rakia. The need for weekly watering in the summer is essential and they will be planted within reach of the well water so no worries there either, Once they are established after around 3-4 years, the shade they provide will quell the undergrowth and less maintenance is needed. The fruit will also be that much bigger.

The thought of planting vines took hold for a while, but event though the area is perfect and they are easily managed the cost of setting this up was too expensive for use. This made our decision so much easier, alongside the birds that would steal our crop each year with us not there for five days of the week.

We will seek advice from peach growing maestro when we get back to work as they have them there, newly planted last year. We hope to get some saplings soon and of course cheaper than what they retail for in bazaars. This is the Bulgarian way.

Skalitsa Springing Into Action

It seems quite unbelievable that now from worrying about not being able to grow crops this season to now having two plots and other that I can take up if I wish. There is now a never-ending supply of food making resources at my disposal.

The Skalitsa farmhouse is a weekend project well under way, the Yambol town plot is also in progress, but the third offering was from my brother who has a home in a village 15 kilometres from Yambol. I have pruned all his vines this week, but had to decline managing the rest of his extensive grounds as this is too much for me as well as the time and cost of travel is not practical.

So this weekend arrived and the forecast was warm and sunny and the forecast was right for a change! Galia and I arrived to a display of colour that just made us gasp. the tulips where now in full bloom and a carpet of red on the fringe of the garlic bed under the vine trellises. What a difference 5 days has made as the greenery had now come into play on the field and the onions and garlic now clearly visible on the plot that was planted not so long ago.

Within ten minutes I was in my blue village outfit and working away on the land preparing for the sweet corn, melons and carrots. In my element was an understatement as Galia looked on at this crazy Englishman sweating away with his labours breaking up the soil in preparation for the honey melons that were laid a few hours later. These were sown and plastic bottled put over the top weighed down with a brick creating mini greenhouses and will probably remain for a few weeks until they greet the hotter weather towards the end of the month. This is the Bulgarian way and now mine.

Then two beds of sweet corn were prepared, both had to be square to aid cross pollination and set regimented with enough space between for the weeding that will be needed throughout the season. Again, this was quite hard work and that was the buzz for me and the mystery for Galia who again thought I was possessed with my eagerness.

Galia helped with the sowing after the groundwork had been completed, three corn seeds per hole as an insurance; the strongest on germination will just remain. Again, all these crops don't need daily watering and should survive 4-5 days without any supplementary water.

Carrots were sown at the back of the strawberry patch and watermelons at the front of the house where a bit of space was found. The soil isn't too good there so I don't expect a bumper crop, but there's nowhere else now with all the farming areas filled.

In the summerhouse the tomato and cucumber seeds had germinated with this warm weather and they would be taken back to the Yambol plot with their thirst for water. All is under control and it feels great.


The vines are now weeping as we sit in the sun under the trellises being dripped on, we just move to avoid them never every getting annoyed, this is spring, this is nature starting another cycle gathering up momentum, this is a wonderful feeling watching it happen before us.

Galia loves flowers as she gathers bunches to take back to Yambol for Baba. What a treat and all for free! That’s the beauty of it all, no reliance on anyone but ourselves and nature.

Yambol City Farming Begins

So, the City farm was laying fallow in Yambol and needed more than just a bit of elbow grease to get it up and running into a food factory. This was the main reason I came to Bulgaria to produce my own organic food from the land. Now the opportunity had been given for me to do that locally and it was about to begin.

All my tools for growing were in the village farmhouse, there were a few tools in the factory outbuilding that I could use but the most important tool was the Bulgarian ralo (рало). This was a tool that every Bulgarian that works the land or garden has. It is one of the biggest discoveries for me since coming to Bulgaria and would never be without it as it is like a multi-tool for the land doing the job of a spade, fork, trowel, pick axe, axe, hammer and mallet all in one. I now have three of these, having spent 10 Lev on my third one to be kept on site of the City farm. I could quite easily write a post solely dedicated to this tool and how to use and maintain it.

The potatoes seed still in the boot of the Lada and my farming outfit along with the traditional blue dungarees and matching jacket, thick knitted Bulgarian socks fitting snugly into my Bulgaria rubber galoshes and I was off.

Five minutes later I was on site, they knew I was coming as a local resident who called Maria (surprise! surprise!) was waiting for me. She is a typical village woman who happens to be in town albeit the outskirts. In typical bundled layers of woollen clothing and headgear because there was a slight wind on this warm and sunny day she didn't waste any time in putting my potato planting to rights. What I didn't know was that she had been instructed to teach this 'green' Englishman how to plant potatoes. I thought I knew having done it in the village on many occasions, but I apparently hadn't a clue after extensive instruction from a woman who has been working the land for over 50 years in the same way she had been traditionally taught.

After just a couple of hours the potatoes were sown and the ground that had been worked looked just needed a couple of wooden crosses and would replicate a graveyard. Having said that, the amount of bones that were dug up was quite amazing, I assume they were human bones as they were fed to the numerous security dogs around that barked at any movements made from non-familiar faces.

The technique used for sowing potatoes seemed quite complex at first, there were many stages of preparing mounds moving half of it laying the potatoes then the fertilizer and building the earth mound back again and finally slightly flattening and smoothing the top. Alongside each elongated mound are water channels that had been made both in line with the mounds and channels bordering the length of the whole patch. Each channel is dammed at teach end creating an effective reservoir system when watered.

The afternoon session was finished with a simple task of planting 60 lettuce seedling simply using my index finger as a dabber. Once the soil had been worked with the ralo as a forking tool, the sold was very easy to work with. the biggest problem was lucerne, an animal feed herb that is perennial with roots dug in as deep as half a metre.

This was only the first session and will now be a daily trip for me on my bicycle as everything I need to farm is on site now. There is even more excitement looming as we return to the village farmhouse this weekend to tend to sowing sweetcorn and more potatoes on the land there. This really is a dream being fulfilled right now thanks to the generosity of Galia's family giving this land to us to work on.

NOTE:
Galia was there watching all this from the office window, this was her first outing for over two weeks confined to bed. It was a lovely day and good that she could get out and catch up with news at work. She won't be working for at least another few weeks and improving every day.