Preparing for Winter With Flame Grilled Peppers

Just like old times in my Farmhouse in Skalitsa, where surplus supplies at harvest time are prepared for the coming Winter. Today was one of the many reasons I am here in Bulgaria.

We only decided to do this yesterday naturally the excitement of the process was something I found hard to contain. Having seen many locals doing the same thing out on the streets of Yambol, in their garages, on the balconies and gardens, the aroma of cooking pepper fills the local air for weeks on end. It was out turn to create an ambience of smells from grilling peppers that makes your mouth water and your taste buds yearn for the results.

I used a Greek styled BBQ system that I imported nearly 12 years ago. The grate was formerly a drain cover and the metal plate (which would be the hot plate) was from an old camping table. the wood was gathered from land near to where I was fishing a few days ago and of course free. Finally the peppers unfortunately were not produced by me as in previous years. We arrive here to late to start up produce in the growing season, plans for next year will be different.

So all prepared to start with a big white sack containing 22 Kilograms of locally grown raw peppers. Once the peppers were cooked they were placed in a big metal saucepan with a lid where they continue to cook with boiling juices inside each pepper. I remember describing the process many years ago as the all dancing and singing peppers as that's what they do when being flame grilled.

The peppers are then de-skinned and placed in plastic bags and frozen once cooled all ready for Winter. we decided against putting them into sealed glass jam jars this year. Again maybe next year this form of preserving maybe opted for.

Three hours later the process had been completed. not all the peppers were de-skinned, that will be finished tomorrow. A shower and a change of clothing and we were all set for the evening of salad rakia and a meal of prepared peppers with egg and sirene Galia kindly offer to make. Can't wait!

Just a quick update

Just a quick update:

As mentioned in my previous post, there is no time to relax right now and that means that blogging is taking a break for now. In fact I did have planned a day of digging over the factory farm land and planting beans today, but it is raining which is why I am now online and composing this post.

Hope everyone is keeping well and a chance to bask a little in the warm spring sun that has finally arrived. Our Martinitsa bracelets (pictured) are now hanging up on a lilac tree in Skalitsa as we have seen the graceful storks that have settled in their nests now.

Work - That's How It Is In Bulgaria For Bulgarians

It is a standstill in Bulgaria right now. Even with the exceptional mid winter nothing is happening on the land, which lays dormant until March and then the work begins in April. It is traditional the working land is ploughed in February which should give a finer soil composition after many months of frost and is also the time for sowing garlic to follow on the November sowing last year. Exciting times ahead, if only there were more hours in the day to deal with this.

Working 45 hours a week it is going to be hard work to keep on top of things on the Yambol Factory farm as I will have to work in the evenings there. To me this is a new system, a Bulgarian system of burning the candle at both ends that I hadn’t realised until recently. How else do Bulgarians manage to keep their homegrown produce in full production and hold full time jobs at the same time? Quite simply it is by working around the clock and at weekends. This year will be a new dawning for me on how hard Bulgarian work and would explain they’re ‘leka rabota’ (easy work) attitude. After all you can’t work 100 mph 24/7 from April to October, so they take their foot off the pedal to cope with this. (I actually hate the expression 24/7 - It's such a westernised quote!)

It is no village farmhouse this weekend as we are trying to economise even further and the cost of our weekend trips is expensive and not really commensurate to our income. To put it in perspective the cost of a weekend in Skalitsa all in is the monetary equivalent of over two days work! This is something that cannot be reduced with the car fuel for 74 kilometres round trip, heating and extra food and drink. With the spring and warmer weather we will have to think of a cheaper way of getting there and back. Perhaps sharing the trip with village commuters, which we did on occasion last year.

We currently have a good life here, work very hard enjoy the time not working with the best food and drink you could imagine and a social life that doesn’t cost anything other than time. We don’t travel at all or have holidays other than perhaps an extended weekend on the coast once a year, but that makes it even more special when it happens. If there is one thing on our want list it is a bit of privacy, but that’s just me I suppose.

Another New Year Celebration In Skalitsa

At last we got to get to the village after a month of town life over Christmas and New Year. We have had absolutely no time on our own together throughout this time and we looked forward to the trip and stoking up the wood burner and doing the things we do in the village.

We also had to catch up on the news from out neighbours in Skalitsa who we also hadn’t seen or spoken to since before the festive season. We knew that much of the time there this weekend would be talking and perhaps having a belated New Year celebration with them.

Just of a point of interest, the celebrating has not stopped in Bulgaria after the New Year as the name days and other special days of celebration are now upon us. There seems to be a never-ending stream this time of year. 5th was Jordan name day, 6th was Ivan Name Day, 7th was Baba Day (midwives’ Day) and more to come over the next few months. Well, not much happening in the smallholding world to the design of celebrations days this time of year was thought out well.

It was dark when we arrived and the first job was to empty the water meter shaft of the damp boxes and hay stuffed sacks that were put down there to prevent ice damage. The shaft had ½ metre of water standing due to the tremendous amount of rain and snow recently and had made its way there form the tilt that lies on the main road onto my land. This is something that used to worry me, but now I just accept that flooding of the shaft happens and that’s that. What’s the point of changing the landscape for a little water that truckles in? If I had the money a few years ago with my English brain I would have spent it on re-landscaping the whole area to stop this happening. Glad I didn’t have the money now.

Job done in the dark as Galia had the wood burner going and we could relax for the rest of the evening. It was early to bed as we were both tired from a hard first week back at work.

The following morning it was me up at 6:30 before sunrise, I just can’t sleep in her ein the village, too many things I want to do and before I knew it daylight had arrvived by 8:00 and I had spoken to my neighbour who wanted my help with the slaughtering and butchering of two goats later that morning. He wasn’t a well man, but that’s not the reason I offered my help. I love this type of chore, I certainly don’t mind the killing, in fact I quite enjoy it because I know it if all part of the ways things are here form the point of survival. I also knew that these two 5-month old goats would feed his family through to spring when more would be slaughtered for the same reason.

I now consider myself a bit of an expert in goat slaughtering and butchering having done this, including my own goats, on many occasions so I would be genuine help not a hindrance when I turn up and lend a hand. As so it was to be. By 1:00 there were two goats having gone through the process and it seems so right doing what we do here.

My neighbours being good neighbours and generous to the hilt rewarded me with some goat parts. I used to kick up a fuss about accepting gifts like this, but now take it away without any protest knowing that they were actually just as pleased giving it to me. This was taken back home and put in the freezer no doubt processed into excellent food and returned to our neighbours in the future when they visit.

That same evening we returned to our neighbour’s house for a belated New Year celebration and of course fresh goat on the menu that night – Homemade rakia and wine to accompany the talking, chalga music and dancing just after midnight. Then the short walk home in the pitch darkness with winter stars pinpricking the sky, we wished the walk were longer.

Next thing we know its Sunday and we travel back to Yambol in what has been a busy weekend in record warm temperatures, it didn’t seem like winter at all as we loaded the car up. Skalitsa really is a food factory and warehouse for us as the larders and freezers were raided for supplies of food for the coming week.

No Garlic Planted And Chicken Gizzard Balls Result

It was back in the village farmhouse after a two-week absence. The plan was to sow 1,000 garlic sets for early green garlic for salads early in the spring. All was fine travelling the 37 kilometres in the pitch-black countryside knowing that there was a wood burner waiting to get started when we get there alongside a salad and the new batch of rakia that was brought along. Today was the start of winter weather and was the first day of frost overnight as the supply of fresh daily peppers form the factory farm took their last bow.

We needed this short break this weekend, as it is an extra working day next week working Saturday to make up for one of the non-public holidays in the four-day break at Christmas. We don’t get paid for any public holidays either, that is how it is here with many Bulgarian firms.

Effectively we lose four days pay over the holiday period due. Initially I thought we have been hard done by, but thinking about it again, this makes complete sense, why should you get paid for not working? I had it too easy in the UK it seems getting full pay for a total of around 12 weeks year in year out on holidays when the schools are shut. Having said that, most professionals, including teachers here do get paid during holidays as well, but they are the exception to the working class rule.

Back to the village farmhouse it is a cold house we met, but that was short lived as the fire was started and the thaw began. Within the hour it was a warm lived in home again and the long evening was a treat knowing that a 6:30 start wasn’t due the next day.

I woke at 6:30 the next morning as my body alarm hasn’t a switch off function. It was snowing and my initial smile dropped as I realised that the garlic sowing was going to be difficult if not impossible with the amount of the snow lying and still falling. It became an impossible task by midday as the fall continued throughout the day and evening up to the point of typing at 8:00 this evening!

Garlic on hold it was now anti-freeze in the lada radiator, a load of straw stuffed in sacks and squeezed in the water shaft to prevent freezing up when we are away and rose bushes pruned. Funny, only two days ago I was sunbathing outside during my lunchtime break in a short-sleeved shirt.

Back in the farmhouse it was a wondering mind thinking about what I could do with chicken gizzards that we had got out of the freezer. Galia was keen to cook, but I love doing the same on my home patch and got the nod to use my imagination on the gizzards. Gizzards are a quite tasteless and tough so the would need a lot of boiling and other ingredients to make them tender and a have more taste respectively. I ended up with a very complimentary result, which had full praise from Galia who is very honest in her opinions of whether she likes the food she tries. I noted all the ingredients and the process and give the recipe here:

Chicken Gizzard Balls

Ingredients
500 gm Chicken gizzards
1 medium onion finely chopped
2-3 garlic cloves finely chopped
6 chestnuts (boiled and skinned)
100 gm sirene (goats cheese)
1 egg
Brown breadcrumbs (two slices worth)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
200 ml red wine
¼ chicken stock cube
1 teaspoon paprika pepper
Sunflower oil for shallow frying

For the batter
200 gm plain flour
1 egg
3 tablespoons plain yoghurt
150 ml dark beer

Method
Tidy up and wash the gizzards. Put in a pan, cover with water and bring to the boil,. Take the scum off with a ladle and simmer for at least 4 hours. (This is where a cooking space on our wood burners come in useful in.)

Prepare the batter by mixing all the ingredients together really well and putting in the fridge whilst working on the gizzard ball preparations.

Drain and rinse the gizzards with cold water. When cool, chop the gizzards up finely with a knife or use a food processor. With a little oil fry the onions and garlic until soft. Add the gizzards, chicken stock, a little salt, pepper, paprika pepper and raise the heat stirring continuously for 2-3 minutes. Add the wine and leave to simmer with a stir every so often until the wine has totally evaporated. Add the sirene and chestnuts and stir in well until the mixture is well blended.

Place the mixture into another bowl and leave to cool for 20 minutes. Add the egg and breadcrumbs and mix. Using your clean hands mould the mixture into balls the size of golf ball and lay on a plate ready for batter dipping.

Bring the batter out of the fridge (it should have been in there for at least an hour.) Heat the oil in a pan and test the right heat by place a drop of the batter in the oil, which should sizzle and turn brown after a few seconds. When ready, submerge the gizzard balls in the batter and gently place in the hot oil. You can probably get them all in one go, if not just stagger the frying.

The balls will need turning after 2-3 minutes or if the underside is lightly browned off. The same process once turned will lead to the balls being ready for placing on a plate with a kitchen towel to take up the excess oil. Leave to stand for ten minutes before serving alongside a salad, fresh bread and your favourite wine or beer.

Hot and cold they taste great and puts chicken gizzard in a new culinary light. They will last for a few days in the fridge if stored in a sealed container.

Having just digested a few just over an hour ago, my thoughts turn to eating some reheated for lunch two days later at work. Somehow though I don’t think they will last that long as Baba is due to try some out tomorrow and Galia and I will no doubt dip into them again to keep her in dining company you understand. No garlic planted, but the sliver lining is chicken gizzard balls which wouldn't have come about otherwise.

No Outside Toilet - Doesn't Feel Right

One of my favourite places in the village farmhouse is my outside toilet. I’ve done a few articles on the use of this facility and the advantages of outside toilets over using the inside toilet. I have a major soft spot for my outdoor roofed hole in the ground.

Last month there were a few earthquakes and disaster for my outside toilet. A massive crack opened up on one of the walls. This was looked at and presented no problem at the time, but as each week went by it got worse, no time or money to repair this it was left thinking it would be okay.

A couple of weeks ago I got a call from my neighbour. He told me that my outside toilet wall had collapsed and it was only the doorframe keeping the roof intact. This was a worry and when I got there at the weekend the worry was just reasoning. The whole wall has crumbled and the small building was structurally unsafe, it had to be demolished for safety reasons. I was quite devastated and had a slight uneasiness knowing that there wouldn’t be an outside toilet at the farmhouse. It’s a bit like having part of the your soul going missing. And thoughts about how it could be rebuilt without cost were ringing in my head.

It was a painful operation last weekend dismantling the outhouse brick by brick. All the bricks that where whole were saved and the rubble was physically transported by wheelbarrow to the dumping ground at the top of the hill. This took over half a day to complete and all that was left was a few broken fragments of brick and mortar dust where many used to squat.

It was a sad day, but I know if ever a spare bit of time and cash for cement I will have another built, it just doesn’t feel right not having one there, I can honestly say this is on the top of my want list. Simple pleasures!

A Tired Man Sunday Evening

Firstly, another big apology for my lack of comments and visits to fellow bloggers, it really is quite difficult fitting it in at the moment. Another busy weekend as you may find out.

Friday arrived and it was off to the farmhouse in Skalitsa again on my own. Galia was working as an administrator in Yambol on Sunday for the European Elections and would be working on Sunday so she stayed behind. The elections by the way warrant a story on their own from the feedback I get here, but I not in the mood for political writing right now, there’s too much around right now.

On my own I can never sit down and relax, Galia isn’t there to tell me to. The weather was over 30 degrees all weekend and most of my time was spent outside digging, weeding, pruning, watering and pottering around. Every 20 minutes I had to take a break, clean the sweat off my glasses drink and splash cold well water over my body to cool down, again no one there to tell me to stop working. To me this was the main reason I came to Bulgaria to be out there in the field growing food that is completely organic and chemical free and that was exactly what I was doing.

This idyllic life without the reliance from a supermarket looking from the outside may look easy, but it isn’t. Working on the land is hard work especially trying to cram one week’s work into a weekend. I thought is would be easier growing crops that only needed watering once a week, but that is not the case. My neighbour has to pop in and do some watering midweek, even with a wad full of rain that come over here a few days ago. I do fell guilty though as my neighbour has too much on his plate on his own farm to get on with.

A few melon seedlings had died form last week and the rest seemed to have got through the worst. When the crops are more mature they can go longer without water it should be downhill from now on even though the real hot weather is still to come.

This Saturday was a special day where tend to the graves Nationally it is the day for the dead. I was asked to help my neighbour dig a grave for his mother and father on Saturday – of course I offered my help and we built a grave from scratch that Saturday morning. It was really hard work with the heavy stone bed that took four people to lift. My neighbour had been saving up for eight years to do this since his mother died in 2001. We stood over the grave after we have laboured hard and the cement still drying out as we admired the new home of his mother and father who lay there now finally resting in peaceful surround. Again another blog needed on this occasion with the ceromony ihvolved centering around food and rakia.

By the time Sunday afternoon arrived the farm was in tiptop condition. A patch of garlic had been harvested and the second round of crops was now in place ready for planting next week. I’m not too sure what to put in again it has to be something that doesn’t need watering every couple of days. I’ll fish for ideas from other Bulgarians before making my mind up.

Time on my own isn’t good for my health, like I said, no one to tell me to stop working and all the time locally every Bulgarian in the village was inside in the cool relaxing, not because it was Sunday but because it was too hot to be outside, but then they are here all week not playing catch up. Therefore it was a very tired Martin who drove back to the city counting the snakes, dogs, birds, polecats and even a badger that had been victims of cars on the road to Yambol. The wild life here is fantastic, Strange as fate would have it, I don’t suppose I’d get to see them unless they’d been hit by a car.

I hadn’t mentioned the swifts that had nested on the farmhouse veranda ceiling, no more than two metres from where I sit outside, another posting needed on this with their four hatchlings chirping ways for food.

I won’t mention the spring water, cherries, strawberries, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, broiler chicken, goat meat, grapes sweet corn, watermelons, bonfire and haymaking again that were involved this weekend. There is too much to tell and too little time to write at the moment.

Galia didn’t finish working until 8:30 in the evening with the election, she started at 5:00 in the morning she was more tired than me! 15 ½ hours work, without a break for around $20. The rest of the evening we sipped cold beer on the steps watching Baba peeling the 100 or so garlic through to dusk outside. Then the inevitable words “Haidi leglo lubimka,” (Let’s go to bed darling) No contest, that’s exactly what we did after massaging each other’s feet.

Great weekend, even without Galia there with me, again always different and always on a learning curve. And today (Monday) is was full steam ahead again working on the factory farm starting at 6:30 this morning. I will be nagged to sleep for an hour or so after lunch by Baba.

Free Food Well On Its Way Now

Can I firstly thank everyone who sent Yambol their condolences over the last week; they are appreciated and make a difference.

After the catastrophy we spent the weekend in the village farmhouse and just reflected on lots of things. How lucky we are to be here doing what we do and having people around who care. Family here is everything part of everyday life, never shut out and that is very new and reassuring to me, but that's normal to Galia.

Relaxing is something the farm doesn’t do as the work lay before me on the land. It was a full two days of watering, weeding and setting up another Bulgarian growing system that was taught to me before after the failure of the melons. We now have more crops that should survive with this new system. Also we have our good friend and neighbour who has offered to water the crops mid week now the hot weather is upon us. This certainly helps relieve some of the worry from our side. This same friend and neighbour had also gathered up all the hay that was cut over the last two weeks and stored it in the hay house. Mind you, this hay is winter feed for his horse, but he would have done it anyway!

The evening in Skalitsa are fantastic sitting out in the warm evening air as fresh as you can ever get and no noise whatsoever other than the night noises that used to scare me when I was first lived there. I know what every noise is now and can relax with that thought.

My first encounter with a snake in the field whilst cutting hay took place on Saturday, it was more scared than me. I saw a movement in the long grass and then as I approached the speed of this snake was amazing as it darted toward the outside toilet with me in pursuit. Within a few seconds it had covered 10 metres and was in the hut. I wouldn’t be going to the toilet for while with this 1½ metre snake occupying it. It wasn’t a poisonous snake and like I said was far more scared than I was. It must have been to dart into the toilet so quickly!

And so the weekend ended Sunday afternoon and back to Yambol where we were invited for an evening of eating and drinking with family, we refused as we were too tired. Monday it was the factory farm, which was doing pretty well right now. We have almost finished all the lettuce that we have grown; it is becoming too hot for them now. The potatoes had the first round of Colorado beetles that are hand picked and destroyed on sight, they don’t cause a problem if checked and destroyed regularly.

More advice was giving on the melons growing there as moats were made for more access to water. The branches that were pruned from the fruit trees in Skalitsa in the winter now support the tomatoes on the farm and work pretty well. The peppers need no support other than another pepper! What do I mean? Well you plant two peppers seedling in the same spot and their roots wrap around each other and this gives them a good base stability and no need to stake them up. Last year all my peppers fell over as they were planted singly.

The factory farm really does look like it will provide all the tomatoes and peppers that will be eaten from July onwards and many preserved for the winter ahead. There will be big savings from these crops and of course that was the whole purpose of growing them anyway. It is really strange me working on the field and Galia a stone’s throw away working it the factory office…

Snakes Galore In Bulgaria Right Now

Galia has now returned to work just over a week ago as the factory is just making ends after a major scare when orders dropping like a lead balloon. The order for electric/wood burning boilers is just ticking over as Galia was now asked back to work. This is great news after her recent medical problem and somewhat brings about a massive relief as we bring some much-needed cash into the home. We all hope that the orders stay on a level term until thinks pick up again.

This week we were reminded of the snake experience we had in the village last year, not pleasant one at all for Galia. Now that the warm weather is here and Galia returned to work in the office it came to pass that she leaves the office door open. As she wonders about the factory grounds to inspect the work on the boilers she returned to the office only to find a big snake that had made its way into the room.

A massive shriek was made and three workers came to here aid with a chair, a spade and a watering can! Dont' ask why! The snake just didn’t have a chance as it was batter to death and fed to the security dogs. Well that';s the Bulagrian way I suppose. The snake wasn't poison, b ut was over a metre in length. Needless to say the office door now is kept firmly shut and checks made by security in the morning before she arrives.

Galia is now a bag of nerves as this was the first encounter of snakes in the town. They are usually confined to the village areas, now she has to contend with the fear of knowing they are about in town. And on the television this evening on the news there was a public information service giving advice on which snakes were poison and which weren’t and also warning that the onset of hot weather this week will bring about a small invasion of snakes about right now. Not something many people here want.

Having known for some time that snakes in Bulgaria are a problem from stories told from folk in my village, it s a wary couple that go to Skalitsa this weekend. It is not only to see whether the recent earthquake has left the farmhouse in one piece, but to gingerly check each room for snakes before we settle in. And to think I was out and about haymaking in snakes territory in just flip-flops and shorts last weekend! Never a dull moment here in Bulgaria.

A Tortoise Or Slow Coach On Bulgarian Roads

Every since setting foot in Bulgaria I hear from lots of Bulgarians that there are lots of tortoises roaming around the country. Up unit this week the only ones I have see are pets that are kept by one of Galia's family. I haven't seen any 'wild tortoises' anywhere despite living in perfect tortoise country with vegetation abound for those slow but constant lawnmowers. Even in the village farmhouse tortoises have never nibbled my vegetables, but then they might have a preference for my neighbour’s superior vegetables.

So it came to pass that we were on our way to the village farmhouse in the Lada, a slowcoach itself today as I was freewheeling wherever I could to save on gas. We got about 8 kilometres for the Skalitsa village and I saw my first 'wild' tortoise in the middle of the road taking its time to cross dead casual like! It wasn’t exactly a screech of the brakes, I wasn't going fast enough for that, but we stopped and it was out of the car to investigate this 'wild' Bulgarian tortoise.

As I got to the tortoise it shelled up and remained in its home throughout our encounter, I don't blame it I'm an ugly and mean, perhaps it thought I was a gypsy and it was lunchtime. Anyway, the investigation went on as I picked it up and had a close look at it. Funny but for a wild tortoise it wasn’t wild' at all, it did nothing. I could see its head tucked away and its eye peering out at me and I knew it wouldn't budge with me holding it. It was put in the verge with some greenery, but still wouldn't come out even after a five-minute wait. Time to go home was the call from Galia waiting patiently in the Lada looking at this Englishman with a fascination for this creature. She of course is well used to tortoises in Bulgaria and found them quite boring as they didn’t do anything.

So it was a reluctant Martin who got back into the car after saying goodbye to this temporarily hibernated tortoise for what is was worth, I didn't even have a chance to say hello!

Well I got a picture or two of my first encounter with a wild Bulgarian tortoise, but I was wilder with excitement than anything else.

Bulgarian Sunday Lunch In The Slow Lane

Snails are free food, but the appeal certainly isn't a favourite with most people and that’s not just vegetarians either. The thought of the slow, slimy, slippery creatures as a meal just puts many if not most people off. Snails are land lubbers where whelks are seafaring with a more popular following as a snack, but essentially they are the same in both physical looks, texture although having a more distinctive taste. So why the big ‘Yuk!’ to garden snails on the dinner plate?

It was snails on the menu this weekend for Galia and I as we stopped just outside Yambol after a night of rain together snails that large and abundant. Free food, but not restricted to Bulgaria, in the UK garden snails are edible albeit more polluted. We knew the snails we were picking up were healthy and succulent on the fresh green spring growth that had dinner written all over it for these lucky snails and the snails in turn had dinner written all over them for us. Oh the food chain is wonderful thing isn't it?

We must have picked about 30 to 40 snails and took them the farmhouse where we put them in a bucket with an iron grill off the barbecue system and weighted it down with a Skalitsa healing stone we had picked up last year whilst being healed, so any ill snails would be cured, but they couldn't escape. They could poke their heads though the grate but their shell houses couldn't be dragged through with them. To eat snails you need their digestive system to be clear and that means starving them for two days. It was Friday so they would be ready to cook on Sunday; this was our plan for Sunday lunch.

Each morning and evening I washed them out with water and put them back in the bucket. Sunday morning after their last wash they were put into some boiling water then winkled out with a skewer. Then the snail meat was fried in butter and home grown green garlic with a little rakia and turned out in a couple of ramekin bowls. Each bowl of snails was covered with breadcrumbs and grilled until brown.

Outside, Galia had set the table outside in the sunshine that had come out after the rain we had had for two days. This had some cold Sofia beer called ‘Ariana,’ waiting on the table to greet us along with the snail dishes that were ready to serve. We spend the next 20 minutes enjoying out free feed in beautiful surroundings being washed down with cold beer. Yambol snails and Sofia beer - A great combination!

I recommend snails for Sunday lunch to anyone, it is a superb no cost chemical-free food with little if no fat and no animal rights campaigners in sight! Notice I haven't mentioned the French - Oops I just did!

My own step-by-step snail recipe is being prepared in next post.

A Classic Bulgarian Misunderstanding

Cases of classic misunderstandings Bulgarians has caused all sorts of problems over the years and it still happens. There was one prime classic misunderstanding that wasn't realised until this week and reminded me that these misunderstandings will probably never end here in Bulgaria.

Just to give some background here, the previous owners of Skalitsa farmhouse and smallholding off where an elderly couple called Marina and Mitko. They moved in with their son to the town of Stara Zagora. Marina couldn’t wait for town life, but Mitko didn’t want to move, he loved village life and was in tears when we signed the contract. This is the case for many couple here, women want the town and the men want the country life.

Last year we were at the Skalitsa Farmhouse sitting out in the garden. We heard the iron garden gate creak as it always does to warn us of visitors. We waited a moment for the visitors to walk a short distance and peer around the corner as we all watched. It turned out that the visitors was Marina, the woman who used to live here with here son. They were in Skalitsa and though they’d pay us a visit out of courtesy as they were here.

And so the talking started. I wondered where Mitko her husband was and naturally asked. The answer given was that, ‘He is above us’ with a finger pointing to the sky. I was quite shocked with the though that he had passed away and gave my condolences.

The message that Mitko had died so much was passed on to my nearest neighbour the next day with mention that it must have been the heartbreak of having to move away from the village life he loved. No more was thought about it at the time.

A year on and my neighbour Sacho told me that he was sure he had seen a ghost a couple of days before. It was evening and he was putting his goats in for the night and he saw Mitko wondering around his old home. There are many ghost stories in the village and this was another one that he though he saw. He told his wife Rosa what he had seen and again, they put it down to Mitko paying a ghostly visit to his old loved smallholding.

Sacho went on to say that Rosa went to work in the school the next day and told others of the story of Mitko’s ghostly figure wandering around the previous evening. She was duly informed that there was no ghost of Mitko around, but Mitko in real life who had come this year to see old friends in the village and went to see his old home!

Sacho said that he spoke to Mitko yesterday and he was very much alive. He then asked me who said that he had died. I explained that his son said that he was above us and pointed his finger to the sky. Sacho then burst out laughing saying that Mitko was up above us in the apartment block he was living in Stara Zagora. He didn’t come to Skalitsa last year but stayed at home – That’s where he was!

Well the misunderstanding lasted a year and I’m glad Mitko is still alive and kicking albeit still not very happy with town life. As for ghosts, well no recent additions recently, but lot so stories from neighbours of existing ones to be told on a cold and still winter night – That’s a long way off right now.

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.

Skalitsa Village Farm - Planning Crops

Back to the Skalitsa farmhouse and jobs on the farm were waiting. There had to be potatoes sown (yes more). Not knowing what the weather was like we knew that generally it is always different from the Yambol weather even though just 35 kilometres away and we never usually know until we get there.

Arriving is always exciting here in the village, it had been six days since I was last here and the onions and garlic were making a move skywards already, the tuliups had began to open their head and the bird life was deafening around us. A stork had already taken up residence in a local telegraph pole and the whole scene was about to burst into life. Galia now having seena stork placed here Martenitsi on a lilac tree with the others we had put there from the past years.

Looking at the ground, there must have been a lot more snow yesturday than in Yambol, it was too heavy to work with even though the very warm sun had been drying it out for a couple of days. Therer wasn't much I could do as far as planting and digging was concerned to my attention fell on the black covering that had lay on an extended part of the land for a year.

The plan was for each year to cover a section of land each year with the black nylon material to stop the grow of lucerne and couch grass, then each spring uncover it and another section will be ready for putting crops effectively the area for growing will be bigger each year.

As I uncovered the strip on turned it over for another strip to become ready next year, the area left was perfect now for digging over and planting, but far to wet, it would have to wait another day or so to dry out. Now this method is my own English method and looked upon as very strange from neighbours who query what I do. All they would do to prepare fallow land is plough it up with either a tractor or a horse and plough prior to winter, and another session prior to April, the frost would have also done the business and it's ready for planting in spring. I suppose I should succum to this method which was used in my first year here, but it's about getting this system organised and only being here a couple of days a week makes that quite tricky. Besides which, my neighbours would have certainly taken over telling me that the whole area should be farmed - Not what I want, but as usual they always know what is best for me.

By the end of the weekend and a little drier all the working areas were prepared for the sweetworn, two melon varieties and pumpkins. All these could go without water for up to a week and less stress on my part. Also the strawberry patch was weeded, there was a 70% success rate of the newly planted seedlings from the autumn, not too bad. the runners that form later in the spring will fill in the gaps so no worries there. Again, they can survive a while without water in the summer as they have established quite deep root bases now and they will be under the shade of the vines leaves overhead that will form a canopy by the end of spring.

It is all about organising and choosing the right crops for the right growing environment. Hopefully the thought that has gone for the Skalitsa farm will make me sleep better in Yambol knowing that the crops have a good chance of survival this year with minimum maintenance.

City Farm In Yambol Now On

We are lucky we live in the City of Yambol and have a village retreat, but anyone who has a home here knows that growing crops is a full time job from April onwards in Bulgaria. It is a sense of frustration that I can't be on the farm everyday tended to the crops, this was one of the biggest reasons for me coming to Bulgaria. Galia knows this and some wheels of motion were workng to get around this problem behind my back.

It was an excited Galia in her sick bed today who finds it very hard to keep secrets and couldn't wait to tell me this one. The good life got better in the space of 10 seconds of the news being told. I tease you no longer as the news is we now we have the option of farming and growing crops in Yambol and not just on the village farm. Let me explain.

Although off sick from work at the moment Galia works as a floor manager in a boiler manufacturing company which happens to be owned by her elder brother. The factory is situated in an industrial part of the Yambol and has grounds alongside the big new factory of which part is set aside for farming. This is managed by some of the workers who get food as a reward for maintaining the farm.

Let me just put more detail of the situation as it stood up unitl today. All our farming is done in the Skalitsa village farmhouse some 35 kilometres away from Yambol and all through last year to now it had just been weekend farming. This was very difficult, near impossible to keep up with the extreme heat in the summer. Watering needs to be done at least every two days and in really hot weather every day, this wasn't possible last year. We managed to get some crops out of it, but it was a poor year with the system of weekends only. The retreat to relax after a hard week of work was seeing us work 100 mile an hour to catch up with the work that should be done each day, we ended up more tired on Monday morning than if we hasdnt' had the weekend retreat. Added to this the cost of fuel to and from the farmhouse just didn't make it an economic venture.

This year I had intended to stay there four days a week, but that would be on my own, Galia would have to pay taxi fares to work and back and still there would be a 70 kilometre round trip that had to be made once a week. Besides that there was the fact I wouldn't see much of Galia.

So with this news, the answer to growing crops without expensive overheads and logistic problems seemed to be answered. What we would like is to start our livestock up again? I am at the factory every morning and evening dropping off and picking up Galia from work, so a little extra time there tending before my work starts would be totally practical. On paper it would work very well.

So, you can now see why I am excited, but at the same time apprehensive about leaving the farmhouse and letting it go to seed if this was taken up. I can see us being in Yambol full time if this does take place, not what I want, but work here in Yambol forces the issue. We just can't financially afford the fuel each week and not get crops to supplement our low income. Everyone is happy for us to be in Yambol and can't understand why I have such a great love for village life that has nothing to offer other than isolation. Every Bulgarian around me says it's not practical - They are dead right, it isn't practical seeing as there is now the opportunity to farm in the City. I count myself extremely lucky to be with such a kind and caring community and my yearning for village life I feel is a very small sacrifice to pay for this.

There is another bonus, perhaps now we have the chance to relax at weekends during the warmer weather rather than rushing around trying to play catch-up on the farm. This would also end the weekly disappointment and frustration that happened last year where we regularly found our neglected crops failing because they have been left for 5 days without water.

Right now there are just onion, garlic and the vines that are growing there, these don't need regular watering so they will be okay and the rest of the more senstive crop now are planned for the City farm. How lucky are we?

The bottom line is we can't afford to be sentimental here and reminded me of what someone mentioned to me the other day about living in Bulgaria, "Life in Bulgaria is not about living it's about surviving." This is very true and this is what we have to do to achieve that right now.

Snow and Decisions Made At The Weekend

It was Friday 5:00 and the weekend had just begun, we were due to travel to Skalitsa for a weekend retreat after grafting for five solid days on the trot. Just as I left to pick up Galia from the factory, the snow started falling, well I say falling it was horizontal with the wind that blew it in. Falling snow isn't a problem, drifting snow is as we weighed up where we should risk the trip to Skalitsa at this point.

We got to a junction where we had to decide whether a left or a right turn was to be made, depending on what our destination was going to be. Galia being a Bulgarian women always expects the man to make the decisions. I in my previous life I found it very hard to make decisions, it was a fear of being torn to shreds with the blame if the decision is wrong. So faced with having to make a decision I suggested we stay in Yambol. Getting caught in snowdrifts is not my idea of winding down at the weekend and certainly Galia wouldn't take kindly to the cold sub zero temperatures. Galia didn't react to that decision so I assumed she didn't really want to stay in Yambol, so I change my mind and opted for the left turn for Skalitsa.

Like I said, the trouble with me making decisions is that I get the blame, getting shouted at and never made to forget my errors. This was always the case in the UK with both my previous English partners. (Yes, yes, I've been married twice before if you were wondering.) This thought hung over me throughout the journey that was now running the risk with the weather, which Galia had heard on the news was quite serious. As we sped out way and reached the outskirts of Yambol the snowfall and winds had picked up and the road now was cover with waves of drifting snow. Every so often there would be a gap in the hedgerows and a major wedge of snow was being forced through it. this was worrying, we could see ahead that the sky was darker and this would get worse as we knocked up each kilometre.

By the time we had got to the first village the road was totally covered with snow and it kept falling and drifting in many if not most parts int open flat countryside. Every so often a bus would come the other way speeding like a bat out of hell along these slippery roads. What possesses drivers like this to use such speed with passengers aboard is beyond me, Galia didn't seem surprised with this and she looked a bit nervous regarding this choice of destination now as we still have 20 kilometres to go and the weather was closing in even more.

I'd driven in snow packed roads here before in a Lada, the trouble is you don't know where the road is, there weren't any other vehicle tracks to guide you - We seemed to be the only vehicle on the road on a Friday at rush hour as the thought of that decision at the junction was beginning to feel like the wrong decision. I wasn't too worried about anything else other than the repercussions of a woman's tongue and scorn during the saga and even more the end of it.

Taking it very slowly, and without using brakes which just caused us to skid, we managed to slide our way to Skalitsa, it was a roller coast of a ride, I loved every moment. It was easier than expected especially in view of the severe weather we encountered.

A bigger problem was the final 200 metres in the the village road that leads to the farmhouse. Another decision had to be made; try and get to the farmhouse garage or leave the car on the main road next to the bar/shop. Again, it was left for me to make the decision as it was made instantaneously and the brave Lada when head first in the drifted snow up the small hill to the farmhouse. It only just made it, but the big problem was yet o come, the actual crossing the verge which had a dip in it to get into the garage.

We had spoken to our neighbour who was outside gathering winter fuel just before attempting the final run. He informed us that the whole village had no electricity as the power lines had been blown over in the wind. He was actually amazed we were here as the whole of Bulgaria had come to a halt due to drifting snow and his intended guest this weekend had cancelled their trip.

He had caught up with us as just as we had given up any hope of having the car undercover in the garage overnight. It was entrenched in the middle of the road in half a metre of snow and going was going nowhere. But this is Bulgaria, this is a village and there is always help at hand in these locations. Our neighbour had caught up with us and was with his wife this time. We had three people now (Galia being the third) who could help push the Lada out of trouble and into the garage. The only stressed out person was me, I knew that it was near impossible to get the car in the garage an the efforts that were being made by these Bulgarians would be fruitless. The car only had to travel some 10 metres, but in snow that had drifted to nearly a metre against the garage door look like a mission impossible, and without electric with the dark of the night looming just half an hour away, the original decision looked even more or a wrong one. What penalty will I have to pay for making that choice.

To cut a long story short, the car eventually got in the garage, it took 30 to 40 minutes to achieve this as no one gave up except me. The car in was in the garage and suddenly the electricity came back on and lit up the darkness that was now surrounding us in this almost isolated spot. There was no no rush as we spent the next twenty minutes talking and catching up on the news locally.

We finally got indoors, the wood burner started up and not food prepared as the snow carried on outside. This was the best kind of evening you could ever have having finally got here. Was it the wrong decision after all? Only Sunday will tell us that as we have to get back to Yambol for work the next day. Did I get shouted at for making the wrong decisions? No, even though there were times when it was deemed wrong, Galia seems understands that making decisions is always a risk and sometimes wrong decisions are made. Why should she get angry with me and use that against me for the rest of my life? Why I put up with that in the UK I'll never know, perhaps I thought that was normal then.

Cutting the First Vine in Skalitsa

This Sunday 7th February was celebratory day in Skalitsa village where the first vine is cut. This happens in various areas of Bulgaria where top-notch politicians are seen to perform the first snip of the wine-giving vine.

In Skalitsa this happens every year, but I've missed the last two and only got to witness this one by accident with neighbours begging us to go with them to the village centre. To be quite honest I wasn't really in the mood and wanted to spend quality time with Galia, as we don't get to do that during the week.

We decided that I would go alone, as Galia knew she would be the topic of conversation in the village centre with Skalitsa representing many villages in the area. Instead, all I got was 'Where's Galia?' when I arrived there and mixed into the crowds. I have written a detailed account of this day in my first year here which is due to be published soon on my other blog (365 Bulgarian Adventures) so I won't go into to much details for fear of repeating myself.

Needless to say, I understood far more this year than I did on my first year here. Basically there are a lot of speeches, performance or poetry, acting, singing, dancing and many speeches from the politicians who never miss a trick to gain favouritism in the public eye. The television cameras were there as well, I noticed they just focused on the VIPs speeches and actions and one or two side events form villagers, understandably mainly geared towards national interest.

The event gives prizes to villagers who had entered the wine and Rakia competitions. There were many categories of wine and Rakia and it is a big accolade to win, where they get a certificate and prize. The main winners were from Skalitsa, that wasn't bias, jus that Skalitsa is one of the biggest villages in the area and more people from Skalitsa entered the competition.

At the end of the ceremony and much public talking and performing and after quite a few glasses of free red wine served from a massive wooden wine barrel. I don't often drink wine so it was a very pleasant change as the mingling went on. Finally, with a candyfloss in hand I went back to see Galia. If you want to see more of the event visit the report was made by the Yambol press, it's in Bulgarian but the pictures give you a taste of what went on, very colourful. www.yambolnews.net

By the time I had got back the candyfloss has almost disappeared it had just seemed to evaporate. I'd never remembered candyfloss evaporating when I was a kid, but then it was eaten straight away. Galia looked at me curiously as I offered her a stick! I'm sure she though I had eaten it en route. With that we both enjoyed the rest of the afternoon pruning our own vines in the summer-type day in February.

Photograph of the kid and the candyfloss is courtesy of www.bouncekrazee.co.uk