Winter In Bulgaria - The Problems

Probable unemployment tomorrow aside, we have had some serious weather here, but things just plough on as normal. It takes longer to do things and some things you can’t do with extreme cold weather and almost a metre of snow that remains part of the long-term feature of the landscape in Yambol now. I think I have mentioned many time before that I just love living in these conditions and adapt accordingly. It makes the appreciation and luxury of the other seasons in Bulgaria so much better.

Freezing weather is fine for most if you are tucked away with a wood burner and a outbuilding full of chopped up wood to burn, winter food that has purposely been stored exactly for this season. Eating, drinking and socialising is a long term vocation for most in the villages up and down the country. This was what I used to do, but now during this particular winter I am based in Yambol City with work to attend daily although we still have the winter store of food and drink that last year brought, in fact it was a bumper crop.

Getting to work has been a problem but only because I still have not fully come to terms with dealing with extreme Bulgarian winters and tips to take up with the Lada. Let me explain…

The previous cold spell at the end of last year taught me not to apply the handbrake as it froze solid and couldn’t be released. I learned from that and now this won’t happen again, bit this is only the start of it. The learning curve was the steepest to date as I found that I shouldn’t lock the doors as not only the lock was frozen, but the inside locking mechanism froze up and no way to defrost it.

The battery was flat after a few days of not running the Lada so I wanted to take it out and re charge it. Oh dear, I couldn’t get the bonnet open as another locking mechanism had frozen solid under the bonnet. Finally I got the bonnet open in the evening with hot water, but couldn’t get into the boot as not only the locking system had frozen, but the boot rubber trimming had welded itself to the metal.

After finally getting the battery out and checking the water level, there wasn’t water there but ice. So it had to be defrosted before putting it on charge. Another two days of taxis to work and back. This actually takes away 30% of my daily wages so I wasn’t too happy, especially having to fork out 68 leva for the year’s road tax (vinetka) this month.

Then the was the problem of the road once the car started, after a slight thaw during the day and freezing overnight Ladas don’t work well on skating rinks, I ended up on the opposite side of the road on the kerb and couldn’t move from there, another taxi was sought again. The comfort was that many other cars had been abandoned alongside me.

I take a packed lunch to work each day and have to put it in the fridge in the office, not to keep cool but to stop it becoming rock solid ice. This happened the first day back last week. I had a frozen lunch that day. I took my hat and gloves off at lunchtime and couldn’t get them back on due to being frozen solid. The toilet had frozen up and of course no water at work for over a week now. We have to melt snow for out water source and work in sub zero conditions.

At home we have not had water now for 6 days, the underground pipe had frozen up last Monday and even though we have had a little thaw over the weekend, still no water. There is colder (sub zero) weather forecast tomorrow, so unless we get some water running by the end of this evening it is set to continue. Our water supply comes from purchased water from shops, which have to be carried as the Lada has been out of action, more expense due to the cold.

Baba hasn’t been outside for nearly two weeks as it is too slippery underfoot. At least she is in a warm house and food is ready for when we get back from work. Both Baba and Galia hate the cold and are counting down the days to spring. We all will be very happy when it arrives, but for me winter is a rest season, not labouring in the fields and gardens, I love winter here and for some reason love a bit of suffering in the cold at work. Even with frost bitten hands from work, I really don’t mind the pain, as to me it is a small inconvenience with the seasons to come.

We are in bed at 7:30 in the evening watching television and for us this is the best place to be from the point of saving on heating bills and total relaxation.

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.

Still Picking Daily Produce For Lunch In Bulgaria

It is quite a bonus that even in mid November I am still picking fresh peppers and tomatoes from the factory farm daily for my lunch. Even though the main crops of tomatoes and peppers had been harvested and now stored for the winter, the growing continues alongside aubergines that are still being picked. How long these free lunch treats go on for I guess is in the hands of the weather. There is no forecast of sub-zero nights this week, so it will carry on I suppose – To Christmas? Who knows?

Cabbages have now been preserved are in a 240 litre barrel of salt water and some cut up peppers, green tomatoes and carrots and local herbs for salads through to April. A new batch of grape rakia was made last Tuesday, it took all night to distil with me loosing a complete night of sleep, but it was worth it with over 40 litres of 58% rakia now sitting. This should be ready to drink after being diluted with spring water once thirty days have passed, also with the addition of submerging mulberry wood for colour and cut apples dangling in a pair of tights. The quantity should therefore rise to around 45-47 litres. With the addition of the remainder of the previously distilled sliva rakia (30 litres) the rakia stock will be sure to last a year. So much for the taxing of home made rakia that exceeds 30 litres! I don’t know any Bulgarian who makes less that 30 litres and none who pay tax on excess of this.

Just in case you are interested the cost of making the 45 litres of 44% rakia is made up as follows:

• 150 kg Grapes 45 leva
• 20 kg sugar 28 leva
• Rakia house fees 15 leva
• Wood for the kazan 3 leva
• Salt 0.15 leva
• Bicarbonate of soda 2 leva
• Sweets 2 leva
• Flour for sealing the kazan 0.50 leva
• Apples 3 leva

I bought the grapes from a friend at work and used raspberry flavoured hard-boiled sweets instead of coriander as an experiment. The total cost was 98.65 leva, say 100 leva with a little gas for transportation. This works out that one litre of home made rakia cost 2.22 leva which is about £1 or $1.50! The cheapest rakia in shops at 40% is priced at around 6-7 leva three time the cost and in most people’s opinion inferior. With this in mind you can see the appeal and why Bulgarian oppose the EU for trying to take this wonderful tradition say more a ritual, that remains in Bulgaria for the time being.

Perhaps this post is more pertaining to my Rakia Site, which has a poll running on whether tax should be paid on home made rakia.

In the meantime I hope to enjoy this last batch of rakia with family and friends with the stock of salads over the festive season and beyond. It is of course the life and soul of the Bulgarian kitchen table.

Sorry no pictures, still no digital camera right now.

Fishing In A Secret Bulgarian Lake Location

Fishing in Bulgaria is enjoyed by millions, but as a hunt for food not just sport. Many use nets and devious ways to gather fish from lakes and rivers and although a blind eye is turned to this, most decent Bulgarians, including Galia’s family and friend here look down on that as an unfair way of hunting for food. Both Galia and I love fishing, but we just never have the time to go and practice it. It must be about a year ago since we last went and that was only because her son who is a keen angler insisted we take a break from farming at the weekend.

Well this weekend her son was with us again and the plan was to go fishing early in the morning before it gets too hot. The alarm was set for 5:30 and all three for us were off by 6:00. We knew there was lots of work to do with harvesting and preparing food gathered for winter this weekend so we planned to get back by 11:00 giving us time enough to complete the chores when we got back.

Now the place we visited was not know by many people here, not even local people and I am not going to give the place away now, but only to say that it is some 3-4 kilometres off road to get there and only accessible by Lada in the dry season due to the state of the track. We found it by accident one day after getting lost and kept the location in mind. It is the most beautiful and unspoilt spot of crystal clear water and the wildlife is everywhere you look in every direction. We were the only people there and apart from a hiker who passed up remain the only anglers there all morning.

Galia’s son had boiled some wheat the evening before and this was both the ground bait and bait on the hooks on our lines, he said we were guaranteed fish with this. No sooner were our lines cast and the fish just came rolling in one after another. There was no relaxing here as we were kept active for a full three hours with fish being caught every minute or so. The fish we landed were all carp, they weren’t that big, but totally edible as the buckets we brought with us filled up. By 10:30 they were to the brim with fish.

We brought home well over 150 fish as some were given to our neighbour, some prepared for frying for this evening’s meal and the rest prepared for the freezer both here in the farmhouse and back in the town home. It took some two hours to de-scale, gut and de-head the fish, no problem with the future meals in mind when doing it.

The fish was cooked simply by dowsing the finish in flour and lightly frying in a shallow pan of oil. The flesh fell off the bone as we feasted on these fish that had such a clean pallet unlike many freshwater fish I have eaten in the UK with a muddy taste. It was a feast we all enjoyed from out labours and that made a major difference as well. Buying fish and eating it just isn’t the same. We knew where these came from and the environment was a clean as anything you can imagine and local. Food always tastes better when local in any case.

We talked now about getting me a fishing license so Galia and I can go other times when her son is not there. Before you ask, yes you do need one and Galia and I were fishing illegally, but this is what goes on in isolated areas in these parts.

The best thing of all is having a female partner (Galia) who absolutely loves fishing as well. It has always been a fight to get permission to go fishing before now and fishing with guilt has always been the case, no longer!

Bulgarian Watermelons - Was It Worth It?

Was it worth it? The amount of time I spent watering those Bulgarian watermelons over the last few months is unqualified. Quite often and especially over the last few weeks, I’d cycle a 74 kilometres round trip just to water them and of course on the hottest days in Bulgaria, which is why they need watering more often anyway!

The time and effort was made with some people looking at what I’m doing feeling that only an Englishman would cycle in the midday summer sun just to water some melons. The question raised was why don’t you just buy them from the bazaar? Well the most obvious answer is quite simple, money! One melon weighing around 6 kilograms can cost 4 or 5 leva, that is sometimes a whole day's earning right now! To be quite honest water melons are a but of a luxury, even with a glut of them on the market stalls. Many people who know me here of course think I am loaded with money and living off a large pension from the UK. This added to their own reasoning make it even more difficult for them to understand why I bust a gut to grow my own.

There is also another reason why I take so much trouble with making sure my watermelons are water regularly. This is the first time I have ever grown them, I took on advice from my neighbours with the system used to grown them and of course, growing my own produce is my passion and one of the main reason for coming to Bulgaria. The aim is to produce food that is on par with the food my village neighbours grow, as they produce food that to me is the best in every aspect.

So the first water melon was cut last weekend weighing in at 8.5 kilograms. It was too heavy for my bicycle but it rolled into the Lada boot quite comfortably. We got it home but didn’t try it until today just as I got back on my bike this morning from another 74 kilometres trip to water the remaining watermelons. Baba had already cut the melon and the lush ruby red inside of the melon was making my mouth water before even getting a sniff. Well the moment was here, was the effort worth it, was the watermelon going to live up to he standards of my village neighbours? It was a nervous Martin about to try the fruit made from the reservoir of sweat from his brow over the last few months.

Well it more than lived up to expectation, I can honest say that this was one of the best watermelons I had eaten. Baba and the family all gathered and congratulated me on that raving success. “It’s better than you neighbours!” Galia said comparing, as we sampled some of their watermelon last weekend - That is after the flies had their say on the fruit.

Was it worth it? You bet!

Bulgarian Well Water - We Are So Lucky

Water for free from well in Bulgaria is one of the great pleasures of living here. I have been drinking my own well water for years now from source and it has always been reliable and I have never suffered from any ill effects. The well water is sought from deep plates of underground reservoirs that come from mountain springs. It is always, cold, fresh, crystal clear and sweet tasting it seems a shame to water my crops with the quality of the water that comes out.

It amazes me why so many people bother to buy spring water in 1, 2, 5 or 10 litres plastic bottles. It cost a few leva in the first instance the water usually comes from the other end of the country from the mountain ranges south of Sofia so there is transportation involved. The plastic containers are recycled most of the time, but still a resource that we could do without.

I wish I could have had another say on the renovation of my farmhouse and had the well water connected direct into the house. The mains water is full of calcium and clogs all metal heating elements up. It is not really safe to drink over the long term and may well contribute to the many cases of kidney stones to those who persist in drinking it. I bring well water into the farmhouse kitchen to drink and cook with and take 20 litres back to the town house each weekend for Galia and her family for the same reason. How fortunate are we to have such a luxury in this world of pollution and expensive water costs.

The only overhead I have is for the electric pump that brings the water up from 23 metres underground. The cost is nominal. I had to register the well a couple of years ago. I am sure this is for a reason beyond just accountability. I'm sure this will soon be looked at as a tap to be opened for tax in the future. It is quite unfair that natural water on your own land will soon have to be paid for. It will be like paying for the air you breathe. This of course is another idea from the EU and not a Bulgarian ideal.

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.

Water Returns - Then The Ice Strikes

Hurrah, we have our mains water back after seven days. It suddenly came back to life at 7:00 in the evening after settling down and resigning ourselves for another night of inconvenience. To be quite honest we were so used to the routine of economising with water we could have gone on indefinitely without mains water.

There was a big cheer from us all as the initial muddy water spurted from the tap in our one and only heated livingroom/diningroom/kitchen/bedroom combined space. There were little dances and jigs as the toilet was flushed in celebration. Another reason for a party this evening, well it would have been if Galia weren’t still being treated for her illness and hospital operation.

It is really quite a turn around as I am more than used to being without water and electric on many extended occasions in the village so this wasn’t such a hardship for me at all. But in Yambol City, to be without water for so long was unprecedented to Bulgarian townies in recent times. This was looked on as a big problem by all the Bulgarian household except me, but then like I said, I am hardened to this from village life and secondly I am entirely grateful for being part of this family now and certainly won’t complain, even if I had reason to from the lack of water.

So, water now in the town house and today I went to Skalitsa village to check up on the farmhouse there. I had not been there for two weeks and the severity of the sub-zero temperatures left me thinking there would be a problem there.

I arrived and as I suspected everything was frozen. The water in the toilet cistern was jammed with ice and accompanied with a solid block of ice in the basin. There was no water coming in or out it was rock solid. Looks like back to the outside toilet again, that never fails, it was like visiting a long lost friend.

The electric immersion boiler in the bathroom was also frozen; it couldn’t be heated up until it had thawed out. There was no water coming in or out it was rock solid. Switched on the little electric convector heater I had from a previous village life here and left it full on in the bathroom for a couple of hours.

Switching attention to the kitchen, I have a 30-litre barrel full of water this is kept by the side of the sink to use when we get cut off with mains water. The whole 30 litres was a block of ice, (pictured) solid right the way through and no water in the kitchen of course. It was out of the frying pan and into the fire, no water at all here. The well had water in it but the standing water in the plastic piping had effectively iced up blocking the route for the well water. No chance of that defrosting for at least another day or so as it was still bitterly cold here today at least another 3-4 C lower than Yambol.

No panic, I was in the village now, no rush to do anything this weekend as I gathered wood for the wood burner. At least the wood burner never fails I thought. I was right. Five hours later after roasting a few rooms from the travelling heat from the wood burner backed up by the heater in the bathroom there was now movement. By 7 o’clock this evening everything is running very smoothly on the water front, I can even have a shower before I go to bed.

I was in my element today, I just love the whole day solving problems, dealing with nature that had taken hold of the farmhouse, using the outside toilet, gathering and chopping up wood, even having time to go for a jog on this very bright, sunny, but very cold day. This was the main reason I came to Bulgaria to get back to basics and experience what real down to earth life is all about. The stresses of modern living just doesn’t exist here in Skalitsa on the farm. The second picture is of the scene from Skalitsa I took today, it's there because I liked it.

I am due back to Yambol tomorrow to tend to Galia who is certainly under the weather in more ways than one. Hopefully we can return here to give here a bit of convalescence next weekend.

Snow at Last - Cause for More Celebration in Bulgaria

It has been quite a worry over the last month or so that we have had no snow. It is quite unusual for Bulgaria not to have a white Christmas or at the very least to have had snowfall prior to the festive season. This year it has been different.

There is much talk and concern at village level of the low well water levels that were almost run dry last year. Without snowfall this winter, they fear that this year this will go from bad to worse. Villagers rely on the water from their wells for their produce and home use. Many homes don’t even have water main supplies and will have to resort to shipping water supplies from natural springs in most village centres, this of course is fine for domestic supplies, but for smallholding that depend on water for crops, impossible.

So the New Year came and the talk was of drought this coming summer, then yesterday, the snow finally came, and lots of it. There is forecast even more on its way throughout the week, this is cause for even more celebrations and that’s how it is right now. Even though many villages are now snowed in, there will be more celebrations beyond Christmas, New Year and countless name day celebrations.

Frozen pipes in Bulgaria

The 2005-6 was the coldest winter in Bulgaria for twenty years! How do you cope dealing with the potential of frozen pipes in your home?

Keeping the taps dripping 24 hours a day is one suggestion that works quite well. Throw in a haystack or two into the shaft over the water meter access if located outside as in many Bulgarian homes is another that is effective. Turning the water off and drain off the pipes is probably the best if you aren't there for long periods is another good tip. The suggestion that you put antifreeze in the toilets overnight was another tip that someone gave to me, not a Bulgarian tip, but this doesn't really appeal to me. Anything involving chemicals just doesn't fit into Bulgaria ways here unless a last resort. Any more tips that can be taken on would be useful, before the cold weather hits preferably

This method was tried out recently and worked a treat:

Turn the mains water tap off, leave the taps open and then flush the toilet. This obviously applies to those not staying in their house, perhaps away for the winter to warmer climates. It works as the amount of air in the piping system copes with the expanding water that turns to ice leaving no fractures! Again, this worked as it has been tried and tested.

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