22/04/2014

Source kulinar.bg Imagine this - it’s May and it’s warm outside, you are sitting at the outdoor table and you feel the last rays of light on your face. You breath in deeply - here the air is clean and fresh, you are surrounded by friends and family and all of them are eagerly preparing everything for the dinner. Next to you just one foot away is the lamb over the fire and in the air you can smell the delicious aroma. And somewhere very close to you you listen how George gives a toast. I…

01/04/2014

When was the last time you had a nice cup of natural tea? and I don’t mean the one from the supermarket, where you don’t know what is it there in the tea bag, but a Real one - from the field or the mountain? This kind of herbal elixir that combines taste, healthy and energizing effect  is really hard to find. Fortunately we found it for you - meet our new farm “The Island”. What they produce is herbs and tea, under the “Tronka” trade mark. The farm is situated…

17/03/2014

One of the brightest holidays celebrated exactly nine months before the Birth of Christ. Legend relates that on the 25th day of March , the Archangel Gabriel announced to the Virgin Mary for the birth of the Savior. She was blessed among women and she was destined to be the mother of the God's son. That is why this day is also a celebration of the mother. Image by lemuriaaaaa.blogspot.com I admit I didn't  know much about this holiday until recently , but it appears that…

25/04/2013

Hello, hello and Happy Thursday! I can only wish you the bright, sunny day we are having here at humble Sofia, Bulgaria. But it was about time, after all that rain and freezing cold wind, Jesus. Ooops. Shouldn`t have done that, mentioning His name in vain. But people so often do so, sometimes I think, maybe some of them do not even know the story of His life as told by the Bible… to be honest, I won`t  be that surprised if it turns out I`m right. So since orthodox Easter is coming this next…

22/04/2013

This year Easter is unusually late in the year, on May 5th. This of course does not stop me from writing about it unusually early, starting this Monday and ending we will see when, ho! It`s just that there is so much to say about Easter… I personally love this holiday, so does everyone here on farmhopping`s team. I can think of like a million reasons as this blessed day has always had special family value for me. On one hand, it’s the family gathering, Christmassy moment. Yes, we could use more of those…

28/02/2013

Hello there! Excited about the 1st of March? Well, we definitely are. Baba Marta is a holiday we are so much looking forward to! For all the reasons previously explained :) but also for this special promise of a spring in the air… soon, so soon it will be warm outside, trees will be in leaf, finally, the new life will begin. This is also the moment our dear Bulgarian partners, the sustainable farmers, are awaiting with great impatience. After the long and hard winter most of them are exhausted, the…

26/02/2013

When I was little I couldn`t wait for February to be over (no St. Valentine celebrations for me back then :) and “martenitsa” day to arrive.  Because on that day the world around me become so much more colorful and bright. Instead of with predominantly black and grey – this is what they wear here in the winter – the streets were full of people decorated with red and white. My mum used to dress me up with white leggings and a red tunic. God, it was sooo long ago! But even now I remember it vividly, the…

15/02/2013

This is what sheep and goats eat during the winter, the so called “listnitsi”, made of trimmed and bundled oak branches. To prevent rotting and animals` attacks they must be stored somewhere high. While still on the pasture, the shepherd puts the oak branches on the meadow so the animals can eat off the green leaves. After that the branches are left to rot on the ground, thus fertilizing the soil. Making “listnitsi” on tree trunks is an ancient Bulgarian tradition, which is preserved to…