Tag: cows

Sárig Attila- farmer, part II

Leading two cows

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I went back for another stay at Attila’s farm. The children had grown a lot since last time and a small girl had been born since last time I was there.

The kitchen garden near their house had potatoes ready for picking and a man with a horse should plow the potato field, but he didn’t arrive.

In the evening, I followed Attila to a pasture where some cows and calves were grazing. All of them came when he called, the calves jumping and running, being playful and full of energy. He had bought two calves from Tirol and they should be more robust against diseases than the local cattle.

Playful calves

The cows went inside the building where Attila chained their necks, gave them cereals in a bucket, tied the tail to the hind leg, cleaned the udders with water and milked a small amount from each udder into a metal cup. Later, the contents would be given to the pigs.

Milking a cow

Next, he milked the rest into another bucket, pouring the contents through a filter into a stainless steel container each time he had finished milking a cow. Thereafter, he did the same procedure with the other ones.

Milking a cow

The cows were busy eating the cereals while being milked, even licking the bucket when it was empty. When all the cows had been milked, he let them out. In fact, they would stay outside all night inside an enclosure. The next day, they would be allowed to go other pastures.

Next, we went back again to a place where he had a bull to which he gave hay. Then, he entered the pigsty where he fed 4 pigs cereals, potatoes and pumpkins from the kitchen garden. Finally, he let them out such that he could clean it. Like the calves, the pigs also seemed very content when they were let out, running inside the courtyard.

Going for food

There were three types of potatoes, one red and two light brown or beige. They didn’t use any pesticides, but it had rained a lot and there was blight on some of them. Anyway, two of the potato types were good, while the third one was not good. The potatoes with blight would be given to the pigs.

On our way back, a horse was pulling a log being aided by a man who was using a tool to loosen the log, while another one was leading the horse.

A horse pulling a log

After sunset, I followed Attila’s family up on a hill above the village, listening for rutting deer. Unfortunately, I didn’t hear any deer, but Attila did. Obviously, his listening is better than mine.

The next day, his father’s cows were used as beasts of burden. He brought them to the kitchen garden and attached a yoke to their necks such that they had to stay side by side, added a piece of rope to be able to pull them and attached a plow to the yoke. Then, Attila led the cows and his father was plowing, everything at walking pace.

Plowing a field by means of cows

Using a mixture of encouraging commands and light strikes with a stick, Attila made the cows pull the plow, seemingly a very easy task for them, as potatoes were continually being exposed by the plow. When they reached the end of the field, his father detached the plow and Attila made them turn 180 degrees, making them ready for another round. The whole process was repeated until all the fields had been plowed.

Plowing a field

At last, Attila and his father were picking the potatoes by hand, sorting the big ones for eating, the middle ones as seed potatoes and the bad and small ones for the pigs. The amount of potatoes were enough for their families and the guesthouse.

Picking potatoes

Next year, the field with lucerne would be replaced by a potato field and vice versa and maize would be planted along the length of the potato field, like this year.

Various vegetables lying on the sides of the fields seemed to be irresistible to the cows, which ate whatever they could get with relish. Actually, they were always trying to eat whenever it was possible, in particular one of them.

When the plowing had been done, the cows were attached to some farm equipment and they were fed withered maize and turnips growing along the potato field. The hungry cow looked very content as it was eating the maize.

A hungry cow

Inside the courtyard of Attila’s family, a couple of ducks were roaming freely and a rooster was crowing from morning till evening inside the chicken coop.

It has to be mentioned that this village is acoustically interesting. During my short stay, in addition to the happenings described above, I could also hear people mowing hay, grinding their scythes, horses pulling wagons, cows being let out to graze in the morning, ravens, etc. I would like to come back and do field recordings. In the meantime, it’s possible to listen to these ones.

02/10/2019
Szász Rózsika and Arpad – farmers

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Having visited Zita Tofalvi in the morning, later we went to visit Rózsika and Arpad Szász because they also live on the high level plain above the town of Corund. Both of them grew up in this area, but he worked for many years as an electrician in mines before getting a pension. Then, they lived in Corund before buying this farm.

The farm is located in a beautiful place, surrounded by wildflower meadows and deciduous forests, a neighbour was passing on a horse-drawn cart, songbirds were singing, a cuckoo was calling and no cars were passing. A rural idyll!

Since they were expecting us, we were served a wide selection of their home-made cheeses and bacon, while we got pancakes with urdă cheese with mulberry jam as dessert.

Having eaten, we were free to have a look at the farm where a group of hens, normal ones and Transylvanian ones with naked neck, together with a rooster went around pecking until they got fed cereals by Ms..Szász, who also had to tempt one hen and her chickens inside a coop with tidbits. One single guineafowl, which I was told, was used as an alarm in case birds of prey were approaching, was also roaming freely, but some poultry is taken by foxes or birds of prey anyway.

Three pigs were also being raised at the farm and they need to weigh about 220 kg when they are slaughtered. That is, they weigh much more than pigs, which are raised commercially, when they are slaughtered. While the pigsty was being cleaned, the pigs were let out one by one and they seemed very happy, eating grass and walking around the courtyard freely.

The Szász couple had 6 cows, all of which were grazing on a communal meadow, while a cowherd was looking after them, They were milked in the morning, then they were let out and they would walk with cows from nearby farms to a communal meadow and come back in the evening. During our visit, Mr Szász followed them home the last stretch, but when they reached the barn, each cow knew which cubicle to go to. Finally, both husband and wife milked them, while one male calf just had to suckle his mother’s teats. Having finished, he was hardly controllable and he was let out such that he could jump and run as much as he wanted, looking very happy.

Besides, the cows on this farm go outside twice daily to drink water from a spring in winter, making them in good shape and ready to go grazing in spring.

Having finished milking the cows, Mr. Szász brought the fresh milk inside the kitchen where it was poured into a container through a filter. Since they got milk twice daily, Ms. Szász had cheese mass in various stages on the way to become mature cheese. She grated cheese mass made the day before and put it in warm salt water, then she formed the grated mass into a clump, which she rolled into a sausage on a bench and tied it into a braid, She formed other parts of the grated mass into a flat piece which she extended, finally turning it a rose, showing us she is a real artist.

Regarding sharing of work, he does the repetitive task of churning butter, while she does the demanding task of making cheese with more or less complex shapes.

Some of the cheeses were mixed with oregano, cumin or walnuts and some cheeses were smoked in a small smokehouse next to the farm.

They also have a wood-fired bakery oven where they bake bread filled with mashed potatoes once a week.

They had three dogs and three cats, but unfortunately one dog had been taken by wolves the preceding winter.

Since winters are harsh and long in this area, they have to collect a lot of hay in order to feed their animals throughout winter. They only use cow dung to fertilise their fields because they can’t afford artificial fertilisers.

They grow potatoes and vegetables in a small garden near the farm, they have pear, apple, walnut and plum trees and they make rose hip and mulberry jam.

The pigs looked far from weighing 220 kg, but when they do, there will surely be a busy time after having slaughtered them. Then, the whole carcass will be turned into sausages, cold cuts, hams, etc.

All in all, it seemed like they took very good care of their animals and that that both man and animals were living in harmony.

07/06/2015
Sárig Attila – farmer

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Attila Sárig lives in the village where he was born together with his Hungarian wife Reka and their young son Benedec. Like all or almost all houses in the village, their property is not visible from the gravel road passing through the village because it is hidden by high fences and a big gate. The gates were probably meant for letting a horse and cart pass through, but nowadays it could also be someone’s car, which should pass through it. During my stay, it felt like there were as many horse-drawn carts as cars passing outside. The village is surrounded by hills covered by meadows full of wildflowers and deciduous forests, making it ideal for those who want rural settings in a beautiful place.

Having entered the gate, there is a small house in which the Sárig family have a combined kitchen and dining room for themselves and for their guests. There is also a small house divided in two where one part is the living quarters for the Sárig family, while the other one is the combined bedroom and bathroom for their guests.

The Sárig family slaughter their own animals and they make almost all their food themselves. Having been their guest for two days, I can attest to their delicious and genuine food – a real culinary pleasure.

Just outside their property, there is a communal garden where each family have a plot for growing vegetables and both Attila and his wife spent lots of time there tending their vegetables. Moreover, Attila’s parents have a small farm outside the village where they have six cows, 2 of their own, 2 of Attila’s family and 2 of his brother’s family. When we arrived, the cows had been let out by Attila’s parents to go grazing and they had left fresh milk from the cows in a container. Actually, the cows are milked in the morning before they are let out to go grazing, then they return in the evening when they are milked again.

Attila made a fire and put a pot with the fresh milk above it. When the milk was hot enough, about 35°C, he poured rennet on the milk and waited about 30 minutes in order to let the milk start curdling. Then, he used a knife in order to cut the cheese mass into small parts (dairies use a device called a harp to obtain the same thing) before he started stirring the cheese mass continuously. When he could gradually feel that the cheese grains were becoming more solid, he put a porous cloth into the mass, collecting the cheese grains carefully inside the cloth. He joined the corners of the cloth and lifted it up, put it in a container with an opening. through which the whey could flow and fall down in a bucket. Next, he put the cloth in a large metal ring and compressed the cheese mass in order to let the whey flow out and finally he put some weights on it in order to press out more whey.

The remaining whey was reheated and he used a utensil to collect two dishes with cheese, the cheesemaker’s soup. – a real, tasty treat. Finally, he extracted the rest of the cheese mass, which is called ricotta because it is heated twice, and poured it into a porous cloth. When everything had been extracted, he hung up the cloth with the ricotta such that the whey could escape.

Having finished making cheese, Attila used a scythe to cut some nettles which he mixed with a part of the remaining whey and gave it to a sow which lived next to the cheesemaking cottage. The rest was collected in bottles in order to give it to the pig at their house.

Attila prefers to sell his cheeses to someone he knows because there are so many rules if he sells them at markets and he has to pay for lots of paperwork.

Attila’s family also grow vegetables at the second farm, but wild animals like deer and wild boar enter the garden. They have set up an electric fence around it, but he also plans to set up a wooden fence.

Having hiked back to the village via another path, we went to a small meadow where Attila asked me to help him bring some haystacks inside a barn because it started raining. Of course, we had to do it the Romanian way, which consisted of putting two poles below the haystack before carrying it inside. The thick end of the pole had to be inserted below the haystack first and it had to be lifted occasionally in order to create some space around it, then pushed again until it passed below the whole haystack. Although the haystacks looked small, they were surprisingly heavy.

Attila and his parents have a house in the village where they want to set up an agricultural school. They want to teach everyone how to grow vegetables organically. He thought it was impossible until he went to an agricultural school in Sogn, Norway where he saw that students of all ages really wanted to learn about organic agriculture.

Attila and some locals arrange a haymaking festival every August and about 20 participants were expected at the festival this year. The guests would be housed in various places in the village and they would mow different kinds of meadows, ranging from lowland ones near the village to highland ones in the mountains.

For those who want to know more, a journalist from National Geographic has written this article.

02/06/2015
Pagadizabal mountain farm

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We went back to Aia a few days after we had visited Joxean Bollain, the pig farmer. Having passed the village of Aia, we drove in a lovely landscape with meadows, groves, and scattered farms in a hilly terrain. Since there were no signs, it was rather difficult to find the Pagadizabal farm. There, the teenage son Joseba was preparing to make apple juice together with Jose, a man in his sixties. They had already filled the press with apples, remaining only to put a lid on the top and moving it downwards by means of a ratchet. After just a few turns, we were offered fresh, delicious apple juice.

Having arrived at a busy farm, another farmer had arrived while we were watching the apple pressing. He had come to buy two rams in order to spread their genes among his ewes. Having restrained both of them, he put them in his car and went away. The rams had nice, curved horns and, since there are so few of them, it’s important to pass on their genes to maintain diversity. Actually, we followed the farmer with the rams in his car for a part of the way until we arrived at a meadow where there was a flock of sheep. There, Peio, the father of Joseba let out their dog Lantz, a border collie. Letting him enter the meadow, Peio gave him short commands in Basque, which was enough to make him herd the sheep where Peio wanted. Having led them into a tight spot, he could inspect their feet, which are vulnerable, he told my guide.

Having gone back to the farm, we could appreciate the beauty of the surroundings of the Pagadizabal farm. Like the farm of Joxean Bollain, it’s located on the top of a steep hill and surrounded by groves, meadows, and hills. Birds of prey were circling overhead and sheep’s and cows’ bells could be heard in the distance. Again Peio let Lantz herd sheep, first a small flock on the top of a steep hill, then he was ordered to herd another one at the bottom of the hill. Obviously, a shepherd dog like Lantz is indispensable for the Pagadizabal family. Peio also let Lantz guide some geese which he did with ease.

There were also several cows and calves grazing in the steep hillside. Peio told my guide that the cows bear calves unattended, but since it’s so steep, sometimes the calves fall down the hillside. In order to help the calf, they first have to restrain the cow since she’s very protective of her offspring, in particular for the first 48 hours.

The hills around the farm were covered with fresh grass, and since their tractor had broken down, the Pagadizabal family first cut the grass with a scythe. At the same time, one of them prepared two oxen to pull a sled. It was a pleasant, but totally unexpected sight to watch oxen being walked next to each other, then having a wooden device put on their necks and having fastened everything by means of ropes. Being animals of habit, my guide was told that if an ox has been working on the left side once, it has to always work on the left side and vice versa. Having prepared both sled and oxen, the driver made them walk to the meadow where all the family raked the grass together and put it on the sled. Finally, the oxen pulled everything up to a barn where the grass was put in a barn. The oxen were completely docile because they had been castrated. In fact, there were several more oxen at the farm, which were not castrated and since they are so strong, they were getting dangerous. Peio was planning to castrate them too, but he was waiting for a cold day. I imagine they will let the oxen stay outside a whole night in order to make them easier to handle, but I didn’t ask my guide to enquire further.

Before we left, Peio ordered Lantz to herd the sheep inside a barn. Then, it just remained to thank the Pagadizabal family for letting us watch them at work in such lovely surroundings.

05/10/2014
Animal market near Saliste

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When visiting the Lebu family, my guide was told that there is a big animal market on the outskirts of Saliste three times a year. Fortunately, that happened to be when we were in Saliste. Since a new highway to Sighisoara was being constructed at the same time, the animal market had been moved to a wide field further way from Saliste and having driven on a muddy road for some time and passed some horse-driven carts, we arrived at the market. The market is open for two days, on the first day small animals like sheep and pigs are bought and sold, while on the second, big animals like cows are horses change owners.

Entering the market, I could see mostly men standing around and talking, while most of the horses were eating hay. One farmer was passing with a horse-drawn cart on which was standing a calf and being followed by a cow, while another one somehow attached a chain around the mouth of a young ox in order to make it walk where he wanted.

Makeshift bars had been set up and someone was barbecuing meat, while poultry in small cages on the ground were for sale. Lots of horses had red tassels on their heads to ward off evil spirits. They were also for sale together with a large selection of horse harnesses.

A screaming piglet was brought into a car, but it turned quiet after it had entered the car.

Unfortunately, not knowing the language made me miss the horse-trading.

13/06/2013
Bebeselea mountain farm

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About 30 km west of Sibiu, the village of Jina is located at the foothills of the Cindrel mountains, being part of the ethnographic area called Marginimea Sibiului also known as “the Land of the Cheese” being renowned for producing various types of cheese. Although some local shepherds found greener pastures elsewhere (no pun intended) and didn’t return, there are still many mountain farms in active use, called coliba, in Jina.

After having tasted the obligatory homemade spirits at the home of the Bebeselea family, we were brought by tractor and cart by Ion Bebeselea on a muddy and slippery road up to their mountain farm located on a hillside overlooking a lovely valley, having a beautiful view of the surrounding countryside and being surrounded by meadows.

The mountain farm was quite homely with a large bedroom and a kitchen with a large dining room, but considering that they have to milk their cows twice daily all year, it’s really understandable that they need it. They also had a small dairy, a barn for the cows and another one for the calves together with a pigsty and a shed for their chickens.

Cornelia told my guide that the cows produce more milk when she’s milking the cows than when her husband does it. Thus, she and her youngest daughter Mariana were milking the cows together, both their own and some cows belonging to some elderly villagers who prefer to stay in the village. After having milked all the cows and one donkey, her husband brought the milk to the dairy above the barn (husbands have to do something, haven’t they?). Having poured all the milk through a filter into a container and having added rennet in order to separate the fat and the liquid parts of the milk, we went to their kitchen where Cornelia prepared an abundant meal for us consisting of their own cheese, polenta, bread, water for drinking and the always indispensable home-made spirits. In general, Romanians are very hospitable and it seems like they love to serve their guests plenty of food and at least two shots of their home-made spirits.

After having finished our meal, the milk was ready to be turned into cheese. As always, this consists of bringing the fat parts into another container and getting rid of the liquid parts by means of compressing and gravity. The first one is done by putting the cheese mass in a porous cloth and compressing the cheese mass, while the last one is done by letting the cheese mass stay put and letting the liquid parts flow downwards into another container. Often, weights are put on top of the cheese mass in order to speed up this process. Cornelia did this expertly and after having put the cheese in the storage room, her husband brought the remaining liquid to the piglets where it was consumed quickly and noisily. The cheese would be sold at markets in Bucharest and Galati in the autumn.

Initially, Cornelia and Ion had bought the mountain farm themselves and gradually expanded their property by buying up adjacent land. They receive subsidies for each cow from the state and also for each hectare of land they own.

As regards scything the meadows, workers from other parts of Romania come to Jina and Ion employs them for whatever time is required.

10/06/2013
Mountain farm in the Rucar-Bran passage

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Having passed Dracula’s famous castle in Bran, we drove into a picturesque valley, called the Rucăr-Bran pass, flanked by steep hillsides and a wide creek at its base. Before our next visit, we had to give a ride to a local woman, Mrs Rodica Cojenelu, who would show us the way to an enclosure for some 80 cows. The owner, Mr Sumedrea Georgel, lets his animals stay foraging from spring to autumn in this fertile place.

Having ascended a rather steep and very green hillside, we could see a hut and some horses in the foreground and an enclosure with lots of cows in the background. A shed near the hut housed a group of piglets, while the pigs were more or less sleeping in the mud nearby. Entering the enclosure with the cows, we could see four men milking cows manually. Sitting on a one-legged chair, they made the milking look easy, while the cows being milked seemed like they weren’t even aware of being milked.

Walking around the enclosure, I could see a hut made of sticks and covered by plastic, one near to each side of the enclosure. Since a very dense forest was quite close, and big carnivores like wolf and bear live there, it was only natural to think that the cowherds were sleeping in those plastic huts at night in order to protect their animals. Of course, they also had a lot of livestock guarding dogs.

They would make cheese after our visit, but it would probably be made in more or less the same way as we had seen several times before.

On our way back to Bran, we could see several persons scything and harvesting hay in quite steep hillsides. When they were high up, it seemed like they put a canvas on the ground, covered it with hay, closed the canvas around the hay and pulled it down. In fact, the whole valley looked very fertile, and harvesting hay for the animals should hopefully last through the next winter.

28/06/2012
The Istrate farm

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Before we could go to the Istrate farm, we had to go to a farmer’s market in Brasov in order to give a ride to the mistress of the house, Mrs Marcela Istrate, back home.

Having passed another potholed road, we arrived at a farm with sheep, cows, chickens and pigs surrounded by meadows and hills. Unfortunately, their sheepfold was 2 hours walk away leading to that we just stayed at the farm.

After being served a wide selection of their home-made cheeses, Mr Ioan Istrate invited us to join him slaughtering a calf which had been butchered the day before. Having just entered a cool room, he went inside their refrigerated room and came back with what was left of the calf. Then, he started the business of slaughtering by means of a knife and an ax. Having succeeded in removing bones and some meat he didn’t want, he salted the meat and put it back again in the refrigerated room. The meat and bones he had removed would be turned into sausages another day.

After having finished the meat, we were treated to how to make cheese. Since the cheese mass was ready for separation at our arrival, he started scooping up the cheese mass by means of a bucket and pouring its contents into a tank which he had covered with a porous cloth. Always pouring the cheese in a different area of the tank, he obtained a somewhat level surface in the end. Having transferred all the cheese mass to the tank, he used a knife to divide the cheese mass in a grid, one vertical or horizontal line at a time. Afterwards, he tied up the cloth, put a wooden lid on top of it, then he put some heavy weights on the lid in order to press out the whey, which started flowing out of an opening in the tank into another container below.

We were also shown the room where they were smoking some of their cheeses. It was simply done by lighting a fire below a bowl filled with whey, from which they would extract ricotta, while the smoke would pass the cheeses stored on a shelf in the same room.

Our next demonstration was how he made cheese in sheep’s stomachs and in fir-tree bark cylinders. Starting with a porous cheese, he cut it in pieces with a knife and put the pieces in a box. When all the cheese had been cut up, he put the pieces in a meat grinder and turned on power. It was like watching someone grinding meat, just that the colour of the stuff being ground was yellow. After having ground the whole cheese, he mixed the shapes into fist-sized clumps. Having finished this, he started making cylinders of fir-tree bark.

The fir-tree bark looked like a piece of leather having more or less the same colour. He started with cutting it into a rectangle, then he used a needle and a narrow ribbon used for wrapping Christmas gifts. Having joined the two long sides of the rectangle by means of sewing, making a cylinder, he started sewing a lid to one of its ends. Having finished, he used a knife in order to cut away the superfluous bark. Then, he started filling the cylinder with the cheese, compressing it as much as he could and filling it up to the top. Finally, he put a lid on the top, joining it to the cylinder by means of sewing again.

Having made a fir-tree bark cylinder, he started filling up a sheep’s stomach with the same cheese. Having put as much cheese as possible into it, he closed the opening by putting a circular-shaped piece of fir-tree bark in the opening and closing it by sewing.

Making a search on the internet for cheese in fir-tree bark, I found that it may date back to the time when the Romans invaded what is now called Romania. The locals fled to the mountains bringing their sheep with them. Having abundant fir-tree forests, they learned how to preserve sheep’s cheese in fir-tree bark, making the cheese edible for a much longer time than by just storing it without protection.

Anyway, having been shown so much, it was time to have a look outside. In addition to pigs sleeping in mud and free-ranging chickens, a large flock of cows were grazing on a meadow near the farm, being looked after by a cowherd. Before we entered the room for watching preparation of meat and cheese, there was a large flock of sheep in the shade of a giant tree. When we came out again, the sheep had disappeared, possibly ascending some of the beautiful hills surrounding the farm.

28/06/2012
The Tafta farm

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We went to another Saxon village called Cincşor. As usual, it had a fortified church, but we were looking for a farm just outside the village. After just a few minutes drive, we arrived at a farm where we were met by Mr Vasile Tafta, a friendly man in his sixties who had come from the south of Romania in the 70s and stayed ever since.

After having entered their dairy located next to the farm, he poured some rennet into the cheese in order to separate the cheese mass from the whey. While waiting, he served us their own cheese together with a glass of pálinka, a homemade spirit which almost everyone in the countryside is making by themselves. Afterwards, we went back to the dairy, watching him using a utensil like a smoothing plane in order to transfer the cheese mass layer by layer from one container to another one. After having finished the transfer, the procedure was the same as usual. Tying a cloth around the cheese mass, compress it, and hang up the cheese mass for drying.

Afterwards, he showed us around the farm, letting us see the calves which were staying together inside, then we went to visit a young ox. He jumped across the fence and started stroking the ox who was alone inside. If I’m not wrong, it seemed like he really knew how to treat animals well.

Walking around the courtyard on the farm, suddenly some pigs and a dog arrived in the door opening of the barn, maybe they woke up from their afternoon rest.

Since the cows and sheep were out grazing, we couldn’t leave without having a look at them. One of Mr Tafta’s sons agreed to follow us and after having ascended a steep hill and walked for some time, we found the cows grazing on the top of a hill having a lovely view to the surrounding countryside. Then, we went on in order to see their sheep, and passing two guarding dogs, I really appreciated that we had a guide who knew them. Walking on rolling meadows and passing deciduous trees here and there, we arrived at a flock of sheep which was guarded by a shepherd. Fortunately, our guide showed us another way back such that we could see even more of this pretty part of Romania.

The next day, we went to the home of the Tafta family where Mr Tafta’s wife, Maria, had a small refrigerated room for storing their cheeses. Free tasting of the cheeses together with another glass of pálinka was included.

26/06/2012
The Schuster farm
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We went to another Saxon village called Mosna in order to visit Lavinia and Willy Schuster. Willy Schuster is one of the Saxons who has decided to stay in Romania instead of going to Germany after the fall of communism, while Lavinia is Romanian.

Having entered their kitchen, Lavinia started preparing a large selection of cheese for us. In addition, their children were entering and exiting and guests were arriving. A French volunteer also arrived in need of a break. A lively place, indeed.

Having cut up several types of cheeses and rolled some of them on plates filled with dried herbs like oregano, red pepper and basil, we were served a tray covered with various types of delicious cheese together with homemade jam.

Having 6 cows which are milked manually twice a day, they make cheese and other dairy products daily as shown below:
- low fat cream cheese
- cream cheese with herbs, red pepper or horseradish
- cream cheese with different fruits or berries
- raw milk cheese with herbs – naturally aged in an old basement
- fresh cream, homemade yogurt, cottage cheese
- herbs and teas
After some time, Lavinia’s husband, Willy. also arrived. He had brought his cows inside their barn because they were constantly attacked by large insects.

We were told that they bought the more or less rundown farm in the early 1990’s and had their farm certified as organic in 1999.

After lunch we walked to their barn where 6 cows and one horse were living. Walking barefoot into the barn, walking on a far from clean floor, Willy used a pitchfork to bring some hay to the cows which stood up immediately in order to eat. To our surprise, but not to his, one of the cows pushed the other ones aside, then started eating. We were told that there was a hierarchy among the cows where one of them obviously was the boss. One of the cows didn’t even go to eat, maybe because she was the lowest-ranking one.

Interestingly, Willy started sweeping hay on the floor towards the cows and it seemed like the dust which was made by the sweeping didn’t affect them at all. We were told that he had learned it from an old farmer and that sweeping the hay led to that the cows would get hold of more nutritious stuff.

Last but not least, Willy has been vice president of Eco Ruralis, a grassroots society for small-scale farmers in Romania. Both Willy and Lavinia are very active regarding fighting for agriculture which treats the earth like it was a gift, staying in touch with small-scale farmers and trying to affect the agricultural policy of the EU.

This farm accepts volunteers from April to October as described here.
25/06/2012
Malancrav village

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Malancrav is another Saxon village where numerous remnants like inscriptions in German on the houses still exist. It is like Viscri located along a creek flanked by grassy verges with ducks and geese in and out of the water. In the evening we could watch a long procession of cows and some buffaloes heading home followed by the cowherds who had to make some stray cows go straight home.

Just above the village church, lots of terraces had been made in the hillside. Often, they were used for growing vines a long time ago, but have now fallen in disuse. Instead, in this village they were used for growing apple and pear trees. For maybe every 4 metres, another terrace had been made containing a long row of apple trees. In between some of the apple trees, large haystacks had been made showing that the locals try to grow something edible wherever it’s possible. Ascending to the top of hill and walking along it, I walked for maybe an hour without getting to the end of the orchard. According to the Mihai Eminescu Trust (MET) , the area of the orchard amounts to 200 acres which equals about 81 hectares.

The next day we visited a small apple and pear juice factory which was located near the church. Each autumn about 10-12 locals pick apples and pears for about a month bringing all the fruit down to the factory. Since many of the terraces were completely covered by hay, the workers probably have to carry the fruit to some meeting point where they are freighted down by car.

Since we visited the factory in June, there was no activity but we were told that they apply no herbicides or pesticides to the fruit trees, leaving everything to Mother Nature. Having brought the apples to the factory, they are put in a press in order to press out the apple juice. After having been pasteurised, the juice is bottled and labels are put on. Their products are for sale in Romania only.

In fact, the MET states that there are traditional varieties of apple, pear, plum and walnut trees in the orchard. The pear trees are often grafted onto quince rootstock since quince is more robust than pear trees. The MET bought the orchard in 2002 and the British Embassy in Bucharest donated juicing equipment, which was installed by a specialist, the same year.

24/06/2012
Viscri village
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We arrived at Viscri from Brasov in the afternoon, having passed a potholed street lined with meadows, occasional deciduous trees, lots of flowers and distant hills. Then, suddenly, houses started appearing on each side of the road until we arrived at a crossroads. There, in front of us, was a creek surrounded by wide, grassy verges. Then, a wide gravel road followed by a grassy stretch with occasional fruit trees and benches and then a narrow sidewalk followed by a row of houses as far as the eye could see. On the other side of the creek, followed by a grassy stretch, there was also a narrow sidewalk followed by a row of houses. When later it started raining in a village with a similar layout, I soon found out that the sidewalks were excellent pathways while the puddles and mud on the gravel road were best to avoid.

It doesn’t take long to discover that Viscri is very different from most villages having chickens, geese and ducks walking freely around as they please! In the courtyards, it’s common to see hens pecking, while turkeys and guinea fowl do whatever they want.

Just walking along the main street of Viscri, it’s impossible not to notice lots of horse-drawn carts passing back and forth, some carts empty apart from the driver, while others may be fully loaded with beehives, milk containers, hay, and so on.

Next day at sunrise, sounds of domestic animals and people crying could clearly be heard. This was the daily morning ritual when the cows and goats, after having been milked by hand, walk out from the courtyards in order to join the cowherds who bring the animals to some pasture nearby. The same procedure was repeated in the evening in reverse with the animals returning to the village and finding their way home where they would be met by their owners.

Being surrounded by nutritious meadows, it’s only natural that sheep from Viscri spend the time from spring to autumn outside. We went by a horse-drawn cart early in the morning passing a large flock of sheep being guarded by a shepherd. Going by horse-drawn cart entails feeling all bumps along the road, squeaking from the cart and encouraging calls from the driver to the horse, while passing a beautiful landscape consisting of rolling hills and some deciduous trees. The hills were covered with high grasses and lots of flowers.

The sheepfold we arrived at consisted of a primitive hut for making cheese and preparing meals, and a short distance away, a large enclosure partly full of sheep, and an adjacent enclosure almost filled to breaking point with sheep and bordering a shed with two holes large enough for a sheep to pass through. Having closed the entrance to the small enclosure, the sheep had to exit via the holes in the shed where 5 men were waiting for them. Each time a sheep entered the shed, one of the men would grab it by the tail, pull it back and milk it. This operation lasts only a short time, maybe less than a minute, then another sheep is milked. Being a very hot day, the sheep waiting to be milked were breathing heavily making a continuous sound. When all the sheep had been milked, the milk was brought to the primitive hut and poured into a wooden container. Rennet was added to the milk in order to separate the whey from the cheese mass.

After having had lunch consisting of polenta and pork, one of the shepherds separated the cheese mass from the whey just by stirring the milk with his arms. After some time, he was able to feel that the cheese mass was being separated from the whey. He then brought a porous cloth into the container, somehow put the cloth around the cheese mass and lifted it up into another container with a sink such that the whey could escape.

Having compressed the cheese mass to his satisfaction, he tied the cloth tightly around the cheese and hung it up such that the whey could go on dripping down.

We didn’t stay to see how they treated the whey, but having watched cheesemaking several times, it seems like every cheesemaker prefer their own way of making it, even though they want to obtain the same, that is extracting the remaining cheese mass from the whey.

It may seem like milking sheep for hours in a place with no running water, then putting one’s arm into the cheese mass would create perfect conditions for dangerous germs in the cheese. However, having tasted cheese made in more or less the same way at several places without getting sick, these guys somehow know how to make cheese safe for consumption although their cheesemaking is distant indeed from the way the cheese most consumers are eating is made.

Going back to Viscri by the same horse-drawn cart, the driver stopped on a meadow with tall grass, brought out his scythe and started scything. After about a minute, he had cut a large amount of grasses and flowers, which he put in the back of the cart as food for the horse.

We left horse and driver at a large trough in the middle of the village where the horse could have a well-deserved drink after having worked hard.

In the evening we visited Gerda Gherghiceanu, in whose courtyard we could watch a bunch of turkey chickens mount a ladder in order to enter their home, a hole in the wall. The mother turkey waited until all her chickens had come home before she flew up the ladder and somehow entered the small hole in the wall in order to be with her chickens. Having passed the guinea fowl, we entered a barn where 3 pigs were kept, of which one of them would probably be slaughtered at Christmas.

Gerda is renowned for her delicious meals, but we visited her in order to see what kinds of jams and juices she made.She told us that she mainly uses fruits and berries from her own garden, while her husband makes wine from their grapes. Some of the berries get picked from her own orchard, while other ones are gathered from the surrounding forests.

She makes the following types of jams:
- rhubarb
- wild strawberries
- blackcurrant
- plums
- apricot
- hiprose
- syrups:
- elder
- rhubarb
and the following juices:
- apple
- grape
20/06/2012
The Busi farm

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The only means of sustenance of these poor families was raising pigs on their assigned properties, besides doing manual work in the countryside. Maria, who came from a village in the vicinity of Fertilia, married one of the sons of the Busi family in the 1960s. Uniting the entrepreneurial skills of her husband with her Sardinian traditional upbringing and passing these characteristics onto 4 sons, who are managing this big and modern farm, have reason to feel satisfied with the results of her husband’s and her own efforts.

Now, there are about 60 Frissona cows and one Charolais bull called Cicero at the farm. The cows are milked twice daily by means of a machine. During our visit, the cows were waiting in a line in order to be milked. When the farmer Mauro was ready, about 8 cows were allowed to enter at the same time. The milking was finished after a few minutes, then a new group of cows could enter.

The cow’s milk has a temperature of 39°C, but after having been pumped through various tubes into a big tank, the temperature is lowered about 10°C. After having milked all the cows, Tiziana, Mauro’s wife, started making a cheese called semicotto, literally half-cooked, by heating the milk up to 45°C and stirring it at the same time obtaining a thick substance called curd. After having added a small amount of rennet, in order to separate the fat and liquid parts of the curd, and after having stirred the curd until it seemed homogeneous, Tiziana extracted the fat parts from the curd and put them in small, cylindrical containers. Since they were porous, by compressing the fat parts, Tiziana was able to get rid of a large amount of the liquid parts, that is the whey. Tiiziana is also producing another type of cheese, which is called peretta, since it is pear-shaped.

The Busi family was among the first ones to sell raw milk in Sardinia, and the initiative has been met with much enthusiasm among the Sardinians. Naturally, the major part of the milk is treated in dairies before being sold in shops.

The calves are separated from their mothers shortly after being born. After the weaning, the male calves are kept in separate enclosures for some time before being slaughtered.

They are also raising pigs and wild boars at the farm. These animals live inside a large enclosure in which they can move freely. The meat is mostly for their own consumption besides a few customers.

23/03/2010