This week together with the ESC team we were delighted to have the opportunity to visit the Eco community Blagodatie, home of the Ura Gora Foundation, and help out with their inspiring project.
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| The location of the project 42°06'29.1"N 26°40'07.3"E |
Here at Balkep we've known two of the members, Kosio and Sophie, for some years now, our paths crossing at various forest garden/permaculture events and occasionally during environmental festivals within Bulgaria. Kosio, Alex and their two children and Sophie & Krasi were inspired by the books in the series "The Ringing Cedars of Russia" by Vladimir Megre, and live close to nature and completely off-grid with their families in the community in Southeastern Bulgaria, in a remote and beautiful spot.
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| Kosio, Alex, Indi and Lybo |
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| Sophie & Krasi |
The land surrounding the eco-community is dry, deforested terrain which is much how it was when this community discovered it. I was expecting the gardens to still be in early stages of establishment due to heavy clay soils and the hot, dry climate presenting challenges. What a joy it was to arrive at a biodiverse forest, healthy and productive - much like the human inhabitants there!
One of my first questions on arrival was about water. How are water needs for both humans and plants alike met in such a dry and remote region of Bulgaria? Coming up with creative solutions for water management has been essential to the success of the site, and as Sophie explained, the community designed and makes ram pumps. A ram pump is a very simple mechanical pump and a great example of appropriate technology used in many small scale development projects around the world. It works without and fuel, solar power or complex materials. Essentially, the water is led down a pipe (in this instance from a dam some metres above the height of the pump) and opens and closes two valves with hammer-like force, creating pressure for about 10% of the input water to be pumped up to a greater height. The community sell these pumps and design and install the whole system in places where they would be suitable. For more information contact Kosio or Krasi here.
There are a remarkable amount of apples, pears and quince trees growing, all looking very healthy and laden with fruit. Kosio has many varieties of apples and pears that he has successfully grafted onto wild plum or the pioneer wild pear rootstock, both of which grow abundantly in the region.
The plant selection has been carefully considered and pathways are mowed to create pleasant walkways through the establishing forest gardens and landscape.
Among the wild native plants I observed many species of plants from the Apiaceae family, the umbels of which attract scores of beneficial organisms to the gardens.
Sophie and Krasi's garden layout had many islands of different polycultures. In the below photo you can see an example of one of these, the diversity of plant architecture being very pleasing on the eye and forming a dense cover protecting the soil from the relentless sun. From top left - clockwise: Tansy - Tanecetum vulgare, Apple - Malus spp, Cornelian Cherry - Cornus mas, Jerusalem Artichoke - Helianthus tuberosus and Yucca - Yucca filamentosa.
Check out our range of seeds, tubers and cuttings available all year around - delivery worldwide.
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This year Kosio, Alex and their two children along with Sophie and Krasi teamed up to start a community annual vegetable garden. The idea was to co-operate on a shared garden to grow community spirit along with staple foods that are easy to harvest, store and process together, as well as to provide food for volunteers and guests to use. They are growing mainly open pollinated heritage kinds of potatoes, corn, beans, pumpkins and melons.
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| Setting up the garden |
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| Corn developing well in the spring |
Annual vegetables are also being grown on both of these families' plots.
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| A greenhouse with a view :) |
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Welcome to our Online Store where you can find Forest Garden/ Permaculture plants, seeds, bulbs and Polyculture multi-packs along with digital goods and services such as Online Courses, Webinars, eBooks, and Online Consultancy. We hope you enjoy the store and find something you like :) It's your purchases that keep our Project going. Yuu can also find our full list of trees. shrubs and herbs for forest gardens on our website here
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| ESC volunteers left - right Rushar, Tara, Fanny & Hekim |
One of the tasks that benefitted from having many hands involved was bringing in the hay for the winter for Kosio's young horse. We recycled a child's paddling pool and a large supermarket banner as vessels to transport the hay from the lower fields to higher land by the horse's stable.
It really was a pleasure to be part of such a beautiful, growing project. Special thanks go out to all the community for being our hosts for the week, Blagodatie's long term vision is to be a larger community that continues to appreciate and enjoy common activities together. For enquiries about purchasing or trading some of the products that are produced by the community, or for more information on how you can get involved and support the community, contact Sophie here. Huge thanks go out to all the ESC volunteers for their goodwill and support, and also for many of the photos that were used in this post taken by them.
Regenerative Landscape Design - Online Interactive Course
Want to learn how to design, build and manage regenerative landscapes? Join us for our Regenerative Landscape Design - Online Interactive Course from May 1st to Sep 13th, 2023.
We're super excited about running the course and look forward to providing you with the confidence, inspiration, and opportunity to design, build and manage regenerative landscapes, gardens, and farms that produce food and other resources for humans while enhancing biodiversity.
Regenerative Landscape Design Online Course
You can find out all about the course here and right now we have a 20% discount on the full enrollment fees. Just use the promo code RLD2023 in the section of the registration form to receive your discount.
We are looking forward to providing you with this unique online learning experience - as far as we know, the very first of its kind. If you are thinking of reasons why you should do this course and whether this course is suitable for you, take a look here where we lay it all out. Looking forward to it!
We're super excited about running the course and look forward to providing you with the confidence, inspiration, and opportunity to design, build and manage regenerative landscapes, gardens, and farms that produce food and other resources for humans while enhancing biodiversity.
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| Regenerative Landscape Design Online Course |
You can find out all about the course here and right now we have a 20% discount on the full enrollment fees. Just use the promo code RLD2023 in the section of the registration form to receive your discount.
We are looking forward to providing you with this unique online learning experience - as far as we know, the very first of its kind. If you are thinking of reasons why you should do this course and whether this course is suitable for you, take a look here where we lay it all out. Looking forward to it!
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Support Our Project
If you appreciate the work we are doing you can show your support in several ways.
- Make a purchase of plants or seeds from our Bionursery or Online Store
- Consider joining us for one of our Courses or Online Courses
- Comment, like, and share our content on social media.
- Donate directly via PayPal to balkanecologyproject@gmail.com or via FTX Pay
If you appreciate the work we are doing you can show your support in several ways.
- Make a purchase of plants or seeds from our Bionursery or Online Store
- Consider joining us for one of our Courses or Online Courses
- Comment, like, and share our content on social media.
- Donate directly via PayPal to balkanecologyproject@gmail.com or via FTX Pay
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| You can also register for our online training, services, and products directly here. |
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