Setka Gosheva Farm

Type: Wheat, Sunflowers, Rapeseed, Barley

The land is located between the villages of Gorni Dabnik and Pisarovo, in Pleven, Bulgaria. The farm is a representation of the marriage between the two villages - and the actual marriage of its owners, Trifon and Setka Goshevi.

Until Trifon’s passing, the couple would attend to the land and look after the crops all year. This began in late October (when seeds were sowed), through to spring/early summer collection of the wheat - followed by planting and harvesting of sunflowers. Crop rotation has always been a standard practice in the country to manage pests and enrich the soil. They would use fertiliser from their farmhouse that came from the goats, sheep, pigs and chickens that used to live there.

They relied on winter snow and spring rain to irrigate the crops. When required, they would utilise man-made irrigation canals and use natural pressure to irrigate.

The farm has been in the family for two generations and permaculture has been predominantly used to cultivate wheat, sunflowers, and barley.

Setka now rents the farm to a local producer who has implemented modern ways of farming - improving the quality of both the produce and soil preservation (due to the modern and precise calculations of amount of seeds and fertilisers needed per square metre).