ABOUT US
Published: 2019-12-17
Translation
This is a translation of a Bulgarian-language post. It conveys the content faithfully but is not the author's original English writing.
My name is Svilena Racheva, I am a mother of 5 children, and for 11 years I have been living in Bulgaria again, having lived — since my return from the USA until now — outside the city, in exceptional closeness to Nature and the Earth. During this time (besides raising children) I have worked with ecological and sustainable agriculture; I have been a certified organic producer of vegetables and fruit, for which I also hold the corresponding accreditation and diploma. From 2009 to 2014 I managed a permaculture garden, which from 2012 expanded for market to an area of 7 decares; also from 2012, alongside it, we created an organic raspberry plantation of 28 decares. I was one of the first to form (informally) a CSA (community-supported agriculture), delivering boxes of vegetables directly from the farm to their end consumer — you. Together with two or three other producers, we were the first such at the Farmers' Markets, which later gained exceptional popularity throughout Bulgaria. From 2012 onwards I have also been an organiser and facilitator of children's camps and day-schools in the garden and in nature, through which I have managed to pass on to hundreds of children my views on Nature and its protection, and to create in them a sense of belonging and love for it.
Being above all a mother, it is of exceptional importance to me that my family has access to Clean food and is in contact with Nature and the Earth. This is what connects us with most of you, too. Because of the chance to gather direct experience from my life in Nature, I have turned this priority of mine into my mission and profession as well. Since the end of 2018, I have been living in the village of Aglen, where, on an area of 1.7 decares, we began creating a market garden by the methods of permaculture. We named the garden "Grown with Love" — "Отгледано с любов" — with the idea that clean food and contact with Nature and the Earth, through our produce and the children's camps we organise, should become accessible to you and to your children.
Periodically, depending on the season and the current projects, we welcome volunteers and well-wishers, with whom we share shelter, food, knowledge and philosophy. If you wish, and for more information, call us at 0988705101.