Popintsi – village with a scent of roses and lavender

published on 11/29/13 1:27 PM

Photo: archive Popintsi

The village of Popintsi is situated about 20 km away from the southern Bulgarian town of Panagyurishte, at the foot of the Sredna Gora Mountain. The settlement is relatively big – almost 2,000 people. Just like everywhere else in Bulgaria most of young people have migrated to towns, cities or abroad. On the other hand, the village is full of life due to the town nearby and also to the fact that many of its inhabitants have started to return to farming as a way of living.

Many archaeological relics testify on the past of Popintsi, its Mayor Nona Zagorska is proud to say. There are many legends either. One of those is related to the Luda Yana River, crossing the village. The story is that there was a fortress during the Ottoman invasion here and one day the Turks tried to take away the daughter of the facility’s governor – Yana. The maiden opted for the cold waters of the river, hence the name Luda /Crazy/ Yana.

Nowadays Popintsi people live mainly on grain and farming. The area is also suitable for the growing of oilseeds – rose, lavender, mint etc. Stock breeding is another occupation – the mountain’s slopes are covered with cows, sheep and few goats. Velka Redjova is 42 years old and an agronomist. She was born here and her life has been linked to Popintsi, although she lives in Pazardjik. Velka and her sister Kunka grow lavender and other oilseeds, using the funding under the EU Rural Development OP and its Assistance to Semi-Market Farms Measure /141/.

“We grow about 1.3 ha of lavender,” Velka says. “We have about 5 ha of different seeds, lavender being the main one. Besides that we have around 40 m2 with Californian worm that produces organic fertilizer. We had the idea to grow different organic seeds, just like the lavender. We struggle with weeds with our own hands, no chemicals are used. The conditions here are perfect for our intentions.”

“That was a brave idea,” Velka admits. “However, we want to develop it, to expand our farm and to turn it into our main occupation in the future.”

“We opted for lavender due to its unpretentiousness and the suitable climate – soil conditions here. Above all, because most lands in Popintsi are not irrigated. Distilleries in the area – in Panagyurishte, Streltcha, buy the lavender. The oil finds more easily its place on the market due to its organic origin.”

However, the women face difficulties too. Besides the serious EU requirements, their land suffers from thieves and cattle. Furthermore:
“Finding of land is one of the difficulties. Popintsi had no municipal land till last year, but now it has. However, it wasn’t declared and people failed to participate in tenders. Neither did we. We pay much higher prices for our hired land, we have problems with stock breeders and their intruding herds too. The animals do not eat lavender, but step on it. We couldn’t pick up any cabbage this year due to thieves and animals…”

English version: Zhivko Stanchev

По публикацията работи: Milka Dimitrova

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