Dirt Farm

After I left the Hippy Hostel I headed off I left work for a Bulgarian kid who is interest in permaculture is reflected in the name of his operation: Waste No More Farms. What that means is I went to help on a dirt farm.

 

Every time I travel I surprise myself equally if I make it to my destination soundly or if I don’t. This time was no exception. I woke up as the bus was revving to a start. I looked around and out the window. I looked across the street to the train station and saw the sign that said Казанлък. I sounded it out, “ka-za-n- something- ak. Oh shit!” I sprang up out of my seat and swooped up my stuff with the speed that riders on a particularly long bus ride would see only as crazy or dangerous. I could feel people tense and clutch their belongings and their children as I scooted towards the door. I jumped out the door as it was closing and by this point the bus driver saw that me and kept the bus still long enough to let me grab my bag from below the bus. So I arrived in another town in Bulgaria greeted by especially puzzled stares.

I gathered my things and my mind and I paid 15 cents to go take a piss on the wall of a bathroom above a drain that smelled like it really didn’t drain. I came out ready to figure out the next part. I had made tenuous contact with my host here via email and although I was expected and I had told him when I would be there, there was no final confirmation. So I did what worked in the past; I started walking. With each step my plan came together. I would find the main square of town and then find the internet café that, according to my ten year old, used bookstore guide to Bulgaria, would be nearby.  As I guessed what direction I would take I  saw a short young guy walking up to me with purpose. To me he didn’t look strange. He wore a baseball cap with a flat bill, electric green framed sunglasses, a t shirt and board shorts. To a Bulgarian his style must look as strange as I do. I would come to find that he cultivated this individuality as much as he did the worms in his farm.

We got into his biodiesel powered Mitsubishi 4x4 and agreed that a swim in the river would be a good way to cool down. When we parked I went to the back of the jeep to grab my swim trunks and told him I should change because if I swam in these shorts they would never dry off. He casually replied, “I usually don’t wear shorts.” This seemed funny to me seeing as he was wearing board shorts but ok, I thought, "when in Rome." We walked up the mountainside to find a beautifully untouched stream that had cleaned a ravine from everything but the rounded granite boulders. We lost the shorts and I jumped in. I have to admit I was a little weary of somebody seeing two buck naked guys scrambling up these boulders to get to the higher pools.

After I had made my best effort to clean the cement dust that had glued my hair together we headed off. Our first destination was to pick up about 20 liters of raw fuel from the fryers of a nearby hotel. From there we headed to his farm. The farm sat on a half acre between a metal fabrication shop and a furniture shop. To be honest, it didn’t look like much. It looked like mulch. (sorry it was too easy) There were some tall rows of dirt beds with nothing growing on them. I saw one thriving cherry tomato plant. All kinds of questions were forming in my head which luckily would soon be answered.

He went on to show me his waste oil processing system to refine his biodiesel. He explained to me that his business plan was an organic fertilizer and worms business. We dug into one of the rows to reveal what looked like one part cow manure and one part worms. It was amazing! He had planted very exotic looking native plants whose roots repelled moles. He had planted trees with large prehistoric looking leaves in random places. These trees turned out to be the fastest growing trees on earth and can be harvested for hardwood in only seven years. He had all these things but in an organization pattern that made nearly no sense at all to me as far as maximizing production, but that is the difference between Bulgaria and the bottom line driven American I am. It has potential though.

We spent my short time there building a very rudimentary worm casting “sieving machine,” (framing an old mattress with tightly woven wire) digging an outflow channel for his rainwater collection pond, and building a compost bin. It was an interesting experience having to cooperate our two working styles. I had to ease back from my highly accessible material, planning and measuring, build for permanence paradigm and sit back quietly watch him burn through fence posts with a dull chainsaw. Nevertheless we accomplished a good bit.

Though his resources are limited, his ambition and passion are great. He recommended a documentary to me called Dirt. If you have not seen it, I highly recommend it too. He embodied the goals of the film. He told me all about how we can avoid the use of pesticides and fertilizers if we provide healthier dirt and environments to our plants. He also, as his farm’s name suggests, is more interested in the ideals of a sustainable future of food production than he is in his bottom line. I admire his substance. At 23 he had pardoned himself from the college to career sentence and jumped into a business. He has an interesting perspective on his business. Whereas Bulgaria is not a rich country but he has concerned himself not with his economic growth but with the security of the self-sufficient style of life and wellbeing of his country’s future. 

A Bulgarian flag flying lantern from the balcony of his home. Grape vines climbing up the side

Unfortunately I was only able to Not Waste five days with Dimo. While I was there I received exciting news that would shake my world up even further than running around Bulgaria.

The sign entering the town entering the town that I returned to after the "dirt farm." You have to learn how read Cyrillic or you are not getting anywhere. Most signs do not have translation.

This is a little out of sequence and I have got some more catching up to do but I’ll get there. I just got my own internet today.