Răchițele. Romania. 2017 Matei on the path which goes around his property towards his neighbor, a neighbor who doesn’t live there anymore.
It was amazing to see how my friend, Matei, is kindling this new fire. He has become a landowner of such a beautiful place in such an inspiring landscape. No wonder he has so many ideas! He wants to make this place look pretty. He wants to use concepts that don’t destroy the environment, which don’t change the esthetics of the village, that take him off the grid as much as possible, that will offer him and his future family a healthy life.
It’s going to be hard work. There is no denying that. At the moment, he has to do most of the work alone and only in his spare time. As Homer Simpson said “I can’t have his money. I can’t have my money. I have to work for money.“ Getting the money for all the housework has to be done in the city. It will take time until he will actually start shifting the balance and start living in the village. He already did the big step and got the place, made it his, cleaned it up for the work that will be started whenever the right time comes.
There it is. #MovingOutOfClujNapoca and going to back to the village, to the garden, to living with Creation like Cain (the second gardener) and Abel (the first shepherd). This is the start of a new life on Rășinari hill in Răchițele in the Vlădeasa mountains.
Răchițele. Romania. 2017 Around Matei’s wild garden
Most of the trees in the garden are fruit trees and that’s great. There will be fruits for each season. Cherries and sour cherries in the early season. Pears throughout the late summer and apples and walnuts by the end. The problem is that they grew too close to each other. No one took care of what was growing wear in the last decade so, for example, there are plenty of young apple trees shaded by giant cherry trees. There is not enough space for all of them to yield good fruit.
Matei decided to do two things during my visit on Rășinari hill: cut all the trees that were overcrowding and teach me how to use a chainsaw. Whenever I got my turn, I had a lot of fun bringing trees to the ground and sectioning them into pieces. I also got the chain stuck several times and got tired several other times when Matei would take charge of the work again. We usually
In the end, we did a good job. The garden doesn’t look anymore like a jungle, but more like an orchard - it’s supposed to have that fingerprint of a hard working man.
A few days ago, we were visiting another village called Bociu, another beautiful village. On the way there we made a stop by the road because I saw some very interesting rocks not far away. I wanted to see if there is anything good for rock climbing. That’s when I found out that Matei is very interested in flowers. Why? Well, he’s planning to seed as many species as possible on his property. He wants to achieve the highest biodiversity possible on his land. It makes sense if he wants to keep bees and a cow. An amazing idea! He was analyzing species and picking them up to keep the seeds.
Oh! Unfortunately, he has ticks in the garden. That’s really bad! He will have to mow the grass down to get rid of this risk. If the grass isn’t tall, they can’t attach themselves to humans. He should also try to limit the number of mice and squirrels in the area and that means either getting a good cat or trying not to kill any snakes by mistake. We found a beautiful black viper when we were walking in the neighborhood. So there are some natural predators in the area which can catch lots of mice. As long as the grass is cut, you can see the snakes and stay out of trouble. They don’t bite unless you step on them.
Răchițele. Romania. 2017 Reflection of the garden on one of the wooden framed windows
It is a challenge to redesign a house that was once built for two old people. The current house is rather young. It served the former owner when most of his children already had their own families. It was not intended to be used by young family potentially expanding family. As it is, it has a one room that can be heated and this is THE room: a bedroom and a kitchen/dining room at the same time. Life at home was supposed to be spent in this room.
Then there is a hall through which you enter the house which also connects you to another room. This room had been used most recently as a storage space both for food and materials. It never had heating, so it might have worked as a summer bedroom in its best days. This room has a lot of space and must be converted. The windows face the garden which gives a homely feeling of the farmer resting at the end of the day and watching his work done. This room would work well as the new kitchen and dining room - in traditional homes this is the most important space for the family. In cold winters, this is where most time will be spent - staying warm, reading, cooking, thinking about of the future, spending time together in fellowship.
What comes next is a surprise! This room contains a second door which opens up into another small corridor. What’s the plan with this space? Well, first of all, it will be what it has always been: it hosts the staircase that leads into the loft. (I went a little bit slow with the surprise - There is also a loft!!!) Matei thinks there is enough extra space to smuggle a modern concept in the home: a bathroom. Indeed, there will be some space for a small bathroom behind staircase. With plenty of thinking, it will be possible. No doubts about that. It’s going to be an adventure. If well executed it will change the lifestyle of this place. I’m sure that 30 years ago no body would have even imagined something like that.
And that leaves us with the loft. This is the second amazing space that can be converted into something comfortable. This is where someday a master bedroom will be assembled. There is plenty of space to call it large master bedroom. With the right technology it can be insulated and kept warm. It will be amazingly cozy and all the woodwork around will make a great space for sleeping, staying tucked in bed during a freezing blizzard or an aggresive summer storm.
Good thinking, Matei! If he get’s all this ready, he will be offering a beautiful life for his future wife and his children. It’s intended to be a great family place. The location is idyllic.Just thinking about it is so amazing! I want to see it done, but I know it will take time.
Răchițele. Romania. 2017 A walk in the neighborhood where there are a few more beautiful farms along a road which is disappearing in the new growth
Matei took me for a walk in the neighborhood. In Răchițele (pronounced something like rɜː-kiː-tse-le) and especially on Rășinari hill there aren’t too many occupied households. At some road intersections you will find two or three families that continue to live there, maybe helping each other out in tough times, or having a common business whether it is tourism or forestry related. A road to access the village center is keeping these communities alive.
Otherwise the scattered farms on either side of the hill are deserted and getting to them is not that easy either. Where the roads used to be, simple one lane dirt roads for a cart to handle, now small trees have started to grow. The age of the tree shows for how long no one has been living there. It’s a bit sad, but when young souls such as Matei decide to come in the village and invest in conserving the simple life with modern tools, it sprinkles hope on this hill.
I am sure that what is happening in Răchițele is a turn of the tide. What was once “a place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels of silver” has “become briers and thorns” in the past decades. Now “with bow and arrows” men have to return to restore what is in decay and what was lost. I wish it will last for more than a generation
Răchițele. Romania. 2017 A fragile gate fitted in between two lines of young trees guards the property from intruders such as sheep and cows from the neighboring lands
Most of the land is fenced in the most traditional way possible. It’s what I call a crippled-man’s fence. When most of your fencing is made out of trees that grow freely, securing the borders of your land needs the minimum of maintenance. Every now and then a new bush will need to be planted where a gap might be formed and that’s it. It is the kind of fence that an old man would desire, or a person with a locomotion handicap.
As for the rest of the fence, it is built out of wooden logs and boards - a rail fence. However, when the land was taken into property part of it was missing and sheep could go in and out. Rail fences tend to rot because the wood is exposed throughout the year to all the elements. Parts of it need replacing every couple of years.
When Matei arrived he had to declare war on our wool- and milk-providing animals. Because of the many gaps in his rail fencing, sheep would come from the neighboring land and graze in his court. They would graze on the grass, trod on the young saplings, leave wool here and there possibly also some ticks. They had to stay out. They could happily graze on their owner’s own property.
Matei’s primary task and achievement was keeping the sheep out. The rail fence had to be reinforced where the decay had left spaces large enough for the sheep to fit. On the other side though, the crippled-man’s fence needed to be barred too. There were plenty of gaps in between the trees.
When the sheep noticed that the rail fence became impenetrable, they started creating paths through the bushes to enter in between the trees. By when he thought he had solved the problem, he was facing a new one. Matei had to improvise fencing to block all these new ways of access too. He said he had a surprisingly tough time with these sheep. He was breaking into a habit that these animals were so used to before he moved in, but he faced the challenge.
Răchițele. Romania. 2017 Walking around Matei’s house you can find plenty of pieces of wood reclaimed mainly for fire, but also some tools which have been restored
When Matei demolished a whole barn he had to think what to do with all that was still in it. Most of it was garbage so that was easy to figure out, but then some stuff could be reclaimed, reused for the original or different purposes. There was plenty of wood which if stored in a dry place could make things go easy during the following two Carpathian winters (if he wishes to live there in the cold months). Most of the scaffolding wood he considered it to be reusable for future projects around the house - I already mentioned that there is a plan to make a enlarged porch on the south side of the house. Once that will be done, this place will be amazing.
He also found some tools which lacked handles. He was quite inspired to have them repaired rather then thrown away. There is still plenty of labor in that metal before it will be regarded useless and thrown away.
There is a funny story too. When he finally got the barn torn apart and sorted, he found a very interesting grit at the foundation. It was composed of soil, metal scraps, wires, sawdust and, worst of all, pieces of broken glass. Terrible! This space is going to be a small picnic space surrounded by small fruit trees, shaded by the tall acacias that grow by the road. He started digging it out and piling everything on what will someday be his parking. He found a steep space by the road which was just across his gate which if levelled would be perfect for leaving his car. Finally there was so much garbage that it actually made sense giving a functional purpose. He piled enough to fit even a van. And the bad news is that there still is some more 'garbage grit' to dig out. Hopefully it will be over soon!
