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 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
