site.btaWild Farm in Eastern Rhodopes Attracts Tourists from All Over World with Clean Food and Rich Nature

Husband and wife Nikolay Vasiliev and Blagovesta Vasilieva manage the first farm in Bulgaria with a certified organic slaughterhouse and an enterprise for organic beef,  Blagovesta Vasileva said in a BTA interview.

The couple turned their Wild Farm in the Rhodope village of Gorno Pole into an attractive destination for tourists from all over the world, from Australia and New Zealand to the Seychelles and Norway. About 7-8 years ago, a Canadian television spent a week shooting a one-hour film about the farm.

The Wild Farm makes over 30 types of products, including all types of fresh meats, three raw dried delicacies, pastrami, broth and tripe in jars. They do not use any preservatives in their production. "We make tprobably he only sausages in the world that add absolutely nothing, but salt and 2 grammes of organic sugar per kilogram of meat," said Blagovesta.

Part of their circular economy is to use some waste products in other productions like tallow, bone broth (which is currently their best selling product), tripe. The next step they want to take is to start making flour from the bones.

The farm was started 29 years ago with 10-15 goats and a dozen sheep, an inheritance from Nikolay's grandmother, and slowly started to expand. From 2000-2001, the Vasilev family started buying Bulgarian gray cattle and Rhodope Shorthorn cattle. These breeds are adapted to the specific microclimate of the Eastern Rhodopes and there is no problem with their cultivation. Until recently, they also raised Karakachan sheep, but gave up and switched to cows only. They also have about 25-30 horses.

The Wild Farm has a total of 1,600 free-range animals on a land of over 400 hectares, with additional leased land in Belmeken, Rila of about 1,200 hectares. In Belmeken, the animals are on summer pasture for about 3 months. The land in the Eastern Rhodopes allows only one mowing a year, which they bale to provide the necessary food. Another problem that is getting worse every year is the drought and providing water.