In 2018, Marieta Cocoş and her family planted hundreds of walnut saplings, the beginnings, she hopes, of a business that will eventually allow the men in her family to live and work at home. 

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"We girls stay at home and look after the place.We start working as soon as the snow melts and we don’t stop until December. We planted some 800 local walnut saplings earlier this year on our land outside the village. We would like to plant cherry, apple, pear & berries, all for making our own jams, syrups & cordials."

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Marieta makes everything in the order the plants and fruit appear throughout the year. Other than sugar & gelatin, no preservatives are used. And strictly no pesticides and chemicals.

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"All our products are made from our own crops or locally foraged sources. It’s not easy, but that’s what country life is all about. My great-great-grandfather planted 1500 vines of which we have 450 left. We make our own wine of course, but that's just for us!"

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Marieta's husband, son and son-in-law are all away for nine months of the year working in Germany. But she hopes that will change.

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"I have told myself I shall never leave the country to work again. My husband and children want to find a way to make our family business work so that they can live here at home where we belong. We have started building a house for our son next to our own. It would be so good to see them all back here working to make a better life in the village."

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Thank you Edi for this portrait of Marieta

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