Returned to the countryside because of a realized project. Vita Biseniece works with berries and vegetables on the family farm / Article

Vita’s father inherited the homestead “Kalniņi” from his parents. It is a family home. Vita remembers her childhood in the countryside with both hard work and being together and celebrating holidays.

“There were big haystacks in common. I remember how in the big barn, when the hay was made, the children had to be up on the haystack and up on the haystack, and then we would all go there. The summer heat and the hay debris always irritated the skin, and after the haystacks we all always went swimming,” said Vita.

During her childhood, cows, pigs, chickens, sheep and rabbits were kept on the farm. In order to feed the livestock, gardens were maintained on large areas, and hay harvesting also required a lot of work each year.

“My weakness was horses. I wanted a horse, and so the children have also grown up on the horse’s back,” Velga added.

Velga revealed that her living conditions had turned out to be such that at one point she was left alone on the farm with three ten-year-old children and an elderly mother. Then the children also had to experience all the hard work, and the son took on most of them.

“Our brother was the heavyweight who did all the work, but he did not spare the sisters – neither mother nor sisters, everyone had to work the same. They have grown up like real country children, they are not afraid of work,” said Velga.

When the children went out into the world, Velga’s farm kept shrinking, and now he only keeps chickens for his own needs. Velga herself no longer lives on the homestead, but her daughter Vita returned to manage it four years ago, who went to Riga to study design in her teens after graduating from Gulbene Art School.

“Now it’s a pity that I didn’t learn anything related to agriculture, but as a person who grew up in the countryside and spent a lot of time weeding, I felt like I needed to get away from the countryside,” Vita admitted.

In Riga, Vita worked as an accountant’s assistant – a job that gave her a living, but very little joy. While living in Riga, she also regularly went back to her country house on holidays, and it was only natural that over time she started thinking about the possibilities of what she could do in Lejascieme, so that she could also live there.

“By chance, meeting people who were very energetic, they encouraged me to write a project and start working. That’s why we came to the countryside because of a realized project,” said Vita.

For the financing of the “LEADER” project, she set up production facilities where berries, fruits and vegetables are freeze-dried. The processing takes place in the farm’s former granary – a log building that stands on rocks and which the family restored with their own hands in a couple of months.

Most of the berries, fruits and vegetables that Vita lyophilizes, she also grows herself and with the help of her mother, but buys bush quinces, for example, from local growers.

Vita also makes a variety of herb mixes that can be used to make appetizer sauces. Zucchini and leek appetizer sauces created by her won bronze awards in the “Taste of Regions” competition. She is not afraid to experiment with all kinds of flavors and their combinations, and this allows to create interesting products.

“My daughter has done a lot. She has very high demands on herself, she needs very good products. She also has that design eye, my daughter needs to present everything beautifully. I am happy with what she does,” revealed Velga.

The common hobby of mother and daughter is also the garden and flowers. In the summer, 60 varieties of roses will bloom on the homestead, and then tourists, not only the hardworking housewives, will be able to enjoy them. In previous tourist seasons, the farm was visited not only by people from local counties, but also by people from Riga and other parts of Latvia.

“The thing is that values ​​change over the years. I had a very strong desire to preserve this place and together with my children, when they were growing up, we tried to put everything in order here. Many people, coming to this place, have called it “as in God’s ear”, Velga said.

Meanwhile, Vita admitted: “Now I feel like I’m in the right place. My dream is not to let this place disappear.”

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