Our farm's story
Our farm lies on the property of the former Ramšak family, who throughout 1800s and 1900s maintained a thriving homestead, raised livestock, grew grains and produce, and operated a grain mill and sawmill on the unforgiving mountainous terrain. But age and lack of a younger generation to take over began to catch up with the last remaining members, and the farmstead drifted into dormancy in the early 2000s.
The owner before us kept up small-scale farming for as long as he lived on the property. Operating as Center Gaia d.o.o., he produced and sold apple juice, cider vinegar, and herbal products throughout Slovenia, but slowly scaled down production and eventually sold the property in 2023.
The farm and property was purchased and taken over by the Mastnak family in 2023. As we renew aging buildings, replant old fields, and plant a new generation of fruit trees, we are doing our best to continue the activities and business passed on to us by the previous owner.
With the kind help and instruction of the owner before us, we learned and now continue to make apple juice, cider vinegar, and related products from the produce grown on the farm. The owner before us also helped guide our eldest son, Elijan, in the process of taking over the business and administrative sides of running the farm. Although formally educated in physics without a business background, Elijan enthusiastically took on managing the farm's sales, finances, and website.
Every step of the way, we have been indebted to the kind help of our neighbors, who have lent their knowledge, experience, and equipment whenever we have needed help, and have warmly accepted us into the new surroundings.
And so the farm lives on, continuing the efforts and traditions of those before us and preserving the ecologically-valuable extensive meadow orchard habitat slowly disappearing from Slovenia. We continue to run the small-scale business of selling the products produced on the farm and maintain the tradition of small-scale, sustainable agriculture passed on from the generations before us.