LONJGARI FIVE LTD

JOIN US!

FARM HOLIDAYS.

WHERE YOU BECOME THE FARMER!

Want to experience farming as it used to be?

See, drive and walk through beautiful mountain scenery, help restore vineyards, orchards and walnut groves, fish in crystal clear rivers, learn how to catch cray fish and farm fresh water mussels. Bring home your catch and have it cooked for your supper that evening.

HELP US!

We are restoring our beautiful terraced mountain farm in Croatia. Deserted and let go, we are meticulously restoring the buildings and land. We aim to farm organically, we are learning to become as self sufficient as we can. Come and help us and learn how to farm and be part of this interesting journey.

We are bordered by the river Kupa (Croatia’s top competition fly fishing river) the boundary river between Croatia and Slovenia. Unspoilt by tourism it is idyllic, a step back in time.

Tony and our friend Karl plan how to clear the frontage of our stretch of The River Kupa.

Come and enjoy being part of this adventure. Bring your skills. Learn new skills and enjoy the company of like minded people.

Your accommodation will be The Old Bake House. Sympathetically restored as a comfortable and luxury guest house it is situated at the entrance to the courtyard where our horses are stabled.

The Old Bake House will be converted into a luxury glass fronted guest house. Ready for April 2009

With a large spacious bedroom (king size double or two large single beds) and en-suite shower room, it has a comfortable tastefully furnished drawing room with log burner, TV/DVD/satellite and video player. There are tea and coffee making facilities, fridge and wonderful views across beautiful mountain ranges. You can relax and watch the gorgeous sunrise and sunsets.

We love good food. Good well prepared wholesome home grown fayre. Breakfast and dinner are served in the main farmhouse. We will send you off for the day with a substantial and delicious packed lunch. Dinner in the farm house is created using the natural and tasty produce that you have helped us to cultivate off our own and the local farms.

Croatia, our farm is in the county of Karlovac, we are neighboured by the region of Istria.

We are just a two hour flight from the UK and good cheap fares are available to the capital Zagreb. We will collect you from the airport and it is a one hour drive south west to the mountain region of Karlovac County.

Lonjgari Farm is situated in the tiny hamlet of Netretic where you will be made welcome by us and the local warm and hospitable Croatian villagers.

Local picturesque villages, farms and ancient houses, some like ours, abandoned and for sale as people chose to lead modern city lives. There are monasteries, castles and various follies, beautiful architecture from the Venetian, Roman, Byzantine and Medieval times. There are ruins to explore.

Learn farm skills. Learn to plough using vintage machinery which we can teach you how to restore and maintain. These skills can encompass basic maintenance right through to shot blasting and fine restoration.

Help restore and re-plant the terraced vineyards. Learn the process of grape growing, learn to prepare the ground, plant new vines, how to stake them, tie them in, prune them and help harvest them. Lets make wine together. Then come and drink it with us over dinner!

Our neighbours grape vines, we need to get ours restored. The farm being mountainside is terraced, it's very attractive to see and supports all kinds of wild life.

Learn all sorts of country skills. Hedge laying and forestry management. Learn about sustainable fuel management and help to plant and coppice for the farm house's log burner. It has an air wash system with back boiler producing clean emissions. It produces less hydrocarbons than would be caused by letting logs rot on the ground! It gives us hot water and under floor heating.

Tony with new hand cut lintel for the stables, this stone wall is three feet thick.

Learn carpentry and stone masonry and understand the art of sympathetically restoring farm buildings using local materials.

Help with the restoration of the buildings, barns, out buildings and farm house.

And enjoy eating your catch – we can poach it in our traditional fish kettles, BBQ on home made charcoal (learn the skills of charcoal making) pan fry or learn other ways of cooking your catch! We love our food! Our farm is all about what we eat and drink. We use only the most delicious locally produced ingredients. For the experienced fisher we can offer days out with local Gillie's.

Locally wild boar hunting can be arranged and we can teach butchery skills and cook what you have brought to the table!

Our friend Karl and neighbour Ivan with hunting dog Aga. They are off on a shoot across our land.

We plan to farm our own fresh water mussels, come and help us get this going and on a future visit enjoy a supper of moules marinerre!

It may be that your interests and skills like ours are diverse! Ali has no interest what so ever in engines and Tony is best kept out of the kitchen! However a fabulous holiday can be enjoyed with a multitude of other activities! You can separate for the day and learn different skills! We are interested in preserving our produce and that of "Free Food" grown in hedgerows. Ali is a qualified Chef and we aim to survive using the old ways of bottling and preserving fruit and vegetables. We make our own butter and cheese and we use our sweet chestnuts and walnuts, fruits and vegetables. We smoke in our home designed "smokers" cheese, fish and "parma hams". You can help us and we will show you how!

Bring your paints oils or water colours. The buildings views, scenery and light are an artists dream.

Bring your bikes, mountain or road. We can give you detailed route maps to follow. Bikes are available for hire.

We have two Harleys, a Supa Dyna Glide and a Sportster in tip top condition for daily hire.

There are endless water related sports. There is river fishing at all levels, fly and spinning. A Gillie can help you and lessons can be booked.

It is traditional during the summer months for Croatians to meet at bathing spots on the river banks after work. It is a gathering of all age groups and having the latest swim wear or being a "body beautiful" is totally irrelevant. The water is crystal clear there are banks to sit on and chat in the sun. Our favourite spot is in the village of Duga Resa, it's a ten minute drive and has such a wide stretch of deep river the locals have built a pontoon in the middle!

There is Wild Boar Hunting, walking and fabulous bird life to be observed, bring your binoculars, we have our own resident wild Barn Owl.

Karlovac has a multitude of sights to see and visit. We have the World Heritage Plitvice Lakes and unspoilt villages and hamlets to explore.

Our neighbouring county. Known for their White Truffles, the world's most highly regarded and priced, and their Black Truffles often sold as Italian. It's a cuisine which we love to cook here for our evening feasts! This is how our dinners should be regarded. A busy day followed by a "feast" with splendid food, celebration and discussion over the local brew toasting our joint achievements! Istria has the famous film festival at Motovan, and Buzet another of their mountain top walled "cities" full of unique character and archaeological interest.

We love to drive to the port of Porec on Istria's coast. You can drive from the farm take a ferry and be in Venice for an over night stay. The Adriatic Sea is just a two hour crossing on modern safe craft, it's like jumping on a bus! The drive is interesting and good roads through divine countryside takes just an hour and a half.

We are keen sailors, Tony has trained in The British Army and we can take you or arrange sailing for you. Croatia is opposite Italy on The Adriatic Sea. There are more than a thousand islands along the coast known as The Dalmatian Coast. Some large and inhabited such as Hvar, Brac and Korkula and small uninhabited (some for sale), it is known as some of the worlds prettiest sailing. There is always a new port to visit.

We can tailor it to suit your interests. You need to book now, we charge £60 per person per night fully inclusive of all meals. Additional activities are booked separately. Book now so we can all plan our year! Remember, it's seasonal, so if the weather dictates we make wine, pick apples and make cider we work happily with the weather conditions! This years guests (as always limited to four) will be accommodated in one of our beautiful traditional tents equipped with comfortable beds, and showering facilities in the farm house.