Activities

Wild berries picking and preparation

The mountain area of Moeciu de Sus, surrounded by pine woods, brings a great richness of products from nature: wild berries, mushrooms and fungus, medicinal plants. The season of picking starts in early spring with the pine tree sprouts, followed by the eldertree and acacia flowers. We use the pine tree sprouts for making a delicious syrup that heals cough, and the eldertree and acacia flowers we either dry them and use them in tea mix or we can also make syrups of it. In June starts the season of the wild strawberries and immediately after, come the raspberries. August is the month of blackberries and blueberries. In September and October we collect eldertree and rosehip fruits.

We use the wild berries for preparing delicious marmalades and sweet homemade liquors.

Mushrooms and Fungus

The pine woods are also a propitious climate for fungus and mushrooms. The best known species in the area are the pine mushroom (hrib), the yellow buttons (galbiori) and the honey fungus (ghebe).

The collection period for the hrib starts in late July and finishes around end October, or even later if it doesn´t freeze.

The yellow buttons as their name already states, are small in size and have a yellow cap. Their flesh is fibrous, it smells nice and has a spicy touch. The yellow buttons grow up in groups, across the pastures and in the pine and deciduous woods. They can be found during spring, summer and autumn.

The honey fungus are largely appreciated in Romania. They grow up in large number and their collection starts in September and lasts until late autumn and even early winter.

Medicinal plants

In Moeciu de Sus biodiversity is at home. From early spring until late autumn the meadows are full of flowers and plants with healing properties, which we collect and mix. Some of the species that grow up here and we use for our tea mix: wild mint, calendula, brotherwort, rhododendron, blueberry and raspberry leaves, trefoil, eldertree flowers and many others.

Drying the hay

At the end of June, beginning of July, in Moeciu de Sus starts the hay season, which consists in the process of cutting the grass, drying it, rolling it up and stocking it in the little houses called “odai” (animal shelter), for the winter time.

This process has a long tradition in the village, and as the hills are very steep, everything is done by hand: the men sharpen the scythes and in groups start cutting down the high grass.

This is a hard job so it´s usually done by men, still you can see women once in a while doing it as well. The men that do the cutting are either family or friends and take turns during the whole summer for doing each ones property.

Once the grass is down, it needs to dry in the sun for a couple of days.

It is very important to remove it at least twice a day so it gets dry on both sides. People do this with a hayfork.

The last step is stocking up the hay. This is a family activity, everyone needs to take part. The hay is put away in the attic of the “odai” (animal shelter), as the ground floor is for the cattle. Another possibility of stocking up the hay is building a high pile, which has the shape of a semielypse.

At the farm

Animal breeding is an ancient tradition in the village and the main means of living for the Moeciu de Sus inhabitants. Therefore, there is a very long tradition in cheese making.

At the beginning of June, the cows and sheep are gathered up from all the villagers and the herd is taken up the mountain, at the summer farm. They stay there during the entire summer and are taken care of by a few shepherds, who also get in charge of transforming the milk into delicious cheeses, butter, yogurt and other dairy products. The herd returns to the village at the beginning of October.

The process of cheese making starts with milking the cows. The cows are milked twice a day, in the morning, before going at grass and in the evening, after they return. While the herd is taken at grass, one of the shepherds stays at the farm and processes the milk.

For making the green ewe cheese, the milk is put in a large pot and rennet is added over. The temperature must be constant and warm for the milk to transform into cheese. After a short while, the cheese is gathered up in a round ball and let it sloop in a gauze.

The green ewe cheese can be used as it is or it can be put to fermenting and from it prepare the matured cheese, known as “branza de burduf”, the supreme type of cheese in the village and very much appreciated all over the country.

The Loom

The homemade fabric is an art which proves great diversity and richness. It is a mirror of the fantastic skill of women, of their imagination and power of creation.

The means of processing the wool, which is the raw material, until its final state, depends on its destination. The first step is cutting the wool from the sheep, then wash it, card it, brush it and spin it. For this process there were special tools used for each step. Once the wool is ready one can pass to weaving.

The oldest tool for weaving and largely spread and known, is the loom. In Bran - Moeciu area, women used to use the horizontal variant of the loom.

In the village of Moeciu de Sus, the weaving craft has been practiced for hundreds of years. This occupation was specific to women, who used to make their clothes, carpets and interior adornments at the loom. The weaving craft developed in time and got to an art in what concerns the work techniques and the ornamentation.

In the house of the Dumitru family you can still see part of the tools used for processing the wool and benefit from a live demonstration of weaving in an original loom from 1950.