For several years now, Snježana and Aleksandar Mijatović have been defying the stereotype that life in the countryside is impossible. The two of them are sending a message to both individuals and the state – it is really worth investing in the countryside.
Many in Banja Luka and Lijevče polje know about this young married couple from the village of Šušnjari. Many families buy milk, cheese and other dairy products from Mijatović family.
Snježa and Aco, who are thirty-something years old, graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture in Banja Luka. They have two wonderful children, six-year-old Lazar and four-year-old Milica.
Why would young and highly educated people with children live in the countryside today? Their answer is very clear. They are happy, fulfilled, living to the fullest in the countryside. There is no rush, no stress, no nervousness.
And children should be surrounded by nature until they start school, they say.
Land and forest
In addition, Šušnjari is only 15 minutes from Banja Luka and 10 minutes from Laktaši. Their property is on a hill.
– From here you can see Kozara; one transmitter. There is Psunj in Croatia, and behind it you can even see the corner of the Papuk mountain. There are also churches in Laktaši. We have a beautiful view. The road above us leads to Slatina – Aco shows us.
In one piece they have 65 dunums of land plus 23 dunums of forest. A real treasure for those who know how to appreciate it.
– There is strict isolation here, which is extremely desirable during the coronavirus pandemic – our host adds.
His family, including his mother Rada, now has ten cows. One is pregnant, they are expecting a calf on Christmas, and they have a playful calf of two and a half months.
An interesting, but also sad fact is that the Mijatović family have five times more cows in the village than the entire village, which has about 600 inhabitants. In the rest of Šušnjar, there are only two or three cows left, which is why the Mijatović family, in addition to the town, also feed the village.
– Well, 90 percent of the inhabitants in Šušnjari are people who only live in the village. Everyone works in Trn, Laktaši or Banja Luka, and in the village there are several houses that have a chicken and maybe a pig, but they also avoid that because the price of grain has increased – explains Aco.
Homemade food
Every Monday and Thursday, around 5 pm, he and his wife sit in a tub with a refrigerator and deliver milk to customers in Banja Luka. The work ends around 10.30 pm. They distribute about 300-320 liters of fresh milk a week.
In addition to milk, this household makes extremely tasty cheeses, and so far, they have made about 35 types of cheese. They also produce kefir and whey, and they plan to produce yogurt and fruit yogurt.
– Homemade food is in demand; people are sick, at the age of 30 their health is not good, their cholesterol is high – says Aco what we all know.
The Mijatović family had 100 sheep until five years ago, so they reduced the herd to ten, just for their own needs. However, this year the price of fodder has increased, and the year has been extremely dry.
– We saved enough hay for the cows so the sheep cost us more. We found a compromise, so we sold the sheep and left the cows – Aco is honest.
Costs
They have more chickens and raise white chickens, and they grow vegetables in the greenhouse. Excess vegetables are sold.
– We do not treat the soil at all, I am exclusively against it. I know what kind of poison it is, not only for the soil but also for the water we drink. We provide hay and corn for the cows on soil that was not treated. We “feed” the plots with manure. We only buy bran, a by-product of wheat and a vitamin supplement for cows during the winter. We spend 300-400 BAM per month. To buy all fodder every month, we would need at least 2,000 BAM and it would not pay off – explains Aco.
He only took some cows out to graze, but now he is forced to change this habit.
– We plan to have all the cows graze in the spring. That way we will save a lot of food. So far, I have not taken out all the cows, because I bought some on farms where they never went out. It is necessary to set aside time, at least a month, and teach them that, and they start grazing when we start working on the property. But, this year, as the prices increased, we will have to do it for the sake of savings and their health – Aco wisely decided. Read the rest of the text on srpskainfo.com
