Svilena Racheva

English

Български

English

Български

Appearance

About Svilena ​

Svilena Racheva — certified organic producer, natural-products technologist, and one of the first to introduce community-supported agriculture (CSA) in Bulgaria.

Who Svilena is ​

Since 2008, after returning from the USA, Svilena has lived outside the city, in nature. She is a mother of five and, over the past 15+ years, has actively developed a sustainable way of life, permaculture agriculture, the building of home and market gardens, and the creation of nature-inspired foods and products.

Her experience spans several roles: certified organic producer, founder and manager of a market garden, technologist in the creation of natural products, and founder of some of the first community-supported agriculture (CSA) initiatives in Bulgaria.

What Svilena does — in brief ​

Svilena's work divides into four main areas:

  • Permaculture gardening and organic production — creating permaculture gardens for personal use and for market, focused on soil health, biodiversity, and food sovereignty.
  • Community-supported agriculture (CSA) and farmers' markets — a direct link between producer and consumer, without intermediaries.
  • Value-added natural products — processing the harvest into foods, cosmetics, and supplements.
  • Education and work with children — camps, workshops, and permaculture gardens for kindergartens and schools.

Each of these has its own page. The services are described in the Services section. The knowledge and experience are organised into thematic modules: Plant Profiles, Permaculture & Soil, Kitchen & Recipes, Herbs & Medicine, Community & Cooperation, and Advocacy — with the “Отгледано с любов” blog as their shared archive. The most in-depth case of market production — the raspberry operation — is developed in the raspberry CSA module.

Permaculture gardening and organic production ​

Svilena has extensive knowledge and experience in creating permaculture gardens — both for individual use and for market. Following permaculture principles, she has achieved soil health, biodiversity, and food sovereignty even in the most difficult or urbanised conditions.

She adheres to the principles of the "Slow Food" movement — from the seed to the mature, fresh, clean seasonal produce, through every process until it reaches the customer, whether at farmers' markets or through the CSA model. She also has many years of experience creating value-added natural products — foods, cosmetics, and supplements.

CSA and farmers' markets ​

Svilena has been a certified organic producer of vegetables and fruit, with the corresponding accreditation and diploma.

The timeline of her work:

  • 2009–2014 — managed a permaculture garden; from 2012 the garden expanded for market across 7 декара, and from the same year a 28-декар organic raspberry block was added.
  • One of the first to form (informally) a CSA in Bulgaria — delivering vegetable boxes directly from the farm to the end consumer.
  • Together with several other producers, among the first at what later became hugely popular farmers' markets.

Community-supported agriculture programme ​

In 2019, with the creation of the garden "Отгледано с любов" in the village of Ъглен — which also includes greenhouse production — Svilena resumed CSA deliveries. The subscription consists of 40 weekly deliveries per year. Together with colleagues, the name of the service was translated into Bulgarian, and so ПСЗ — the "Отгледано с любов" Community-Supported Agriculture Programme was born.

In 2021 and 2022 the activity continued from the garden "Сферика" in the town of Съединение. Even during lockdown, programme participants continued to receive their boxes, personally delivered to their door.

Community and like-minded people ​

Svilena's work has always been about community, not only production. Since late 2018 she has lived in the village of Ъглен and belongs to a small community of several families centred on Остава.ме — people who help each other with whatever they can, bound by love for life, for children, and for the Earth. It is in this context that the garden "Отгледано с любов" was born — with the idea of making clean food and contact with nature, through the produce and the children's camps, accessible to more people.

Svilena also shares her experience with a wider audience — at festivals and gatherings on sustainable living. In 2024 she took part in the "Сгледници" spring festival in the village of Огняново with a talk, "Sustainable living outside the city — how to survive financially and in spirit," as well as in a presentation of the "Мандала" garden. In conversations about downshifting and rural life, she is introduced as an established specialist in permaculture.

Education and work with children ​

As a mother of five, family access to clean food has been of the utmost importance to Svilena — and creating a sense of belonging and love for nature in the next generation is a core mission of hers.

Since 2012 she has been an organiser and facilitator of dozens of children's camps and workshops in the vegetable garden and in nature. Working with hundreds of children, she integrates gardening through a fun, creative, age-appropriate model.

Projects with educational institutions:

  • "Слънчова премяна" kindergarten, Драгалевци — in 2014 Svilena took part in a project from the "Направи си сам" competition by "За Земята": a container garden. That same spring, children from the Waldorf kindergarten planted a permaculture garden, which years later also serves pupils of the "Николай Райнов" Waldorf school in Sofia.
  • "Зелено детство" children's centre, Дерманци — in 2018/19 Svilena created a permaculture design for 62 beds in an existing container mandala-garden, plus a landscaping plan she managed for several seasons.
  • "Слънчев лъч" private school, Plovdiv — in 2022 she joined the school's team, creating a permaculture garden and working with pupils (from pre-school to 7th grade) every season.

Media and public appearances ​

Svilena shares her experience not only through the services and the blog, but also on stages, at festivals, and in the media.

The "Сгледници" festival. Svilena is part of the team behind the "Сгледници" festival — a practically-oriented event focused on concrete steps toward life outside the city, with lectures on agriculture, construction, education, and health, and hands-on workshops. The first edition took place on 20–21 April 2024 in the village of Огняново, Елин Пелин municipality. There she gave the talk "Sustainable living outside the city — how to survive financially and in spirit" and presented the "Мандала" garden together with Цветелин Йолов.

In the media. Ahead of the festival, Svilena appeared in the studio of BNT's "100% Будни" together with Александър Петличков and Димитър Цаков — a conversation about the idea behind "Сгледници," their mission as an NGO, and the need for community mutual support. In conversations about downshifting and rural life she is introduced as an established specialist in permaculture.

Where to follow Svilena ​

The mission ​

"You don't need to understand everything and do everything yourself. Specialise in one thing, become good at it, and it will open doors to sustainability and exchange within the community."

Svilena believes that a sustainable way of life is not merely a trend, but a deeply conscious choice for a better future — for us, for our children, and for the Earth.

If you would like to support this work — especially its educational and community side — see the Support the Project page.

Built as a static site with VitePress.

Svilena Racheva — sustainable living