Association of tourist farms of Slovenia organized in April an event called Week of tourist farms. Together with a bunch of Slovenian journalists I joined a lovely 2 days culinary journey experience accross Podravje and Pomurje region.

Freser wine farm

It was snowing when we arrived at the Fresher wine farm in the village of Ritoznoj in the green embrace of Pohorje hills. We were greeted by Matjaz and Andreja with a glass of Ritoznoj local wine. They cultivate 18 hectares of vineyards and produce about 60,000 liters of wine (Ritoznoj, Laski Riesling, Rhine Riesling, Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Rumeni muškat). Matjaz is the seventh generation to produce wines. We paired the wine with homemade cold cuts (salami, jams, pâté, rosemary focaccia). What is more, we had the opportunity to visit the 2 wine cellars. Believe it or not, you can rent a storage room for your wine. Cin cin!

Forbar homestead

We had mouthwatering lunch at Forbar homestead in the village of Malahorna, but before that we were invited to visit a mill that is more than 200 years old and still grinds buckwheat flour. The food served here is fresh, local and seasonal. Marija is a master at making biscuits with jurka jam. Her beef soup, mashed potatoes with horseradish sauce and wine sauce and buckwheat struklji with caramelized walnuts, apples and buckwheat popcorn were a culinary masterpiece.

Firbas farmstay

A large pear welcomes us as we arrive at the Firbas farmstay in the village of Cogetinci, one of the most beautiful and best-known farmstay in Slovenia. Bojan runs this wonderful farm together with his parents Marjana and Alojz. He offered us homemade Viljamovka spirit and a glass of their excellent pear juice. Believe me or not, you can get addicted to this pear juice. At the Firbas farmstay you can sleep (they offer family rooms, apartments, glamping houses and a barn), eat, drink, swim in the pool, relax in Jacuzzi, rent an e-bike and enjoy time in nature in the middle of a pear orchard with your loved ones. We tantalized our taste buds with barley, asparagus and wild garlic risotto, wild garlic patties and a bowl of seasonal green salad with pumpkin seed oil. We ended our dinner with the sweet dessert Slovenjgoriska gibanica. The next day, after a calorie- rich breakfast (some of us even made it to Lake Negovsko, lake which is only a 15-minute walk from the farmstay), we took a tour around the farm, fed rabbits and went for a ride on the tractor.

Vrbnjak farmstay

The Vrbnjak farmstay, surrounded by fields, meadows and a forest, is located in the village of Kursinci near Mala Nedelja. They offer apartments, horseback riding, carriage rides, organize vacations for children and grow vegetables indoors. We were invited on a spectacular carriage ride. But you can’t really leave Pomurje without tasting their Prleska gibanica.

Salamun tourist farm and beekeeping 

The Salamun tourist farm and beekeeping is located in Banovci. With more than 40 years of beekeeping tradition and more than 300 bee colonies, this is a true honey and api gem for all honey lovers. We tantalized our taste buds with 4 types of honey (acacia, flower, buckwheat and chestnut honey), honeycomb, honey spirit, honey wine, liquor made of pollen, gingerbread. We even try to make a honeycomb candle. We were also able to inhale aerosol directly from the beehives in the beekeeper bus.

Tourist farm Puhan

The tourist farm Puhan, located in the middle of vineyards on the slopes of the Goričko hills just above the famous Plečnik church in Bogojina, offers a from-farm-to-table and from-vineyard-into-glass experience. Everything here is seasonal, local, fresh and 100% from the Prekmurje region. We started with a welcome drink (sparkling wine), then continued with cold cuts (salami, Prekmurje ham), lard, spreads, pickles (topinambur, zucchinis, wild garlic buds) and two types of soup (beef soup and mushroom soup with buckwheat kasa). For the main course, we tantalized our taste buds with venison in sauce with dödöli, pork cheeks with dogwood jam and buckwheat porridge, roasted pork legs with mashed potatoes, fried chicken and a huge bowl of seasonal salad dressed with homemade pumpkin seed oil and vinegar. The main course was accompanied by 5 Puhan wines. We ended our culinary journey with Prekmurje gibanica and homemade ice cream with pumpkin seed oil.

Passero chocolate shop

Welcome to the Passero chocolate store, where Jasmina and Tomaž write a chocolate story with chocolates in different flavors and chocolate pralines. Tomaž also showed us how they make pralines. Did you know that there are four types of chocolate? In addition to dark, milk and white chocolate, varieties there is ruby pink variety as well. We tasted their high-quality chocolate products (chocolate cups with liqueur, ruby chocolate, white chocolate with Prekmurje gibanica, ruby chocolate praline filled with bourbon vanilla, milk chocolate with buckwheat and coffee, dark chocolate with plum, walnut and cinnamon, chocolate candy with pumpkin seeds). Of course, we couldn’t leave without tasting their pumpkin seed ice cream.

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If you crave for more local experiences, join my local experiences! What is more, if you need help with planning your trip to the Soca valley and/or Slovenia beyond the usual tourist offerings, do not hesitate to contact me. Welcome/Dobrodošli!