Page 266 - Changing Living Spaces

Aleksander Panjek and Gregor Kovačič

LiDAr images of the slope on the northwestern edge of the valley clear-
ly show a fairly extensive system of cultural terraces (figure 7). Since they
are not recorded in the Franciscean Cadastre, they must have been built
and arranged at a later date, certainly after 1825.
Jožef Švagelj will take us through the changes that have taken place in
the area of ‘Neverlake’ from the twentieth century to the present day in
his own words, which vividly describe the area and its use.
This cultural landscape, the ‘Lake’, has changed its appearance
three times in my lifetime. Before 1960, it was about self-sufficien-
cy. The bottom was covered by fields of corn, with beans in between;
cuke (zucchini) were spreading onto the mowed meadow; cabbage
plots were located by the karst pond. Potatoes were grown on the
higher built terraces in Klanec and Staje; after they were dug up,
beetroot and kale were grown there. We also had four rows of the
Isabella grapevine (smrdljivka). We took our cows to graze on the
Strma dolina commons above the ‘Lake’. We watered the livestock
at one of the many karst ponds. The livestock couldn’t get to the cul-
tivated land because it was enclosed by dry walls, with thorns on
top. An old pine forest grew around the ‘Lake’ in the area called ‘On
the Hill’; the hill Vrhec was just forested with pines, while the slope
‘Silent Side’ still has the same oak forest on the sunny side.
The place changed its appearance after 1960 when the young people
found jobs and the old people were retiring. A new pine forest grew
on Vrhec and the commons where we used to graze was occupied
by self-sown pines. The fields were gone; only a patch was left here
and there. The bottom of the valley changed from corn fields into a
meadow that provided hay and second-cutting hay. The fodder was
fed to cattle in the barns for a year; a man called Fonze continued
breeding bulls the longest. The fields on the higher terraces were
planted with grapevines. They were mostly cultivated by pension-
ers who also liked to socialize there. They were guaranteed to find
company there in nice weather. At first, the vines were treated with
blue vitriol using water from the newly made concrete troughs, and
later on with machinery purchased with non-farming income. A
man named Beber planted basket willows at the karst pond so you
could see the sign ‘NAŠ TITO’ (OUR TITO) from the road. This new
cultural landscape with vineyards was used for entertainment or
socializing.

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