Farmers from the City

A few years ago, veterinarians Juraj and Markéta Derdák decided to create their dream family estate with a self-sufficient farm that would be as nature-friendly as possible. They bought an old house in the Myjava hills in Vrbovce, surrounded by a large orchard of old fruit trees.

They began renovating the house and looked forward to the future, imagining themselves in their later years raising sheep, goats, cattle, poultry, and growing vegetables and fruit. Over time, they decided to share this beautiful place with others, which is why you too can enjoy the stunning nature, tranquility, and family atmosphere of this farm.

And do you know why the farm is called *Kaška*? In spring, the whole property is covered with small yellow flowers—primroses, locally known as *kašky*.

What We Do

Our fruit trees belong to old local varieties of apple (for example, *Malinové hornokrajské*, *Antonovka*, *Citrónka*), plum (*Durancia*), and pear, all grown without any spraying. There is no industry in the nearby area, which makes the environment much cleaner than in many other places in Slovakia. We also have rare service trees (*sorbus domestica*), of which only a few dozen remain on the Slovak-Moravian border. The farm is also home to old walnut trees and beautiful century-old lindens.

Among the shrubs, you will find rosehips, hawthorn, elderberry, and hazel. In the fields, we grow wheat, rye, potatoes, barley, and hemp. From the fruit, we press fresh juices, cook jams, dry herbs for tea, and make syrups. From the leaves and flowers of hemp we also prepare syrups, while the seeds are processed into hemp oil or flour.

An inseparable part of the farm is our domestic and farm animals. We raise chickens, rabbits, geese, turkeys, goats, sheep, and Mangalica pigs. Of course, there are also cats and the farm’s guardian dog, Ada. The animals spend the whole day grazing or in open runs. They mostly feed themselves, or are supplemented with the highest quality feed—most of which we grow ourselves.

The Myjava Hills

Our farm is located in the Vrbovce hills (*kopanice*), bordered by the White Carpathians, the Žalostinská Highlands, and the Myjava Uplands. The farm stretches across 14 hectares, on the site of two original *kopanice* settlements—Široké and U Sukupov.

The land is gently sloping, with the typical scattered farmsteads, which we have transformed into accommodation – cottages. The grouping of the original residential and farm buildings suggests the existence of a small independent homestead, recorded in historical maps from 1763. Wherever you go from the farm, you will always find yourself surrounded by beautiful nature.

Wildlife roams the surrounding meadows and fields—fallow deer, roe deer, and hares—while buzzards circle overhead. If you are lucky, in spring you may spot protected orchids on the meadows, typical for this area. At the beginning of summer, they are literally covered with daisies, bellflowers, St. John’s wort, agrimony, and other herbs.

It is no coincidence that the surrounding meadows are said to be among the most beautiful in Central Europe. The nearby cycling routes, educational trails, and viewpoints can be explored on foot with Nordic walking poles or on e-bikes, which we offer for rent.