Filip (27) from Durachka Reka: groomer in Skopje, organic farmer and shepherd of 150 goats
A 27-year-old groomer from Skopje cares for 150 goats and grows organic fruit and vegetables at his family farm in Durachka Reka while keeping a city profession.
At 27, Filip Mitovski splits his time between two worlds: a professional life in Skopje as a pet groomer and weekends at his family farm in the village of Durachka Reka, near Krivopalanec, where he raises organic produce and keeps about 150 goats. He says he has no intention of trading rural life for urban comfort — instead he combines both to build a livelihood rooted in the land and in a city profession.
For Filip, the farm is not a fallback but a source of balance. The scent of fresh hay, dawn over the hills, a yard full of flowers and the knowledge that he helps produce healthy food with his parents are what keep him returning. He describes that balance with a single conviction: when you love what you do, fatigue is smaller and meaning grows.
Daily rhythm: dawn milking, fields and a third shift when needed
Filip outlines a day that follows the needs of animals and plants rather than a clock. He rises with the sun and moves between tasks: milking the goats, feeding pigs, tending to horses, walking dogs and cats, watering vegetables and caring for flowers. The routine stretches from the first light to late evening, with a third shift of chores often falling on him — yet he insists there is no real tiredness when work is done out of love.
His family farm grows a wide range of vegetables and fruit: beans, potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, parsley, cabbage, leeks, carrots, green beans (boranija), peas, garlic and onions. The orchard and small-fruit beds include apples, pears, cherries, sour cherries, raspberries, strawberries, currants, blackberries, aronia, peaches, hazelnuts, chestnuts and walnuts. Beyond crops, they keep roughly 150 goats and produce dairy products sold after on-farm processing.
Despite the care and variety of production, Filip highlights structural problems that threaten small family farms: uncertain sales channels for young goats, poor market for raw milk, late subsidies and limited state support. He stresses that when there is no reliable buyer for what they raise, and imports arrive instead, younger generations are pushed to emigrate.
Outside the fields, Filip’s work as a groomer requires calm, patience and a different kind of closeness with animals: "I work as a groomer, a profession that requires a lot of patience, precision, and above all a lot of love for dogs and cats. This work is psychological and not everyone can do it because it needs patience, calm and a lot of love. That is why I chose to do it." He says the two occupations — urban grooming and rural farming — complement one another and keep him connected both to his roots and to a paid craft in the city.
Photo: press material from the event
