MAKING A LIVING IN THE PAST AND TODAY

60 YEARS AGO AND MORE
In the past, families used to be large and life was often about hard work and empty bellies. The villagers engaged in cattle breeding, farming and fruit growing. The families used to eat what they produced in their fields, whereas food of higher quality was sold in Trieste to where villagers transported it or carried it on their backs, particularly meat, eggs, fruit and also firewood and mushrooms. After World War II, the produce was also sold in Rijeka in Croatia. The villagers distilled homemade plum brandy, which is highly valued even today. The Javorje villagers are very proud of it, and so are other Brkinians. Javorje boasted some highly-developed crafts such as stonemasonry, blacksmithing, carpentry, shoemaking and tailoring, as well as milling in the Jezerina valley. Additional money was earned from sales of charcoal – the locals built charcoal piles and also produced lime in lime kilns. The charcoal was sold in Trieste, whereas the lime was produced mainly for the villagers’ needs.

After World War II, the villagers found employment in different factories. The brickworks named Opekarna Obrov operated in the Jezerina valley until the 1970s when it was closed because it was no longer profitable. The building is in decay now.
The villagers could earn a good living by working for the companies Plama in Podgrad, Droga in Portorož – with a subsidiary in Gradišče, Lesograd in Kozina, Steklarna in Hrpelje and others.

TODAY
Over the last few years, the Javorje villagers, except for some individuals, have been engaging in agriculture merely to cater to their own needs. There is almost no cattle breeding, except for three or four houses with a small head of cattle. The locals commute to work to close and distant places in Slovenia (Podgrad, Gradišče, Kozina, Koper) and also in neighbouring Italy.