The healthy lifestyle adopted by the Swiss woman from Firiteaz and the Timisoara woman from Charlottenburg

A healthy lifestyle isn't just about food, it extends beyond the kitchen. Natural, simple and healthy building materials are also part of the same lifestyle in harmony with nature. Clay, lime, wood, hemp, wool, oil, wax are no longer outdated materials but natural alternatives to synthetic ones, cheaper and easier to use but not always healthy in the long run. Visiting two construction sites gave us the opportunity to meet two ladies who decided to use "curate" both for food and for renovating houses. Though different, they both share a desire to breathe healthy air, to be away from the hustle and bustle of cities, to eat the best the earth can give, and to live in a space free from allergens or materials that pose a health risk.

Katarina and the eco village of Firiteaz

I met Katarina Häni in Firiteaz, where she and her family settled. She is Swiss and an advocate of healthy and natural living. In Switzerland she studied agronomy, but she didn't agree with the intensive methods of treating crops to produce large but tasteless yields. Fourteen years ago she came to Romania on holiday, liked the simplicity of the place and realised that here she could put into practice the principles of organic farming she believed in. He settled in Firiteaz, 20 km from Arad, with his parents and brother, also an agronomist, where he set up an organic farm.

Now in Firiteaz there is a whole community that works the land naturally and feeds themselves with healthy products. Passion has been turned into business - Biofarmland - products being sold to those who share the same lifestyle. The land is not tilled automatically, the crops are not sprayed with herbicides and insecticides, old and forgotten grains such as spelt or einkorn are grown, healthy and tasty, and are milled in their own mill. A factory has also been set up where natural teas are prepared from herbs they grow on their own land and dried naturally in the sun and wind. Also here they prepare mixtures of non-iodized salt with different herbs and several types of mustard made according to personal recipes.

Katarina's latest project is Firiteaz ecological village whereby wishes to develop and implement a holistic system of personal and professional growth, in harmony with inner and outer nature, open to all who share the same values. Here it wants to bring together a wider community and develop educational programmes for children, young people and adults to promote sustainable development in harmony with nature.

We came to Firiteaz to see how the attic of the house is transformed into a habitable loft. The materials used for the transformation are, of course, natural. The structure is made of wood, the insulation is made with Gutex wood fibre panels and mattressesunder the floor is laid hemp sound insulationthe walls are plastered with clay and coated with lime. Materials and advice come from Naturalpaint, a company with which Katarina shares the same principles of life.

At Charlotenburg, the round village in Timis, where an old house has been restored with clay, lime and wood fibre

From Firiteaz we went to Charlotenburg, just 45 km from Timisoara, where Lucia Sepetean, a Timisoara native who is a follower of the natural lifestyle, bought a house to breathe fresh air and leave the hustle and bustle of the city behind, at least once in a while.

Charlottenburg, or Carlotta as it used to be called, is a village in Timis county, declared a historical monument because it is the only one in Romania built in a circle. It was founded in 1771 by 32 families of German origin (the Swabians) who came here with the second wave of colonization that the Habsburg Empire was making in the area. The aim was to erase the traces of the 164 years of Ottoman rule that had ended in 1718. The village was built in a circle with an inner diameter of 210 m and had a well and a mulberry plantation in the centre. Examples of centuries-old mulberry trees still exist in the centre of the village. Later the church, school and post office were built in the centre. The houses were built "German", all the same height and equal distances apart.

Lucia didn't necessarily want to end up in Charlottenburg, that's where she found the house. Many people left the village and houses became available. She wasn't going to convert the house, just insulate it well so it would be habitable all year round. He wanted to use natural materials, and Katarina, whom he knew because she used organic products from the farm, recommended Naturalpaint. But when the company's recommended craftsmen arrived, she was surprised to discover a lot of damp and mould behind the false plasterboard walls. She had to take down the makeshift and redo everything much more solidly. And while she was at it, she decided to turn the attic into a self-contained living space, well insulated and finished with natural materials. During the renovation he used Gutex wood fibre insulation, Conluto clay plaster and Kreidezeit lime paint.

There is still work to be done at Charlottenburg and we promised to come back at the end. Especially since Lucia invited us and told us she was waiting for us with waffles she made. Can you say no to that?!