„A real old-fashioned potato feast in Dzūkija is just a smoke“, says Rita Sabestinienė, a member of the Future of Stebuliai Community. Members of this community decided to help Laimutė Malinauskienė from Jurčiūnai village to harvest potatoes. She works very hard for the community too. She cares about us very much. Laimutė farms, she has all kinds of machinery, and if she needs something, Laimutė comes with a machine, furniture, or a cultivator. She has powerful trimmers, and cuts grass like the wind. She's a good hostess, she cooks delicious food. She's entrepreneurial, has lots of ideas. So how can you not help someone like that? You have to help," says Rita. Laimutė herself helps the amazing people because she sees how hard they are trying.

So, without much talk or encouragement, everyone came together for a bullfight at Laimutė's farm. According to Rita, they worked the way their parents taught them to work, to enjoy each other and life! "It's been a long time since we've been to a bulviakasia. And we all have fun working, just like dancing or sitting at the table“, – says Rita. A group of people rushed to dig potatoes, Laimutė herself – to roast herds. „We managed to sing and collect potatoes“, – says Rita, who brought her musical instrument – accordion – to the potato-picking event.

Lots of people, lots of work. „We all came together, we didn't ask the older members of the community to come anymore, but the younger ones came to the clean-up: we quickly dug up the potatoes“, – says Rita. And how was the harvest? „We think the potatoes are good, lots of them, maybe not very big, but not bad, Laimutė herself says they are not good, there have been much better harvests. Although the soil is good, there has been no rain, so the potatoes must have lacked moisture, because they were wilted," Rita remarks.

And then a feast in the courtyard under the tree. The weather – as ordered: warm, fun. „ Laimutė roasted potato herds and whistles in the oven – rubbish. It was so tasty that there wasn't a bite left, – Rita says. And at the table – nice communication, everyone is cheerful, the stories are only humorous.

A great tour of Laimutė's farm was also given: she showed us her house, her flower gardens, all her holdings and the landscape. „There are such beautiful horizons there, and the banks and ditches add to the charm“, – she remarks. Rita pointed out that it is a very beautiful place: the nature – is spectacular. „And the Lamute farm is full of animals and birds. She lives alone, all the work is on her shoulders. A daughter – in Australia, a son – in England, another daughter – in Druskininkai. The latter helps most, “, – says. Laimutė's animals and birds roam freely because she lives in a farmhouse. The goats come to the yard, and even the bulls come to visit," Rita laughs.

After the potato feast, the members of the Future of Stebuli community will still be digging up cabbage for the winter, and they have thought of digging up horseradish to make an ancient recipe for the winter. "Maybe God willing, it will rain, it will be easier to dig it out," they hope. Horseradish is abundant, it is a pity to throw away a good gift of nature without using it. And digging is necessary, because they grow out of place, but it is too early to dig them up“, – knows.

While potato growers are digging potatoes, specialists from the Dzūkija-Suvalkija Directorate of Protected Territories and the Lithuanian Zoo gathered for the now traditional „Turtle Day“, which takes place annually in the Meteliai and Veisėiai Regional Parks. „Turtle Rally“ – once a year. This year, it's never early enough. The warm weather has encouraged the saddleback turtles to crawl out of their boxes and look for water bodies. Experts note that it would be difficult for these little ones to survive. Foxes, raccoon dogs and even wood ants are their enemies.

According to the specialists, as if the seasons were confused, they have already started to crawl out from under the ground in autumn. Some boxes are already empty. Specialists came to the rescue of the babies: the box turtles were dug out of the unsafe boxes and handed over to the reliable hands of Lithuanian Zoo specialists, where they will safely survive the winter and return home to Dzūkija, to the local puddles, next year. This year, 66 saddleback tortoises have been transferred from unsafe boxes to the Lithuanian Zoo for wintering.

Pigeon tortoises are protected not only in Lithuania, but also throughout Europe. It is a highly sensitive species that depends on special habitats. These rare reptiles start breeding very late: males become sexually mature at 10 years of age, females at 15–20 years or later. Therefore, this population enhancement project, which started in 2010 when the first tortoises were transferred to the Lithuanian Zoo for the winter, is and must be continued for a long time to bring about positive changes. The population of saddle-back turtles has now increased significantly, but the work that has been started continues. 10 years ago there were up to 500 adult loggerhead turtles remaining in the wild, now it is estimated that the number has doubled.