We did not have a ready plan or a recipe for a thriving agritourism. We were captivated by 5 hectares of meadows and forests, somewhere between Mazovia and Podlasie, not far from the Bug River. Our friends came to us more and more often and reacted to our ideas with wild enthusiasm. Maybe afternoon weed cooking workshops? They are already washing their hands. A trip to the forest to watch wild boars? Sure! For a snack, young hop shoots? Delicious. And what, maybe you still want to help us with the hay ...
They wanted, and we got ideas faster than the animals on the farm. For workshops, nature walks and experimental cuisine. So we arranged a few attic rooms, and then we started serving breakfast and a three-course dinner. We are really slow to eat. We intertwine the well-known and liked classics with what results in the syndrome "I didn't know you eat it" and "who would have thought it was so good".
Pack your bags and come hungry.
Our main guesthouse is an old log cabin relocated from a village on the Bug River. We expanded it, adding two porches and an arcaded terrace. You'll find many touches of yesteryear—the interior is decorated with antique furniture, photo reproductions, and pre-war advertisements. The terrace is built from bricks over a century old from the hostess's family home. Zero waste is close to our hearts: carefully prepared bottles have become lamps, fruit crates have become cabinets, an old barrel serves as a base for the washbasin, and refurbished Euro pallets hold comfortable mattresses securely. Outside, old washtubs and pots serve as flowerpots. Over a century-old logs, along with old leather harness straps, have become chandeliers in the common room.
In the attic, we have prepared three rooms with ensuite bathrooms and one small "spare" room without a bathroom, available for larger groups who don't mind sharing a bathroom in another room. On the ground floor of the cottage, there's a common area, including the main room, which serves as a living room and dining area. You can relax by the fireplace, snuggle up against the wall heated by the tiled stove, read from our library, or listen to music – not only from the radio, CDs, or USB drives, but also from the vinyl collection at your disposal. On rainy days, we have a large selection of games for you.
On sunny days, we recommend relaxing in the garden on hammocks, deckchairs, loungers, or garden chairs. The arcade terrace next to the house is also a pleasant place to spend time. You can also use blankets and special mattresses.
You can visit us year-round and not worry about whether the rooms will be warm in winter – well, they will be. ;) The rooms are heated by ducted hot air from the fireplace cap. Additionally, each room has an electric heater.
Next to the main house is a separate, small Bańczyka Cottage, rented under different terms. You can meet guests living there in the garden. A little further away is our third house with a fireplace, but it has a separate, independent area for its residents. The house where the hosts live is 50 meters away.
If you're curious about our other two houses, check out:
https://slowhop.com/pl/miejsca/2253-latosowo-domek-banczyka.html
https://slowhop.com/pl/miejsca/2825-latosowo-dom-z-zapieckiem.html
We enjoy delicious food, experimenting in the kitchen, and using high-quality products. Many of these come from our own farm, so you can expect interesting and unique dishes on the table. Since we DO NOT share the kitchen with guests; in this house, it's exclusively "our kingdom," you are "condemned" to meals prepared by us. ;) When planning your stay with us, remember that the price you see includes both accommodation and breakfast. Dinner is your choice and is an additional fee. Water, a kettle, teas, instant coffee, and fruit will be available for your use in the main room.
For breakfast, which we serve at a "human" rate, At 10:00 a.m., but no earlier than 9:00 a.m., you can expect homemade rennet cheeses, honey from local hives, jams from our pantry, homemade cold cuts, vegetables, salads, spreads, pickles, bread from the local bakery, and yellow cheese from the local dairy. There's also always something warm made with colorful eggs from the happiest hens in our henhouse, and some plant-based options like fried radishes, stewed Jerusalem artichokes, or Chioggia beetroot carpaccio. We also serve herbal infusions made from dried herbs, which we prepare ourselves by picking flowers and herbs in season. And the coffee? Of course! We grind high-quality beans ourselves and brew it in the coffee pot, so even a small amount will get you up and running in the morning.
Remember, you won't have access to a kitchen, so it's worth considering trying our dinner. Read the reviews from those who have tried it—it's worth it! And what can you expect in the evening, from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM? We'll treat you to soup, a main course with accompaniments, and dessert. A jug of homemade compote, lemonade, or bzówka will be served. We won't describe the entire array of dishes that land on the table; there are so many of them, and more are constantly being added. Examples include nettle soup with egg and sweet cream, soup made with homemade pickled squash, cauliflower, or carrots, homemade chicken broth with vegetables and meat, or fakes, a Greek soup made with olive oil, carrots, lentils, onions, and tomatoes. There's also borscht soup, an old Polish soup that's been forgotten for a while and won an award at the International Taste Competition in Liw. Of course, we can also make classic tomato, żurek, or cucumber soups, but we'll spice them up by making duck stock, adding homemade purée, our own vegetables, or unusual spices. For the main course, we recommend, among others, free-range duck with ginger and apples, thyme rabbit in cabbage and tomatoes, roasted trout from nearby ponds, rump steak chopped with Grandma's cleaver, or rabbit kidneys in a delicate creamy sauce.
For dessert, we'll serve you a fluffy, homemade cheesecake with a creamy, cardamom topping and a dollop of Damask rose petal jam from the house, or a moist, chocolate cake with fruit and nuts, homemade crème brûlée, a bowl full of macsarpone cream, fruit, and toppings, or some other sweet treat that we'll come up with when we're inspired.
You can also order special dishes from us, a bit more expensive, but we guarantee you won't find them anywhere else. These include nutria roasted with garden vegetables, young goat in sweet onion and cumin, which our regular guests always ask for when they return, buttery grapevine soup, or... May beetle soup. It may sound shocking, but this dish has a very ancient origin and, contrary to appearances, it's delicious ;)
We also need to mention a few words about edible weeds. Living in the countryside, where an abundance of natural, uncontaminated varieties grows around us, we've begun to delve into their culinary uses. In season, you can count on tasting young hop shoots in butter and homemade breadcrumbs, weed salad with a dressing based on things like spruce shoot syrup, yellowtail stew, or stewed chickweed.
We also have herbivores in mind. Let us know, and we'll prepare vegetarian or vegan dishes, such as white buckwheat groats with mushrooms, vegetables, and herbs, a pea, potato, and pepper stew, or stuffed zucchini from the garden.
Due to other commitments, we serve two meals: breakfast and dinner, but if you find yourself needing a snack during the day, we're open. Just let us know in advance, preferably during breakfast, and we'll have something ready around 3:00 PM. You'll find a list of additional sample dishes and their prices in the house.
At Latosowo, you'll find a variety of ways to relax and spend your time according to your expectations.
For those who, after the intense adventures of a constantly hectic life, look forward to simple, lazy idleness, we have a garden with hammocks, garden furniture, loungers, blankets, and living willow structures. You can read a book from our library there or nap while listening to the rustle of the wind and birdsong. If you'd like to wander a little further from the house (a 5-minute walk), we'll tell you where we've prepared a beautiful clearing by the forest in the middle of nowhere, perfect for a solitude picnic. Fifteen steps away, in our meadow, you'll find a pond with a tiny alder island in the middle. On cold days, you can do nothing by the fireplace in our main room, lounge by the warm, tiled wall next to the fireplace, listen to vinyl music in a comfortable armchair, or "smash" Play cards with friends or other board games. And if you need special help organizing something unusual, we're here to help! We've hosted many engagements, honeymoons, and wedding anniversaries.
A must-see for guests is usually... stilt walking. We have stilts designed by the host's father, who was a "designer," for both adults and children. We don't know which age group enjoys them more.
If you prefer a more active time with us, we suggest exploring the area on foot or by bike, several of which we have available for your use free of charge. Our 13 hectares are filled with forests, meadows, and charming spots. A little further, just a few kilometers from us, lies the Bug River Landscape Park, and the wild Bug River flows a dozen or so kilometers away. It's worth a visit; we'll guide you to beautiful places or organize a tour for you with our transport.
Our site also features an outdoor, heated hot tub that seats up to 8 people, a second tub with a jacuzzi function and illumination, outdoor hot tubs for two, and a Russian banya – a kind of steam sauna. So, hedonists, you'll leave feeling refreshed. All the hot tubs, tubs, and banya are rented individually by guests, including those from our other houses, so please inquire about availability in advance, as it's first come, first served.
We can also accompany you on a nature walk we've prepared. We'll show you the nearby town of Badger, a fox den, a place where wild boars "brush" and bathe, which isn't listed on Google Maps, and we'll look for a woodpecker's forge together. If the weather cooperates and there's a bit of mud, we might even find tracks of moose, deer, badger, or beaver.
We can also organize WEED WORKSHOPS for you from spring to summer: we'll teach you how to identify edible wild herbs, harvest the harvest, and then invite you to our table for a tasting.
Our absolute favorite is our CARPENTRY WORKSHOPS, during which our guests choose the type of wood and, under the guidance of the host, create a beautiful board/box/plate, etc., according to their own design, for serving dishes or as a coaster.
Our latest offering is a RIDE ON AN ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLE from Surron. These are fully eco-friendly, zero-emission motocross bikes that handle rough terrain. Perfect for admiring nature without too much interference, we recommend a ride along forest paths or the Bug River roads.
We'd love to invite you on a ride on a vintage, horse-drawn fire truck, pulled by a tractor, or on a ladder truck. We also have a vintage Żuk ready to go (also a fire truck, from the nearby fire station) – a tour in it through the fields and meadows is quite an experience.
We'll show you around our farm, introduce you to the goats, rabbits, and nutrias, introduce you to Roma, our horse, and in season, you can help us with the haymaking.
There are two horse farms in our area where you can sign up for riding lessons. One is located beyond the forest, a 20-minute walk or a 5-minute drive from us, and the other is a little further, a dozen kilometers away, a 15-minute drive.
In the nearby town of Kosów Lacki (5 km from us), you'll find the only salt graduation tower in the region.
We are parents of three children ourselves and we know that sometimes you just want to take a break from the patter of little feet, loud cries of joy or "mommying" and "tattooing" all the time, which is why we have created a place for adults to take a leisurely break without children.
