Pomaks - Economy

The Pomak economy centers upon agriculture, with animal husbandry (some cows, plus sheep and goats) constituting a second important element of it. Major crops are rye, barley, corn, flax, hemp, potatoes, and tobacco. Bread, potatoes, and beans, as well as yogurt and cheeses, lamb and goat meat, constitute the diet. The farm household traditionally functioned as a largely autonomous, self-sufficient production and consumption unit, with most necessary tasks carried out: by its members. However, communal work parties are regularly organized for larger projects, such as construction, or the production of handiwork (spinning, tobacco stringing). Tasks are allocated according to age and sex, and in the work parties, men and women tend to work separately. Pomak women are renowned weavers. Land and property are inherited patrilineally, by and large.