The last time has been
a turbulent one for me and Camille with its ups and of course downs as well,
and we have been quite busy. As a friend of Camille said it: “gotta love having
a full time without getting paid”. Suffice to say, we hope at some point it will
pay off. In all this time it has been difficult to find time to write up some
reflections of our experiences, with as a result that we have a backlog of
about a month and a half. On the positive side: there is plenty to write about!
In June, we took the plane to Göteborg, from where we took a bus to the centre of the city. It was nice coming back after all this time, but also a bit weird. I had been to the city quite often before, but for completely different reasons all the time. Nevertheless, we left the city quite quickly, and took the train up north to Värmland, where we would spend the weekend celebrating the longest day of the year, dancing around a phallus symbol disguised as a cross, and catching up with friends we got to know in Lund, some four (!) years ago.
When the weekend was over, we took the train to Linköping, where we were picked up by the farmer at whose place we would be staying for three weeks. The city disappeared behind us, and the roads kept getting smaller and the trees more numerous, until we reached the farm. At that point we had been driving on gravel dirt roads through the forest for some twenty minutes, so you can imagine it felt quite isolated.
The family we were staying with were not farming for a living, but were passionate hobbyists, with some twenty hectares under their management. As it turned out, they were familiar with and inspired by the same people as me and Camille; they watched the same Netflix documentaries, read the same books and followed the same Youtube Channels. I think this goes to show that once you start to become interested in Regenerative Agriculture (that which seeks to restore the land, rather than damage it as little as possible), you are quite limited because worldwide there is only a very small group of people pushing the boundaries on this, and putting things into practice.
In June, we took the plane to Göteborg, from where we took a bus to the centre of the city. It was nice coming back after all this time, but also a bit weird. I had been to the city quite often before, but for completely different reasons all the time. Nevertheless, we left the city quite quickly, and took the train up north to Värmland, where we would spend the weekend celebrating the longest day of the year, dancing around a phallus symbol disguised as a cross, and catching up with friends we got to know in Lund, some four (!) years ago.
When the weekend was over, we took the train to Linköping, where we were picked up by the farmer at whose place we would be staying for three weeks. The city disappeared behind us, and the roads kept getting smaller and the trees more numerous, until we reached the farm. At that point we had been driving on gravel dirt roads through the forest for some twenty minutes, so you can imagine it felt quite isolated.
The family we were staying with were not farming for a living, but were passionate hobbyists, with some twenty hectares under their management. As it turned out, they were familiar with and inspired by the same people as me and Camille; they watched the same Netflix documentaries, read the same books and followed the same Youtube Channels. I think this goes to show that once you start to become interested in Regenerative Agriculture (that which seeks to restore the land, rather than damage it as little as possible), you are quite limited because worldwide there is only a very small group of people pushing the boundaries on this, and putting things into practice.
Needless to say, we
had many interesting dinner table conversations!
The family had quite an impressive private library, and I think that in three weeks time I ploughed through five thick books that had been on my to-read list for some time. Our stay was also very nice for the fact that we got to see some things we had read about in real life, most notably ‘pasture-based systems’. Sounds complicated, but what does it mean? Let me explain.
Almost all farm animals eat grass. Some, like cows, can get 100% of their diet from grass, whereas others, like chickens for example, need other stuff to eat as well, most often grains. The good thing about grass is that it is permanent, which means that the soil doesn’t need to be ripped open to grow it; and it grows on sunlight and rain. In effect, grass is a very effective tool for harvesting solar power, and turning it into food for animals. Animals, whose eggs, milk and meat we can then eat. Humans cannot eat grass, but we can eat the animals that eat it. Circle of life, simple stuff you would say, but modern agriculture has come up with ways to mess everything up by taking animals off the grass, moving them in buildings where they get sick, feed them grains (which you need tractors and oil for) and then be left with a massive amount of manure.
This is why this regenerative ‘avant-garde’ that I talked about earlier seeks to restore the balance, by moving animals back to where they should be, so that they can harvest as much ‘free food’ (solar energy) as possible. The farm we worked at did this as well, and it had chickens, pigs, cows and rabbits on grass, of which the cows and rabbits were 100% self sufficient in terms of food. They were moved regularly, so that they have fresh food and can leave the land (with the manure to fertilise on it) to recover and grow back with more strength than before. Healthier land, healthier animals, better food, happier humans: everyone wins.
One other benefit is that all this builds immense fertility, of which other, wild animals and plants benefit as well. In the three weeks that we spent at the farm, we have seen rabbits, hares, squirrels, all kinds of butterflies, a deer with two babies and a wide variety of birds. I’d like to leave you then with a quote that I found in one of the books I read:
“Though the news seemed to darken with each week that spring, this grotto of bedrock, hardwood and freshwater seemed strangely distant from catastrophe. Here was an almost giggling piece of planet, flowing with a startling grace in spite of everything not well in this world”.
The family had quite an impressive private library, and I think that in three weeks time I ploughed through five thick books that had been on my to-read list for some time. Our stay was also very nice for the fact that we got to see some things we had read about in real life, most notably ‘pasture-based systems’. Sounds complicated, but what does it mean? Let me explain.
Almost all farm animals eat grass. Some, like cows, can get 100% of their diet from grass, whereas others, like chickens for example, need other stuff to eat as well, most often grains. The good thing about grass is that it is permanent, which means that the soil doesn’t need to be ripped open to grow it; and it grows on sunlight and rain. In effect, grass is a very effective tool for harvesting solar power, and turning it into food for animals. Animals, whose eggs, milk and meat we can then eat. Humans cannot eat grass, but we can eat the animals that eat it. Circle of life, simple stuff you would say, but modern agriculture has come up with ways to mess everything up by taking animals off the grass, moving them in buildings where they get sick, feed them grains (which you need tractors and oil for) and then be left with a massive amount of manure.
This is why this regenerative ‘avant-garde’ that I talked about earlier seeks to restore the balance, by moving animals back to where they should be, so that they can harvest as much ‘free food’ (solar energy) as possible. The farm we worked at did this as well, and it had chickens, pigs, cows and rabbits on grass, of which the cows and rabbits were 100% self sufficient in terms of food. They were moved regularly, so that they have fresh food and can leave the land (with the manure to fertilise on it) to recover and grow back with more strength than before. Healthier land, healthier animals, better food, happier humans: everyone wins.
One other benefit is that all this builds immense fertility, of which other, wild animals and plants benefit as well. In the three weeks that we spent at the farm, we have seen rabbits, hares, squirrels, all kinds of butterflies, a deer with two babies and a wide variety of birds. I’d like to leave you then with a quote that I found in one of the books I read:
“Though the news seemed to darken with each week that spring, this grotto of bedrock, hardwood and freshwater seemed strangely distant from catastrophe. Here was an almost giggling piece of planet, flowing with a startling grace in spite of everything not well in this world”.
Jef
I dip, you dip, we dip
Back to Sweden for Midsommar with our friends!!
Pig making nest
Daily chores
A day with Jef the farmer
HI
Angry clouds
Rainbow mangold
Woodchips mania
Attack on the Turkey by the Fox
The girl and the weeds
FIKA
View on the farm
Beauty
And a good time was had by all!
