The Joy of Owning a Tractor

Frank drove a tractor for the first time when he was twelve years old. Ever since then, he’s harboured a secret dream of having his own machine. We didn’t have much use for a tractor whilst living in the suburbs and I could not agree to buy one. Albeit, my reservations changed as soon as […]
Planting 1000 Flower Bulbs

This autumn I have treated myself to huge amounts of flower bulbs. Bulbs are expensive to buy, both in Norway and Sweden. When we were in Poland a couple of years ago, I was surprised that the price for flower bulbs was a fraction of what I am used to pay. I bought narcissus, alliums, […]
Starting a Vegetable Patch

Growing vegetables was my main motivation for buying a farm in Sweden. I have had a vegetable patch before, both in Northern Norway, as well as in my previous garden in Tønsberg. I have also had a greenhouse before. Yet, although I had grown food with some success before, my ambitions always seemed to exceed […]
Making Woodchips

Apparently, woodchips seem to be the big thing for gardeners and growers these days. We started out with a small garden grinder that only accepted twigs and quickly found out that it was not sufficient for a garden our size. It took us several days to produce a small heap of woodchips that barely covered […]
Peonies

My grandmother used to grow peonies in Northern Norway. She had just a single plant which was the star and pride of her garden. It fascinated me that it was possible to grow such a stately plant so far north but since then I have always wanted to have peonies in my own garden. However, […]
Garden planning

Planning a garden is not my best quality. Don’t get me wrong, I love planning. Drawing and making plant lists are great fun, and I can spend hour after hour visualizing what I want to do. Whereas, sticking to the plan is another matter. I’ve seen lots of YouTube videos about how to plan a […]