This is our small farm in Sweden. It is 17 acres (or 7 hectare) whereof half is forest and half is arable fields. For the time being we only use a small part of the fields and a neighbour cuts the grass to maintain the fields. But we have many plans and projects and you are welcome to read about them here.
My Success Tart Cookies are based on a Norwegian kake called The Success Tart (Suksessterte). It was invented in Vadsø in the late 1970s and quickly spread all over Norway. Today, you’ll find a lot of different versions of the recipe, but my cookies are based on the original recipe that I received from a native.
I have used the remains after steaming apples juice to make a tasty apple butter that can be used for baking or as a bread spread. See the recipe here.
The summer is usually a busy season. We’ve had lots of visitors and taken time off from our projects. However, the plants have produced an abundance of flowers and food for us to enjoy and preserve.
Finishing the roof on our new build has taken time, but with the help from neighbours, family and friends, the roof is finally complete. All of us have been challenged to do things we have never tried before. The «boys» have laid solar panels and roof tiles and the «girls» have handled power tools and new trades.
Some people claim that you can do almost anything with a tractor and an excavator. During 2022, we have done a lot of gardening with an excavator. We have created a large fire pit behind the house as well as creating a new flower bed and planting.
Chatting about the garden at Bliderud through a series of garden walks from April to July 2022. Images from the pond and the stream.
The garden season 2022 is over. To our astonishment, we were harvesting produce, like salad, leek, kale, carrots, and parsnip until the end of November. That is not normal. Yet, it is time to sum up what went well and what we were less successful with this year.
We have started the build of a workshop, with bathrooms, a large food prepping kitchen and holiday lets. Our budget is 1 mill SEK and we plan to do most of the work ourselves. The building is a major part of our plan to live off the farm and will also have solar panels on the entire roof towards the south.
This year I’ve grown sunflowers for the first time. They are magnificent flowers and I hope to be able to harvest seeds from them too.
This time of year, it is all about taking care of the produce from the garden. We harvest, eat, and preserve everything we cannot manage to eat fresh. It is fun to try out different preservation methods and watch the shelves in the pantry fill up.
I have been in a program to register the production of food in a private garden. I have spent 180 hours tidying, planting, weeding, watering, and harvesting fruit and vegetables.
Baking with pumpkin has become a new favourite of mine. The cakes are very moist and can store in room temperature for several days.
I have always dreamt about having a garden. A space with lush foliage and mature trees. Lots of flowers through the entire summer as well as things to harvest. And, a place to sit and relax.
