Home Sweet Home | Hem Ljuva Hem

Time's flying by, and another week in Sweden is behind me. But my enthusiasm for life on the farm is certainly not slowing down; on the contrary, it's really picking up steam. So much so that you can expect a 'minor' revelation at the end of this blog post…

The first few days of the week were still quite warm, but compared to Europe (it's simply a different world here, which is why even some of the locals use this term to refer to other European countries), it was already very pleasant. It's cooled down over the last few days, so we're now getting lovely daytime temperatures of 14–18 degrees, with a bit of rain thrown in. Just a lovely Swedish summer. 😁

MONDAY

Monday morning was all about what was probably the last sowing of cabbage, kale, and beetroot seeds this year. When you're doing this on a large scale on a farm like this, the process is quite fun. At least that's how it is for me, as someone who's obsessed with growing things. Although everything here is done by hand, you do have tools to help make the work easier and quicker. And you can watch something gradually grow right before your eyes.

After our 'second' breakfast, we began a period of weeding and thinning the vegetables, which essentially lasted the whole week. But that's how it tends to be when you're on your own in a place like this, and with other priorities to attend to, this sort of thing can easily get out of hand. With a few exceptions, Emil works here on his own throughout the season. Kerstin mainly helps out during the summer, when the school where she works as a Swedish teacher is on holiday. (Incidentally, in Sweden, the summer holidays are brought forward by about two weeks compared to the Czech Republic, so school finishes in mid-June and starts in mid-August again. What's more, individual regions and schools set their own specific dates.)

That's another reason why it's beneficial for a farm like this when someone like me comes to help in exchange for 'only' a place to sleep and meals. It's true, though, that since I arrived, I haven't spent a single penny. There's simply no reason to. Unless, of course, I count the petrol I used to get to the lake. But the last time I filled up was in Denmark on my way here… and that was over two weeks ago.

And because weeding involves a lot of bending over, I went for a bit of a run with Aron for the first time since arriving. The plan was to do 5 km, but the dog is clearly getting on in years, and after 4 km on a gravel track, I decided it would be better to simply walk back to the farm.

TUESDAY

The next day could be simply called 'Dirty Tuesday' because by the end of the day, I was covered in mud from head to toe, quite literally. On the farm, you can really tell when you're washing yourself and when you're finally clean, because at the start, the water running off you is completely brown. 🫣😅

It all started this morning when we uncovered the vegetable patch for the 'beans' project. The tarp that we needed to remove was full of water and mud, and once we'd pulled it off, it felt as though Emil and I had just been through a mud-wrestling match – us versus the tarp, not each other. 🤣 

However, the 'beans' project was a success. We put together a natural structure made of stakes and bamboo poles (we'd used an angle grinder to remove any nails sticking out of the stakes beforehand), planted the beans, and tied them to the poles. Another thing I enjoy here is that I'm learning to tie knots, which come in handy not just for gardening.

Another dirty job was loading, transporting and sorting rubbish at the recycling station. But it was definitely a fun experience. I never would have imagined that, in my second week in Sweden, I'd be visiting a recycling station. 🤭

During the day, we also chatted about all sorts of things. So that very evening, I had the chance to try slacklining (balancing, walking, and jumping on a strap stretched between two trees or poles). I'm still barely managing to walk on it, but I'm practising hard and I'm delighted with every extra step I take. 🤩  

WEDNESDAY

On Wednesday, it was time to get back to weeding. This time, however, we tackled the dreaded four beds that needed preparing for planting eggplants under the polytunnel. The seedlings are already struggling a bit in the greenhouse, so it's high time. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of the bed before we started work, but at least we made the work go faster with tongue-twisters in Czech and Swedish. Or, in other words, teach a Swede our well-known 'Strč prst skrz krk' ('Stick your finger through your throat'). 😆 Tears of laughter regularly stream from my eyes here…

Sex laxar i en laxask | Six salmon in a salmon box

I had dirt behind my ears again this time. Even a 'dip' in the lake – which is absolutely spotless – didn't help, so I still had to have a shower when I got back, which isn't usually necessary after a swim in the lake unless you're covered in mud from head to toe, as I was this week.

THURSDAY

From Thursday to Sunday, the owners and their children went on a canoeing holiday. So I had the whole farm to myself – and, of course, that came with a great deal of responsibility.

But before they left, we moved the chicken coop so the chickens would have four whole days to peck and scratch about. It was up to me to feed the chickens twice a day, fill up their water, and pick up the eggs. Well… it's no joke looking after 120 chickens on your own when they're all over you like a swarm. 😅🐔🐔🐔

My next task was to water the seeds we'd sown in the greenhouse on Monday. And I wouldn't be me if I didn't want a bit of extra work. So the job was to prune and tie up the tomato plants, and do some more weeding.

First, though, I went to tidy up the caravan and make sure I'd have somewhere to go to the toilet.

The following description may strike some people as a bit unpleasant, but I find some of the facts quite interesting. I have a so-called 'separett' next to my caravan, which in practice means that when you use the toilet, urine is separated from faeces straight away – urine goes into a canister, faeces into a bucket. Everything can then be put to various uses, such as fertilising plants, etc. Given that the canister has a capacity of 20 litres, it's necessary to check from time to time whether there's still enough space in it and, if necessary, to transfer its contents to a large barrel, from where the urine is then processed for use as fertiliser (of course, don't imagine that it's poured directly onto the vegetables and that customers then eat them – definitely not!). Something I'd never really thought about before is the volume of urine our bodies produce. From a simple calculation, I've worked out that in my case, it's about 2 litres a day. And honestly, working with urine is waaaay more smelly than working with the other stuff. 😬🫥😷

So, once I'd finished tidying up, I set about weeding the rest of that dreadful veg bed I mentioned earlier. After a while, however, I was driven off by the rain, which lasted for the rest of the day and almost all of Friday.

So I took refuge in the greenhouse to tend to the tomatoes, which are slowly but surely ripening.

FRIDAY

Since Friday, I've also been in charge of opening the egg-laying area for neighbour Tim's chickens in the morning. I have to say it was a bit of a challenge at times, because the chickens naturally expect to be fed as well, and they weren't getting that from me. Running away from 250 chickens in their enclosure was, at times, quite an entertaining bit of morning exercise.

Over these days, I've been happy to make the most of the chance to cook my own lunch and wash the dishes right there in the house. In return, I at least swept the floors and vacuumed the carpets. In the afternoon, the rain stopped for a while, so I set off on a 'walk in the woods'. I knew there was a waterfall nearby, and Emil had given me directions on how to get there. Well… either he was testing me (again) to see if I was tough enough to survive it, or I must have gone wrong somewhere. 😅 Or, in other words, never go alone into a Swedish forest where you don't know your way around… You won't find many proper paths there, like we have back in the Czech Republic. We fought our way through thickets of raspberries, marshy ground, and rocks; we crawled under an electric fence for cows twice – who then stared at us, wondering what on earth we were doing in their paddock – and I'd probably be better off forgetting the rest. We eventually found our way to the waterfall (which had no water in it 🤯) with the help of mapy.com, and then headed in a safer direction towards a proper path and back to the farm along the road. There's hardly any traffic here, so walking along the road with the dog is absolutely fine.

However, I'm really curious to see which way Emil and I will go next time in the forest, because I want him to take us along that route of his where 'you can't get lost'. 😂

In any case, the forest there is wild and beautiful! It's just a good idea to have at least a rough idea of which way to go…

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY

The weather improved on Saturday, so I carried on weeding the 'hellish' bed and finally finished it. In the afternoon and on Sunday, I carried on with the carrot patch. I also managed to do some laundry, practise slacklining, and stretch my back, as after those two weeks of hard work, it had started to protest a bit.

And, of course, checking the fruit and veg is a must. And just look how well everything's growing here!

Right, and now for the promised revelation. On Wednesday, it really hit me that I'm actually halfway through my stay here on this farm, and it made me feel soooo sad. For some reason, I feel right at home here and I really aren't ready to leave so soon. So a good friend of mine got me thinking with this: "But there's nothing stopping you from staying there longer, is there?" What do you mean? I'm planning to be here next season, but why hadn't I thought of that???

No, as far as I'm concerned, there's really nothing stopping me from staying here a bit longer than originally planned.

And so, one thing led to another with Emil...................... and I'm staying here until the end of this farming season (with a break for my even more Nordic adventure, which starts next week). That means roughly until my birthday at the end of October. But who knows. Things are happening this year that I could already write a whole book about...

Have a lovely time down there in Europe, whilst I'm up here in the north toughening up my body and mind with hard agricultural work. Peace!✌️

🩵 With enthusiasm and head in the clouds
yours Wild Doe Markét

TIPS AND LINKS

Slacklining in a nutshell