Never Boring | Aldrig Tråkigt

My last week on the farm before my next Nordic adventure is behind me. Well, I'm not actually leaving until Tuesday afternoon, but that one (and maybe half) day can hardly count as another week on the farm. 🤪

MONDAY

We kicked off the week, as usual, with some weeding. The carrot patch, which had more weeds than carrots, was a real workout. And it was about 14°C, too. I do like these temperatures, but it was still a bit of a shock after that heatwave. 😆

This afternoon we started preparing for another polytunnel on the site of that terribly overgrown bed we weeded last week. But building something like this from scratch is a really great experience. We hammered the steel bars, joined in a cross, into the ground (which we ended up doing about three times to make sure everything lined up properly) and fitted large metal hoops onto them. We left the rest of the work until the end of the week. 

And, of course, we also discussed my extended stay in more detail. Now, a week on, as I'm writing this, it feels like the most natural thing in the world that I'm staying here. It's as if I've been living here on the farm for three months rather than three weeks. Yet exactly a week ago, I was still secretly hoping they'd even want to keep me here… 🙏😇

TUESDAY

It rained on Tuesday, so we spent the whole morning in the greenhouse. Emil was winding and tying up the cucumber vines, whilst I was making plant pots out of newspaper for coriander and basil for customers who regularly order vegetables from us. I really enjoy this sort of 'crafting' (for those who don't play video games, 'crafting' means making something by hand from available raw materials and supplies). And by the time I'd made those 100 pieces, I'd really perfected the process. 😁

After lunch, we went grocery shopping at the supermarket in Hässleholm. It was only my second time there since I'd arrived, as I'd run out of some things. In the meantime, whenever I needed anything, Emil or Kerstin would always bring it round for me. As it was still raining and Emil had unexpectedly had to go on a shift at his second job (which he does mainly in winter, when it's not the growing season), I had the afternoon to myself. I spent part of it organising the caravan, as I'll be staying here for another three months. After that, I can't even remember what I was doing, but I definitely know that, out of the blue, at 16°C, a storm blew up with such strong winds that it nearly blew me away, caravan and all. And ten minutes later, the sun was shining. I love these sudden changes in the weather… ⛈️☀️

h, and I got one of the dried bouquets from last year that Kerstin makes. 🩵

WEDNESDAY

On Wednesday, we carried out our regular harvest – this time we harvested summer cabbage, pointed cabbage, carrots, fava beans, garlic snakes, onions, shallots, Roscoff onions, and parsley.

Over lunch, the conversation turned to the fact that I'm thinking of buying a campervan so that I might even be able to live in it here next season. It would help them here, as another WWOOFer (volunteer) could stay in the caravan I'm currently staying in. And I'd have my own bathroom and kitchen again. So we had a look at some adverts, and ever since then I've been peeking into people's gardens to see if they've got a van like that for sale, because it's quite a common 'commodity' round here. 😂

In the afternoon, we prepared another bed for onions, and in the evening we headed to the 'REKO-ring' – something we don't have in the Czech Republic. But unlike Sweden, Czechia is not really a country that's big on community initiatives. It's about small farmers meeting regularly in car parks in towns, where customers pop along for an hour or so to collect what they've pre-ordered via a Facebook group. You simply turn up, open your boot, and people come up to you with a smile to collect their veg and eggs. The atmosphere there is absolutely brilliant and, for me, a great opportunity to have at least some basic conversation in Swedish. 😅🇸🇪

That evening, I cooked a one-pot dinner (because that's all I've got 🤣). I really enjoy coming up with ways to make 'a lot' out of 'a little' here. But more on that another time… I've already got an article slowly taking shape in my head, though it'll be a bit more personal and philosophical.

THURSDAY

On Thursday morning, we harvested the rest of the vegetables – lettuces, dill, chard, and sugar snaps. We packed everything into bags and off we went to deliver them to our customers. Whilst Emil was delivering the vegetables, I planted another bed of onions and prepared a bed for sunflowers, which we then planted together. After a swim in the lake (I simply love it there – and just imagine what I'll say about the lakes further north) and dinner with the family, we set about the final preparations for the new polytunnel so that we could stretch the plastic sheeting and finish it off in the morning when there was no wind. (Because you really don't want to do this in the wind, which blows almost constantly here, except in the early mornings and late evenings.)

To round things off, we went for a walk with the dogs, during which Aron finally started making friends with the owners' dog, Bosse. Bosse is a three-year-old Danish-Swedish farm dog full of energy, which Aron was rather sceptical about given his age and his previous experiences with aggressive dogs. But since then, he's often been the one to provoke his new friend and wants to play with him. It's a joy to watch. 🐶🩷

FRIDAY

On Friday morning, we moved the chickens and, most importantly, finished the polytunnel – we stretched out the plastic sheeting and then tied it down. Straight after that, we were finally able to plant the eggplants. The poor things were already looking a bit 'sad' – i.e. wilted.

As the last few days have been really tough, I took the afternoon off. I finally got to reading in the hammock. I've borrowed a children's book by Astrid Lindgren in Swedish called 'Bröderna Lejonhärta' ('The Lionheart Brothers'). Kids here are probably more used to this sort of thing, but if someone had read this to me when I was little, I'd probably be traumatised by it. 🙈 So far, I've 'read' two chapters and cried through both of them, because it's such a terribly sad read. 🥹 But Kerstin said the same thing – that it's quite dark for a children's book. So, to lift my spirits, I read another chapter of Tolkien's 'Silmarillion'. Then it was time to plan my journey even further north, whilst Aron played with Boss in 'our' yard under the maple tree.

This road trip is going to be absolutely brilliant!!! 🤩

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY

On Saturday morning, I tidied up the caravan, and at midday we set off for the lake, as the swimming school's closing ceremony was taking place there – Idun and Vidar (Emil and Kerstin's children) had been attending every weekday morning for the past three weeks. The ceremony was lovely. Another community event ticked off. What's more, for 'lunch' I wolfed down loads of sweets that the children's parents had baked or bought themselves. At this rate, I'll soon be as big as Otesánek (Czech fairytale character) – I've already put on two kilos. 😁 Except that it's probably all turning into muscle, because working on the farm is really hard graft. 💪

Later that afternoon, we started preparing to repair the facade on one side of the house. So the three of us divided up the tasks and got down to work – scraping off the old paint, removing rotten boards, washing the facade, and oiling the new boards. In the meantime, we popped out to have a BBQ dinner and had a few goes at slacklining (see one of the previous articles), and then we carried on. We rounded off the day with a walk with the dogs. 

On Sunday, we carried on with the repairs and actually started painting the facade. During the day, I spoke to a few people who might, in theory, come and visit me (though nothing's been finalised yet 😅). If you're 'in the area' or would like to plan a visit, do let me know. 😎

That evening, I finally got to the point where Emil showed me which way I should actually go for a walk through the woods so it wouldn't be a life-or-death situation. Apart from laughing at myself, I was also convinced that walking through the woods here is a proper punk experience – it was a truly amazing walk, during which we even spotted some chanterelles! 🦊 (fox emoticon because we call these mushrooms 'liška' in Czech which also means 'a fox') 🍄‍🟫 I haven't seen any of these in the Czech Republic for about 20 years.

MONDAY

On my last day on the farm before heading north, I really enjoyed doing some proper farm work. We broke off the maize suckers, sowed carrots in a brilliant way using a really cool seeder tool, and after lunch, we weeded a massive carrot bed whilst listening to an interesting history podcast in English.

(For our second breakfast, we had chanterelles we'd picked the day before. A 'foodgasm' (for those in the dark – it was reeeally good!) if ever there was one.)

In the evening, I went to collect the cooling box that we'd left behind at the birthday party two weeks ago, and I popped into the supermarket to do some grocery shopping and fill up with petrol, so that I'd be fully prepared to set off the next day.

TUESDAY

The last bit of help Emil received before I left was with moving the chicken coop, and since then, I've just been packing and finishing this blog post.

You can look forward to my next update from another part of Sweden, though it might not be for a week or more, as I've absolutely no idea how it's all going to pan out. 😆 I've got a rough plan of where to stop, but apart from the event in Sollefteå at Jonna's shop, I've got absolutely no plans and will decide where to stay purely on a whim… for some people that might be a bit 'punk', but for me it's total freedom. 🐦‍🔥 But there'll be lakes, there'll be forests, and there'll be mountains. And hopefully all without any bears… 🤣🐻

So I'll say goodbye for now, and if you want to be sure you'll get at least some updates, follow me on Instagram, as I think I'll be able to post more regularly there.

Hugs and kisses 🐾😘
Markét