Organic Summit 2025

Sometimes, I try to understand the political situation in Europe, in Sweden and in our small town Laholm. It is not easy. The political positionsing seems weakly connected to the reality that I observe. I look and learn and every time my expectations are slightly reduced.

This month, I had the opportunity to join the "Organic Summit 2025", organized by the Danish government, now that Denmark is chairing the EU. The objective was ostensibly to work out a manifesto to enable the shift towards 25% organic agriculture by 2030, as the official goal of the European Union is.

Since the current area of certified growing is approx 12%, and grows with approx. 1% unit per year. The challenge is immense and I thought that this could be two days of interesting, thought-provoking and potentially controversial discussions. I was wondering - what could make thousands of farmers change over to pesticide-free farming? Who would spearhead this change? Which countries would take the lead?

The backdrop here in Sweden is that organic farming is shrinking, already for five years in a row. (Our nut tree nursery is a minuscule part of the organic certified area in Sweden...)

There are many reasons to promote organic practices. For me, the main driver is to reduce the toxic mess and stop the over-fertilization of the rivers and the sea. We destroy the very ecosystems on which we depend. Organic farming would be a step in the right direction.

Herbicided potatoes, on the way to town from our place. The leaves are killed to simplify harvest.

I came in the morning to Copenhagen and biked down to the epicenter of political power, next to the Parliament, known as Borgen. As a statement, I came to the meeting wearing a new t-shirt, with a nut-promoting message on both front and back. Nobody would miss that we now grow nuts in Sweden. ;)

Anticipation was bubbling, and I was eager to hear the proposals in the upcoming discussions.

The political power center of Europe the coming six months.

The very first panel discussion at the prestigious conference venue set the tone: "It will be hard.", said the farmers' union representative. "It will be expensive", said the retailers' man. "It can't be done", said the researcher, "maybe to 2045, but not to 2030". "Ok." said the moderator. I almost fell off the chair, but fortunately, the satin plush seat held me in place. Nobody else reacted, it seemed, or they were already jaded by the experiences from previous conferences.

The rest of the two days meetings were nice presentations about good examples of organic farmers, public meals, retailers, food processors and distributors.

But no discussion about how to reach the goal.

The organizers had already prepared a "charter" document beforehand that said nothing. It is available to read here.

Some of the presentations were informative and inspiring, so the meeting was not a complete waste of time.

Public meals in Copenhagen are 90% organic. 110,000 meals daily.

There were also some nice people at the summit who shared their personal stories. Some of which I had just had email or telephone contact with before.

I also got to meet some great people, like my hero Gunnar Rundgren.

Nuts

We keep growing nut trees. Organic nut trees. ;)

The chestnut scions growing in the tunnel grow too fast in their second year, so I had to cut them back.

Scion wood growing for grafting next season. Some scions are far too thick. Next year outside, I think.

The trees grow well this year, especially the walnuts, but also the hazelnut bushes look good. I am almost up to speed with weeding this year. Much better than last year. It feel so good to having the nursery looking better and better.

Hazelnut bushes in neat rows.

We also organized a trip to Denmark to visit a chestnut and a walnut grower. I met with them a year ago, and it was good to come back to see what it looks like just before the harvest season. The trees were full of nuts, so I think the harvest will be amazing.

New trees growing at Hesle Nygaard

We also keep cooking more and more dishes with nuts. The hazelnut burgers are really good. The recipe is based on the classic Cranks' nut loaf recipe.

Old bread, hazelnuts and stock make perfect patties.

Farm life

Our hens are now allowed to roam for a few hours before bedtime whenever we are at home. They seem to enjoy the bug life.

Happy hens walking about. Like Pettson?

The tunnel centers are good for tomatoes and cucumbers. We have six tomato varieties that are all good in a different way.

The tomatoes are in full production.

We are preserving food for the winter, and the drier is happy to assist. Dried tomatoes are excellent as snacks, an as additions to soups and stews. They keep for years.

A bowl of cherry tomatoes is cut in quarters and loaded onto trays.

A couple of days later, they are dry and hard and ready to stow away for darker days.

Not much volume, but a lot of flavour

M. found a note that we had been collecting wild plums in August last year, so we set out to the same place and found plenty of plums to eat and to cook jam.

Plenty of plums.

Friends

We have been fortunate to spend quite some time with friends this summer, and I hope it will continue into the fall.

A month later, we checked on the minikiwi - still not ripe.

My old friend Vince came over from the Netherlands to spend a couple of days. He helped out with cleaning and painting our white fence in the front. We use the Ottoson lineseed oil paints, made of mainly edible ingredients. It will be interesting to see how long it will last.

Pressure spraying the algae before cleaning and painting.

Our friend Tina organized a jam session in our party barn, and we met a handful of new local friends. Talented musicians who live just a few kilometers away, whom we had not yet met. Some people are great at connecting people, and Tina is one of them.

Jam session in the barn.

We also joined a protest sit-in to re-kindle some interest in climate action. I am not sure that it helps much, but at least it was good to meet some other citizens who care. The more evident the climate chaos is becoming, the harder some people close their eyes and ears. As in previous crises, most people will shrug and carry on until their ordinary life is no longer possible.

Rebel moms sharing their anger and concern.