Being back in Sweden after 20 years living abroad, I notice some things that have improved and others that have degenerated or decayed. One of the disappointments flew in my face when I biked off to buy beer.
I realized that almost all beer in my local supermarket …
read moreTo grow healthy trees, it is good to remove rhizomatic weeds like quack grass before planting. I tried the method of "tarping". In September, I put large plastic sheets to cover blocks of the newly fertilized and tilled field. The plan was to solarize (block sunshine) the soil …
read moreNow that the days are getting shorter and Nature is slowing down, trees are losing their leaves and go into winter rest. The trees suck nitrogen from their leaves, and shed the empty hulls. All the nutrients are stored in the roots and in the …
read moreSometimes, I wonder how a pathway to a better life after the ecological transition will look like. I dream about the "RetroSuburbia" world that Holmgren has depicted. I fantasize about the "Local Futures" of Helena Norberg-Hodge. And sometimes I see a fragment of a better future, that has …
read moreI love trees. And I also love wood-chips. Is there a contradiction here, maybe? Wood chips are excellent soil improvement agents, and can be used to cover soil and strengthen soil life. Especially chips made from "ramial wood" is supposed to be excellent. At least according to the …
read moreLast week we had the first frosty mornings and we just shifted from daylight savings time back to solar time. I hope this is the last time.
It seemed like a good idea in 1980, when it was introduced. It was done on the back end of the second …
read moreI moved out of this country 20 years ago and now I am back. Sometimes, it feels like time has stopped here in the countryside. Especially on a cold autumn morning with the first frost of the year:
We are here, my wife M and …
read moreOne of the great things this summer and early autumn has been to taste new apple varieties. Not in any kind of shop or orchard, but along the old roads and railways in the neighbourhood. There are apple trees every kilometer or so, full of summer-ripe fruit …
read moreLast week-end I took a walk in the woods with my old mates David and Linus. We walked for two days on a trail that runs along the southern edge of my municipality.
My municipality Laholm is approximately of the same size as the province …
read moreharrowing /ˈharəʊɪŋ/ adjective - acutely distressing.
These are times that rip through the fabric of the illusion of normality. What we knew in the past is no longer true. New realities will congeal, but I think that we are not yet there. We are stuck in several dilemmas.
Families …
read moreAs a world economy, we are addicted to fossil fuels, of which we are running short. Not to talk about the climate chaos. The 50 years anniversary of the "Limits to Growth" this year has sadly been a celebration of stupidity. We (globally) have tracked the "business-as-usual" scenario …
read moreWe are starting up our new nut tree nursery here in South-West Sweden and the two most common questions are:
Can I really grow chestnut and walnut trees here?
When can I buy one?
... since we obviously answer the first one affirmative.
The chestnut and walnut …
read moreI love trees.
Trees are fountains of life, as Akiva Silver sometimes writes(Trees of Power,2019). They transform two-dimensional, flat landscapes into lush, richly textured ecosystems brimming with life.
Trees come in all shapes and colors, quick growing pioneers and slow maturing climax species. Trees with fragrant flowers. Trees …
read moreWe have the warmest summer in years, and almost every day we can work outside. We fixed the gutters and got a dehumidifier into the too-humid basement, ticking off task after task on the ever-growing todo-list.
Every carpentry task is yet another excuse to go and get …
read moreA month in the new house, lots of impressions. We finally found our mailbox, so that we could read up on all the letters and wonderful wish-well cards we got.
We live just south of a small town. It was a medieval center of …
read moreNow we are here. After years of preparation, dreaming, false starts and new ideas. We bought our own farmlet where we have space to expand all our activities. Tree plantings. Non violent communication-trainings. Cooking and eating with friends and family. Vegetable garden. Maybe one day a root cellar.
I …
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