Punch in the face

Another month, another war.The latest conflagration, where the US is trying to bomb a people into submission is sending reverberations throughout the world. The choke point of Hormuz is no joke.

I am sad and disappointed that our world is still so dependent on the daily fix of diesel. I suspect that the pain will increase over the coming months, and that there will be no going back to "normal". However, I have mistakenly thought this many times the last decade, so maybe I will be wrong this time too.

The public discussion over here in Scandinavia has centered on subsidizing the remaining drops of fuel. Different political parties bid over each other on how much of the (lended) government budget they want to distribute to car drivers... Not much is done to curb the craving. I guess that long term thinking has always been a bit boring.

Maybe this is a good time to share an observation regarding public debt that I think I learned from David Graeber. Our government is borrowing heavily instead of increasing taxes on the rich. The consequence is that the rich lend out money to the government (since they are the only ones who have money, in their companies and banks). Every year after, they enjoy a backwards tax - where the government is paying them instead of them paying the government. This trick is neat and almost invisible. Especially in times of contraction, government deficit spending is a shift of burden to the less wealthy, and a long term driver of inequality and demand destruction.

The silver lining of the current storm cloud is that the rising fuel costs and reduced availabiltiy of fossil carbon inevitably leads to lower consumption and less green house gas emissions. Involuntarily, it seems, the US regime are the most effective climate actioneers this year.

Nut trees

Hazel propagation

When our mother-hazel bushes are dormant, any time is a good time to dig out the rooted shoots and replant them in beds. To see the other part of the process, look at the https://framtidskultur.se/tfp/2024-07-28-harvest-season-is-here.html.

Since last July, the hazel bushes have been growing with a collar filled with sand and biochar

I dig out the sand to expose the shoots and make it possible to break off (or cut off) the rooted shoots.

Removing the sand to expose the roots and the base of the shoots.

The shoots that have rooted well are replanted, and at the same time I cut off the tops, to keep each shoot approx 20-30 cm, or to remove most of the buds. The objective is to have a good root-leaf balance.

Some shoots root well, others not so well.

Some shoots root well.

When the trees are allowed to grow out for six years or so, they will start to produce the most delicious hazelnuts.

Hazelnut tree at my parents' place - here with my mom.

Chestnut development

We run a long term project to develop a population of cold-hardy and easy-to-peel chestnuts, with a test plot in Sinarpsdalen. This winter we have been removing some other trees to make space for more chestnut seedlings.

Last month we had help to cut down some trees, but we had not been able to remove all the branches before snowfall, so after snow melt we could get going again.

Lots of branches to remove and quite some firewood too.

Some branches were cut up and piled into a twig wall.

Some of the happy tree workers.

The wall of twigs will be home for many insects and maybe some birds.

This winter, we have had more guests than before, so we will have to consider putting up more fences, or using a better protection for the trees.

Deer bite on one of the chestnut trees.

The deer help with fertilization. At least something good.

Our tree sales have been good this year. Our biggest customer is Olof, who picked up 50x chestnut trees of various varieties for his farm, one hour drive north from here. Last year he bought 30x.

Olof picked up 50 chestnut trees this year.

Walnuts from Iran

Some good news related to Iran is welcome in these troubling times.

Thirteen years ago, the Iranian researcher dr. Sameri at the Swedish agricultural university SLU brought in a shipment of walnut trees in a project. A dozen of these trees ended up at his friend Gunnar's place and there they have grown and started to deliver nuts.

Gunnar invited me to come and look at the walnut trees, and I was curious to see how they were doing. Gunnar lives inland and north of Stockholm, in the Uppland province, not far from a large lake. The lake helps to stabilize the climate, but nevertheless it is quite a northern latitude. Much to my surprise, some of the trees were absolutely thriving!

Some were really growing well, with last years' shoots around 80cm long. Some other trees grew slower. It is hard to tell how much of this is genetics and how much is planting location. Gunnar's garden is rocky and sloping, so the soil conditions vary a lot from place to place.

Last fall, Gunnar harvested more than ten kilo walnuts from the trees, and I think that the harvest will increase with every coming year.

We walked through the rain, checking out all the walnut trees.

The walnuts were cleaned and dried, and are now eaten every day in their family.

The walnuts are very easy to crack and delicious.

Gunnar sometimes opens the walnuts with a short-bladed knife.

It was great to visit Gunnar's place for many reasons. He is an interesting man with many talents and interests. It was probably the first time in my life that I saw floor boards that were 10+ meter long. Each floor board is cut trapezoidal, to follow the shape of the log, and afterwards tongue and grooved. This workshop will look amazing when it is finished.

10+ meter long floor boards. Looks amazing.

Chestnut dessert

I love chestnut trees and chestnut food. This week, I went to Stockholm to give lectures on nut trees on the Nordic Garden Trade Fair, and to help my colleague and friend Erik to sell nut trees. Erik grew up in Switzerland, where they make the dessert called "vermicelli" (worms) from mashed chestnuts, meringe and whipped cream.

Erik extrudes the chesnut purée.

Delicious!

A day at the trade fair, spreading nut trees into the world.

I also had the opportunity to visit some other tree growing friends in Göteborg - Anne and Marcial. At their co-housing place, there is a seven year old chinese chestnut (Castanea mollissima) tree, that is soon to start flowering and hopefully soon to give chestnuts. I think that this species in the chestnut family is one of the best for cooking. However, many of the seedlings that we have planted out have not been cold-hardy enough and died in the winters. This one seems to have strong genetics!

Chinese chestnut tree in Göteborg.

Veggies and Fruit

Now is a great time of the year, when the tomato and chili starts are happy and green, despite the cold spring.

Tomatoes, chilis and sweet peppers. One more month before planting out.

I accidentally dug out a string of groundnuts (Apios americana) and saw that they are sprouting. I had never seen this before, but now I know how the strings get longer and longer.

Groundnut sprouting.

Friends

Last summer I met Rick, a dutch guy who lives in Norway. He came by on a nut tree nursery roadtrip in northern Europe together with Benedicte. They helped me to do some much needed weeding, when my back was sore from overuse. We talked the whole day about nut tree growing and our experiences of different techniques.

Rick worked hard to help weed the hazel field.

Benedicte will also grow nut trees in Norway.