The light is back

Yes, finally. At least the light is back, you can really feel it. It is earlier light, at the end of the day it is much longer light and even during daytime it is getting slowly better. The sun is already climbing much more higher as in winter, so the days are less dark and grey. It has been a long time already. We started already 5 months ago. I used a lot of blue energy light to keep the mood upp. Even my plants got some extra help to get healthy through winter.

On the first of Februari it is Imbolc, the celebration day of the Celts. It is the moment the light is coming back. The godess Birgit stood symbol for the party of light. The sun is coming back and days getting longer for half a year. The Celts lived very close with nature, in the rythm of nature, mostly agricultural. They followed the sun and marked the time of year on a wooden stick. This is was also a to do list. What jobs to do in which season. In winter season (where the days are shorter as the nights), what started beginning of november with the Festival of the light called Samhain, it was mostly keeping busy with handcrafts and slowing down a little. Reload for the activities next half year. The new season started end of April. It is still celebrated in Sweden, being the celebration of the spring. It is called Valborgsafton in Sweden (also known as Walpurgisnacht in Germany). 

Photo de Charlie Sivlér sur Unsplash

Climate wise it is a very short season for gardening in Scandinavia. When you are lucky you can start early in spring but it can be frosty till the beginning of June. I remember a holiday time in the Norwegian mountains. In June the animals and plants come out of winter and have only three months to flower, set seeds as a guaranty for next generation. End of August there can be snow and frost again. 

In The Netherlands they have a much longer season. Of course situated more South and having a sea climate, a big difference. With a little luck you can start in your garden in March and the forst can come till half of May. Here in Sweden we have a land climate. That means it takes longer to wake up because the earth takes longer to warm as sea. 

This season it nearly hasn't been winter att all. Second time, like last year. It's still like having a very long autumn. Suddenly we got a surprise, one week with coldness and snow. We could even have a walk on the lake. We heard the typical sound of the ice, wonderful to experience. 

But it is a pity, it disappeared as suddenly as it arrived. Next day it was the normal grey and around 4 degrees again. Business as usual again. Hope to see you in spring, whenever it will start. Next step is less grey, more sun and above 5 degrees 🙏. 

See you next time!

Lingonställen Skördetid 31th of August / 1st of September 2024

 

The last chance to visit us this season. Today, Saturday the 31th of August and tomorrow Sunday the 1st of September 2024 (10-15). Please take this opportunity to look around in the late summer garden, enjoy a homemade fika or buy some perennials for next year. I personally baked a very nice apple pecan nut cake with a touch of autumn yesterday. I have still a lot of plants for sale in the plant market. They can already rote and grow before winter so, I'm sure you will have flowers next season. 

It is already two o'clock now, after 4 hours of waiting really nobody showed up today. So I'm very sad and disappointed now. I need to think what to do tomorrow. I don't want to wait for hours anymore. But everything is ready and prepared just now so it doesn't make any difference, it doesn't matter anymore. Can't save any money. So I will go on tomorrow anyway, though it hurts so much. 

It is such a pity. I have been following my heart, finding my soul. I should like like to meet people, share my love and knowledge for gardening, but no one is interested. 

So now - coming autumn time- I really need to think about next season. An open garden with coffee and cakes is not just pushing a button. It is not a pop up store what's always ready, you can open and close spontaneous whenever you want. There is a lot of work behind. To take care of a garden is a fulltime jobb. I takes investments, time and lots of energy. I stayed at home the whole summer to have a garden to visit. But when there is nothing coming back it's not worth it. I need to let it go...

Countdown for winter

Nature rules in a garden. When winter is coming you need to be ready. But you never know before. Last year it was 20th of november, when we got the first snow. So I'm looking at the weather forecast very much right now. It's difficult to say what it is going to be like. Sometimes they say it will be sun or frost, but it always changes. Best is just to open the backdoor and feel what the weather is like. Last weeks I've been trying to do as much as possible when it wasn't raining. It's a pity. I'm close but not ready yet. Of course some jobs are never ending, like the weeds. I need to make priorities now. The frost is coming close now so there are other jobs more important now. All the batteries (like the grasrobot) need to go inside for protection, to keep them running next year. Also the garden furniture is important to get in (or to cover), garden pots to be empty and move some plants who aren't really hardy enough for winter. They will be transported to my friends house in the neighborhood, where the temperature will be kept on 10 degrees. 

I'm so happy I still can see a lot of flowers in the garden. The Asters, the grasses and the Pimpernel are still going strong. Even the Amaranth and Tobacco's are still there, colorful as always.

Last months I've been cutting the grass weekly for many hours. I used the gras to cover and feed the bottom. Also I've been weeding as much as possible, as long as my hands don't get too cold. The time the temperature is above 7 degrees it keeps growing, the roots even longer. So when you try to weed as long as possible you will have less to do in spring. I tried also to reorganize the parts who were growing out of control. Once I started with very small plants who are ready to split now. Sometimes a garden part needs some replanting because they are disturbing each other. It's very wet now so it's easy plantingtime, no need for a lot of watering. Only the midgets and aggressive mosquitoes are still there 😢. 

Recently I started with cleaning the gras from leaves, later I will cover the soil with leaves, to protect the plants for frost. Good for the grass and good for the plants. I even try to keep some less hardy plants outside, with some extra cover. Biggest problem is not always the frost but more the wetness. I saw some plants are starting to go for wintersleep and disappear, so I can't see them anymore (They will be back next year). That's the signal for stopping replanting, the rest is for next year spring. 

Also I have been collecting seeds (in my garden and others gardens) for next years seeding inside. Or preparing plants for winter. Sometimes they need some pruning, some extra chalk, new pots or just to be marked. I planted some perennials in pots, they will be planted in the garden again so they don't freeze. Some annuals I want to save in wintertime to make some cuttings in early spring. Some will stay inside at my place. Some will stay at my friends empty home.

In the end also the new compost is finally nearly ready again, it was a heavy job. The last part is to make it a little deeper but the water is too high right now, so I will make it next spring. We used all the fresh made compost everywhere in the garden to fertilize the ground. We covered the old compost area better. That one is nearly ready to use, good news for next year. You can see that all the plants in the compost area are growing like hell. Even the (too) small potatoes we thew away last year did very well. They gave a very good harvest! 

Last week they came already with the wintermarking. And soon we are ready for winter too (Though we have to change tires first next weeks). We will see when Winter will come in. Would be nice with a real winter, snow from december till Mars with sun and blue skies and after it just spring again 😄.

Don't be afraid, we won't be bored next weeks. We have some plants inside to take care off. My Geraniums are doing quit well, they flower like crazy ones. I have to fall in love with them. I can start making winter decorations and prepare for Christmas Time. It's good to go inside for some weeks, enjoy the warmth at the fireplace and take some rest. 

After that? I can start dreaming and planning for next seasons again...😜

Psst...  Do you know what it was like at this time some years ago? You can take a look here 😍.

Autumn impressions from Småland

After this tropical week here in Småland, we went upp north to Dalarna for some days. It was very cold, we winter already 😳. Back home it's like autumn again. It feels we didn't have summer at all. It can be very friendly sunny, but also very stormy, cold and windy. Don't forget the rain. It has been raining soooo much, the level in the lake is quit high again. 

When you think there is nothing happening at this moment, because the open garden is closed.... You're wrong. It's busy season again. Hands on. It keeps going as long as the weather is ok. That means the daily temperature is above 7 degrees (everything keep growing) and there's no endless rain.

I have the feeling I've been cutting the grass by hand endless. The outside parts and totally in the back of the garden. It takes about 3-4 hours, depending on the highs and wetness. I'm happy I had some help from Herbie (Herman officially). But he's get little older already, sometimes behaving like a crazy old man. That means he's more quick getting out of battery and not finding his home anymore. Or taking his own way sometimes in the opposite direction he needs to go. Or missing the guiding cable continuously so we have to help him getting back home. But we are still happy for working everyday and hope he will keep on moving. 

For now I need to make a totally round in the garden for cleaning up from weeds. When I don't do it before winter it will develop quicker as the "show" plants and it will be more and more difficult to get it away. In the end the weeds will kill the plants. When I have enough time left (and the plants can root before frost is coming in) I can start splitting the plants to make the groups of sorts some bigger. In the end it should be totally filled upp like a painting, where the weeds don't get a chance any more. 

When I started this garden at first I started making places free from weeds because the garden was totally overgrown. After that I started planting with the first plants and find a place where they were doing well. Some plants had to move several times, till you could see they liked it over there. It took a while, because the ground and circumstances are very different in my garden. The back is very acid and wet (special in autumn and winter). The front is sandy, dry and very sunny, special in spring (the plants burn easily). In the middle you will find heavy chalky clay. 

Another jobb I had to do was cutting back the wild raspberries in the back. They liked the rain so much that they started invading the garden in the back, at the compost site. When you only cut them down it will stimulate them to make even more new shoots. So I tried to get them out as far as possible. Around the compost place it was groing like crazy anyway, good food and lot's of water 😅. When I have to run inside for the rain I can organize my seeds which I have been collecting last weeks. They have been drying now and will go inside before frost comes too.

I already moved my two varieties of French Geraniums inside, they don't like the wet weather at all. In Sweden they call it English Pelargon but only because they once got them from England. I think that's the same reason why we call them French. Originally they come from Afrika. But guess what, they start flowering again now. I took some cuttings in early spring, I sold some of them in summer and they are doing so well. The funny thing is, I really like them. But I was a little afraid of buying them: in The Netherlands they say when you are getting old and you only will sitt behind the Geraniums because you start doing nothing anymore. But don't worry, it's the opposite right now. Sometimes I walk 5 km a day while working i'm my garden and I can ensure you, you won't need a gym anymore. Only a yoga session for cooling down the painful muscles 😂. 

Some months ago I told you already. We have been chasing the hare(s) a lot. She was really provocating us. Eating the young plants who just came out, destroying my gladiolas or cutting the all buttons of new flowers build up for this year, even on my terrace. We surrounded the garden with extra chicken-wire twice. We had often extra inspections of all places she could go under the fence and locked it directly. We closed the entry gates extra and made extra fences to protect the vulnerable plants she loved the most. It was really cat and mouse game, driving me crazy. I've been to an enthusiastic garden neighbor lately in the middle of the woods. She didn't have any fence att all, but no problems with hares (only some badgers scraping in the grass) and a garden full of flowers. Even the ones who had been eaten at my place. We couldn't understand why.

During summer something changed. In the end of July a youngster was born again. We were very happy it was outside of our garden, this time.... in our neighbors garden. Maybe this could make the difference? We think so, because they always return to the places they are born.... or she grew too thick and she couldn't manage go under the fence anymore. We didn't see her anymore and didn't find any damage anymore since August. A big relief for now! Let's see what happens next year, I think we have to close the gates before the youngsters are born. For now I hope last week will be the last time of cutting the grass and will go on picking weeds, when the today rain will finish in time....

By the way: we closed the plantmarket at the roadside now for this season (växtloppis är stängt också nu). We like to see you back next spring. 

Closed for the season

 

The season to visit the garden is finished now, no more opening times this year. Time to get out all the sunscreens and furniture and start preparing the garden for winter. I'm happy a lot of flowers are still showing their best, even when heavy rains are falling down. But you can imagine they would be more beautiful in the sun without storm and rain. 

The annuals who totally broke down...

This week it was suddenly very stormy at night, with heavy windcasts. Totally unexpected. Many flowers were broken brutally and some plants got a severe damage. The tomatoes started rotting after all this rain and the round we made out of annuals was totally destroyed. That's why we already started cleaning up all stuff. So we have been busy already when it's dry outside. And what about the gras, it is growing soooo fast 😲... It feels like I can keep on going cutting the gras. When I'm finished at one side I can start at the other side.....

Never the less we hope to see you back next year. There will be Tusenträdgården (a thousand open garden event in Sweden) again (beginning of July), of course the Land Open garden (half of July) and the Lingonställen Västra Småland (beginning of June and September). 

For now we like to thank you for your interest and visits this season. I hope you will keep following our garden adventures on the countryside, even in wintertime. It can be fun too 😊.

PS: Beside of that, I've got new information about the lady who lived here for a long time. She was really very special. I will tell about her later (when my gardenjobs are done). See you back soon!

Extra open garden 9 & 10th of September 2023

 

Suddenly some short summer again 😎, not as warm as The Netherlands of course....but at least the sun is shining and we see some blue skies again. Today we reached even 27 degrees. Very nice, because  soon it's Christmas again 😂.

So we decided to open up the garden again for this weekend. The garden is still in good shape and showing late summer flowers and the waterlevel went down a little again (enough to make walking around possible without wet feet). I've been baking today to have some fresh cakes with special tastes to serve tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to meet you soon 😊

Brün

PS: Take your chance to visit the garden now, it's the last opening this summer season. 

The Warmth of Autumn

Lots of tomatoes, even more appels and beautiful swamps on every corner of the street. All are so colorful and tasty. I already made a box with pickled tomatoes for winter, just to have aside of a meal. The rest of the tomatoes are (cut in peaces) in the fridge. I still need to make some apple juice with ginger on a rainy day soon. I already cooked some cantharellen, fresh picked from the woods. It's time to harvest 😀.

We saw the cranes leaving, with hundreds at the same time, special last weekend of september. How do they know what time they have to leave? They always leave with blue skies and little wind from the north west. It makes me wonder about natures strength and knowledge. But it always makes me little sad. But saying goodbye is always hurting, isn't it? I'm sure they will be back in march next year. 

The moose yacht already started here, we see the people wearing their orange suits and we hear the dogs barking early in the morning. And the leafs, they started falling now. In only two weeks it changed from friendly September weather (it can be soft and friendly with some sun and very wet at night - very well for the growing of plants or the preparing for winter) to more challenging October weather (less light, a lot of unexpected heavy rainshowers, sometimes a little sun and much more cold special at nights). Just like autumn. 

In this time of year you can't really make the planning ourselves, nature does. The frost, snow or coldness will come whenever they want. The best is to be prepared in time and take it easy later. The most important jobs (like collecting the seeds, move plants inside for winter, take away the annuals, storing the grasrobot, close the outside running water in time and cover the outside furniture) we fixed it in time, before the frost comes in. By the way, in a garden like this there is always something to do. Specially when you want to take care of your garden. Some jobs (or plans) are left - till next spring. It doesn't mean we don't do anything anymore outside, but it's depending on the weather. Some jobs you can do in wintertime too, except sowing, moving and planting.

So we started cutting the hedge between our neighbors. About 65 pine trees, sawing, cutting small and take away. We did it together with the neighbors. It was a hell of a job for us. We worked a long weekend together to get it away. Same time it was very cosy, with some outside coffee, grilled sausages and a beer in the end. And of course some painful muscles next days but also much more light in our house haha. Now we have to make a fence around the garden next weeks, because also the deer already found the delicatessen in the garden, they didn't come in last months because of the fence. 

The last annuals will go down now (I'm happy I collected the seeds for next year), the first frosty night was already here, it was minus 3 at night last week. The result was a beautiful view at the lakeside in the morning. Enjoy the view below 😉.

Do you need some to tips for your garden? Have a look here. You have still some days to fix it before wintertime is starting. 

 

September moods

Don't you think it's to early to think about autumn? For me it is, I really need some more time to prepare for wintertime.

But you can feel the autumn coming anyway... The appels were ready to harvest, both the yellow as the red ones. The ferns are starting to get brown (I still hope I can make a wreath out of it) , the beech is starting to get yellow leaves (but they don't fall down yet) and we've got a lot of flowers still around us. The moose is bellowing around all night, in the woods around us. Their calendar is telling them, it's time to mate again...They are very close this year, the moose is already been spotted twice by our neighbour just in the back of their house. Peter went out walking, just before sundown, he heart them very close to him (it's a pity he couldn't see). Maybe they were just laughing about Peter 😂. 

From gardening perspective, even in this part of Sweden we have a long winter, nearly 5 months, från november till april. It can be frosty and snowy, plants mostly don't like it and will wait for better times.  The rest of the year it feels like June or September weather, with some hot summer days in between, mostly in July - this year also in August. We were lucky, last weeks (end of August / beginning of September). We had very good summer weeks, blue skies, no wind att all, not too cold and not too warm. Very good for me because I need to collect some more sun and energy for autumn time, it can be dark, grey and misty last months of the year. But of course, I realize, we also need some rain for nature and ourselves, because the lake and the drinkwaterlevel in Sweden is very low. We tried successfully to save some water for watering the plants with the rain barrel. It works perfect as long as we get some rain sometimes. 

Last week I managed to paint and prepare some outside windows, before it's getting too wet for painting. We have still some windows to fix. Beside of that we still have some jobs in the garden before winter. As long as it will be 8 degrees or more I have to fight the growing of the weeds, the more I can take away the less work in spring. I need to change places of some of the plants and collect seeds for next year of course. Some plants need to go inside before frost. Some parts of the garden needs some extra compost (cut gras and home made compost) for better flowering next year. We have to cover the furniture as well before it gets to wet and put some things inside. But for now we still hope for some sunny days in September/Oktober. Maybe we will have a sort of Britt Sommar? When it stays a little sunny with some rain we maybe can find some Chantarelles?

And last but not least? Maybe the best of all jobs? Be creative and making new plans for autumn and winter ... And maybe then after that all, I'm ready for autumn 😜.

See you!

Seen recently....

Busy & Planning

 

Just now we have some others things to do. We had some visitors from the Netherlands and we are busy with all jobs you need to fix before wintertime. Like painting the house, weed weeding, seeding, maintaining the garden and preparing the garden for winter. Beside of that we are making plans for the future and reflecting about last season. Maybe there will be an opening around Advent, we will see later. You will hear as soon as possible, of course.

About gardening the mind

Often people think a garden is just about another extra job, that needs to be done...

For me it is about taking care of something. To give and get a lot of energy back. To enjoy the happiness when you see a new flower suddenly or succeed to create a beautiful area together with nature. The garden often makes me smile and feel balanced. There is no need to go to the gym, because I train a lot while gardening and I walk at least 0,3 miles a day. It is my hobby, my talent and my interest. It is also a way to calm down, to clean my mind from too much incentives. It really gets you down to earth again. I bought a new book which explains it, "The well gardened mind" Sue Stuart Smith wrote it, very inspiring. She is so right. Thank you for writing. 

So before more and more people get out of balance or a burn out, because they are running always, chasing the money or more unimportant....

Just get out of your head now, wonder what is happening around you without any money any pressure or challenge. Take a rest. Start to slow down for a while and start gardening again like we did in former days and feel the balance again. Think about it, good luck💚!

Autumn Time in Sjöbygget Garden Småland

 

Some work to do next weeks... About 60 wheelbarrows with leaves to carry away? For now it's still looking nice, when the sun is there you can feel the yellow color warm your eyes and body. But when we leave the leaves like this, the lawn will disappear totally in one winter. I think the owners before just left it for years so all the grass was gone we we arrived. Now we have been trying to create more green around the trees successfully, but you really need to take away the leafs every year. The positive parts? I will stay fit without an boring inside gym and we make some extra nature compost out of the leafs by conserving them in my backyard. 

Just before the first forst came (last week), the Morning Glory plant (Ipomea) was still flowering overwhelming. They had a very difficult start after sowing because it was to dry to grow, even with watering the seeds and the small plants. After a lot of rain late summer they started growing very quick and overtake the time they had lost before, because they are annuals. Next year I will have more....

Since they cut down a lot of trees in our backyard in spring, we are still celebrating the extra light we have got. Special in late summer and autumn it was already very dark in the garden. And now? We still have sun evening time in the house, even when the sun goes down more early. We are still very happy with the light, it's like a present. 

Other late flowering plants in my garden right now are the Heleniums and the Asters. These weeks we are fixing some of the the last garden jobs (like weeding and grass cutting), before temperatures are getting under 7 degrees. At that time the plants stop growing, at the same time it will get to cold for your hands to work in the soil. There are some other jobs you still can fix, like carrying wheel barrows, composting or pruning. So we will go on working outside for some weeks (if the weather is ok), while the robot has already started the winterstop and his parked inside (to take care of the battery). 

Only some weeks left for the gardening season. I have to prepare to go inside now. In 9 weeks it's Christmas Time. Nearly time to go inside...