Hello from Sweden

[LynneBee]

Hi from an English woman in the frozen land of Sweden. My name is Lynne and I have lived here for 6 years and a 1 year in Norway before. I am on the west side of Sweden the closest anywhere being a small village with one shop 15k's away. The nearest town being 50k's away. which explains why I can't placeme on the map as it has never heard of me in the forest.

I live with my husband The Swede and my dog Balder in a wooden cottage in a pine forest. I have my own water supply via a 500metre deep well and an old well I use for the garden. This is 3000 sq metres and I grow veggies and flowers and many wild flowers . I am also burning my own wood this year and next in the wood burning fire and aga.

I have my own composter for all household waste and I sort out all the plastics metals paper cardboards and glass for all the other waste. I have my own cesspit which gets emptied twice a year and then is taken away to be made into useful dried garden manure.

We are considering getting sun panals for the heating and we have also been looking at an earth exchange heating system, these are emornous outlays and as I am un-employed student and hubby is a sick pensioner it is something we have to wait on.

Well rthis is me and thanks to shirlz for introducing me

[Wombat]

G'Day Lynne and Welcome to the site!

Love the name of the dog!

Sounds like you have apretty nice setup, how many months of the year can you grow stuff in?

Nev

[Millymollymandy]

Hi LynneBee and welcome to Self Suffish. I think you are the third new member in Sweden in the last few weeks!! We have gone from Sweden to Hawaii and back to Sweden. It keeps things interesting on the site!

Do you have loads of snow around you? When does your planting season start?

[LynneBee]

well shall we say that we have at present 1 metre of snow and temps reaching -18 to -20 C at night and maybe -10C in the day time. The growing season is from when the soil heats up about mid May or early June and ends about mid September, I have started of my garlic and peppers before xmas in the house on the window sills, and will be starting the cucumbers and toms shortly, I am going to be buying new black currants and gooseberries, pear tree, cherry tree, black berries and logan berries. As soon as the soil is warm I shall be getting the nephews tractor to clear some old patches and shall have peas, beans, root vegs and salad stuff, I am planning a new raised herb garden. I am lucky as my sister in law has a horse farm so plenty of horse manure for the garden.

For my raised beds I shall be putting in dried cows manure and soil made from the sewage gathered by the local council "slam" service (they have and this is true Shit loader on their lorries)

In the surrounding forest I am lucky in that I have bil berries and lingon berries (these look like bilberries and are used with meatballs and moose meat like cranberry sauce) also I have mushrooms canterells out there and gather those for sauces and soups.

[Andy Hamilton]

Hello LynneBee and welcome. Sounds like you get on ok despite the difficulties that you are faced with. If you do have access to all that manure have you thought of making a hotbed for your plants?

[hedgewizard]

And has naming the dog after a sun god worked? Hi and welcome!

[digger]

Hi LynneBee. Great to have another swedish-brit here (we're a growing group, it appears). It sounds like you're up in the frozen north 8) I'm not far from Jönköping but as we're 350m up, our climate isn't that much different from yours. Now if only the snow would go away so I could get digging.

[LynneBee]

Hi Digger Bullaren which is in Bohusland in-land from Stromstad 50 k's but 7 k's from the southern most tip of Norway vassbottten, I agree get rid of the snow and defrost the land then I am ready for the growing season.

[Millymollymandy]

I guess I should just stop moaning about the fact my daffies haven't opened up yet. I should be grateful I can see them!!!

I do think you guys deserve a medal though for gardening when you have such a short season. I moved to Brittany from the foothills of the Jura mountains/near Geneva because the weather is more extreme with spring arriving very late & lasting about a month before full summer, but it's nothing like you guys have!

[Shirley]

Hiya Lynne

Glad to see you here

[gunners71uk]

hi lynne from sweeeeeden ! pls to meet you

[woolcraft]

Hiya Lynne - welcome to the forum and looking forward to reading your posts. Sue (aka Wooly)

[Libby]

Hiya Lynne

[LynneBee]

Yes hedgewizard but it was one of his other titles for which we named him God of Joy

[hedgewizard]

Nice! A bit excitable is he?