We are Magda and Andy and are the 4th generation of Magda’s family to farm here. Andy comes from Scotland and is a folk musician, with a lot of experience from the restaurant business, tourism and events management. Magda studied agronomy and is passionate about biological diversity and sustainable agriculture.
There has been a farm here for several hundred years and it has always been farmed organically and on a small scale. We do not work full time with the farm and are still in the process of developing some of what we dream of for it. At the moment we have 12 traditional Swedish sheep – Värmländska skogsfår – which help us maintain the pasture lands. These sheep, rather like goats can also eat branches and bushes, so if there is suddenly a drought they can be released into our forest and do not rely on grass.
We also keep a traditional breed of hens called Blommehöns in a bid to keep some of these old heritage varieties – which suit the Nordic climate – continuing.
On a small scale we have been test growing heritage types of wheat, rye and oats with the dream to one day produce such in our fields.
We run a community potato growing concept, where 6 local families all work together – with picnic breaks – growing and harvesting potatoes for the winter.
In our garden we have a large organic vegetable patch where we grow and freeze at least half of the vegetables we eat. Nearby is a berry patch with bushes planted by Magda’s grandparents that provide enough berries for our morning cereal year out. Similarly the apple orchard is used to make apple jam, apple butter and juice.
We own a forest and recently we put 5 hectares of mountain oaks and other broadleaf trees into a government protection of biodiversity scheme, meaning they will never be clear felled. There is a plethora of small birds, colourful mosses, blueberry bushes and sometimes even elks to see in this nearby forest.
Our barn, which is south facing, has solar panels which produce more energy than our guests use every summer. Water on the farm comes from a private well and the quality and taste is spectacular, many of our guests leave with a bottle of it!
We have recently started having team building events and using the Inn as an unusual and fun meeting place. This has been really fun to see companies coming out to the countryside, taking a hike and then cosying up by the fireside and getting to know one another better in the tranquillity of nature.
In 2021 we received EU support for a project which we called “good old future”. The project was to carry out extensive renovation work necessary in order to start a business on the premises and attempt a test pilot café as well as cultural and integration events. During the summer of 2022 we arranged 3 music evenings in the café and 3 social meetups for ‘old’ and ‘new’ Swedes to hang out. The projects aim was to increase integration, access to culture in the countryside and create a sociable, forward thinking meeting place.
We received support from the Europeiska jordbruksfonden för landsbygdsutveckling, LEADER Södra Bohuslän sponsored our project for elements including building materials, electrical instillation and a new sewage system. Läs mer om Europeiska jordbruksfonden för landsbygdsutveckling här: https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries
