At the weekend I harvested all the Jerusalem Artichokes (jordskokk) at the Væres Venner Community Garden. This was two bike loads with a big rucksack to get home […]
Fruit / Pollinators
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Last berries and pollinators
I thought the berry season was over with the frosts at the end of October, but with the air temperature in November so far above 0c I was […]
Dandelions / Edible flowers / Edientomental / Edimentals
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Swirly Late Dandelion
“WHY IS IT SWIRLY WHEN IT’S LATE?” (MMA, 2020)Probably the last dandelion to flower in the edible garden in 2020! The temperature didn’t drop below +12C last night, […]
Fjord views / Sun
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Fiery skies over a place called Hell
There were crazy fiery skies towards the east where the village of Hell is this morning (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell,_Norway). Sorry, but trouble is brewing! Post Views: 163
Cleaning seed / Seed sAVING / Seed sprouts / Winter vegetables
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Self-sufficient in Cress
One of the easiest seed to save is cress /karse (Lepidium sativum). You can grow a lot of seed in a small space, it dries well on the […]
Berries / Birds
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Blackcap on Elderberries
A female blackcap (munk) feeding on ripe elderberries (svarthyll; Sambucus nigra). With no heavy frosts so far well into November, two flower clusters have appeared on the tree! […]
Perennial vegetables
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Perennial puha, Sonchus kirkii in Malvik #2
In 2017, I was able to grow Sonchus kirkii, the original perennial sow thistle (puha or rauriki), an important traditional vegetable of the Maori which I’d long wanted […]
Edientomental / Edimentals / Perennial vegetables / Root crops
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Scorzonera harvest
This is the harvest of 6 varieties of Scorzonera at our community garden (Væres Venner) last week two years after I sowed seed (I was surprised by an […]
Fungi
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Nut disco: new species for Malvik kommune
A new species of fungi discovered growing on an old wild hazel nut in the garden this week, nut disco (Hymenoscyphus fructigenus), not found earlier in Malvik kommune. […]
Birds
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Bullfinch Nettle Feast
A group of seeding nettles strategically placed in view of a living room window provides a little entertainment in winter ( no, I didn’t plant them, but I […]
Drying / Fungi
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Standing room only!
I’ve already shown that all the windows are full of drying seeds at the moment, now it’s standing room only as the tables and chairs are now full […]
Birds
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Tawny owl in the garden
I’ve only heard tawny owls in the garden a few times over the year, although there are a few breeding pairs in this part of Norway. Last night […]
Heirlooms / Potato / Tubers
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2020 Potato Harvest
Here’s 24 of the 26 potato varieties I grew this year. Many are from the national potato preservation project administered by the Norwegian Seed Savers (KVANN). 10 different […]
Fungi
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Second Winter Chantarelle Haul
The forest has unlimited supplies of winter chanaterelles (traktkantarell) at the moment, so making the most of it and drying as many as we can! They’re now much […]
Cleaning seed / Seed
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Seed Saving
This is what ALL window sills in the home of a seed saver look like in October :)Join KVANN (Norwegian Seed Savers) if you’d like to share this […]
Tubers
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Yacon and Madeira Vine flowering outside
To my surprise, I noticed today that both yacon (Polymnia sonchifolia) and Madeira Vine (Anredera cordifolia) have managed to flower outside in the garden before I bring them […]
Potato / Tubers
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Sarpo Tominia: the 17th harvest
I’ve been growing the blight resistent potato Sarpo Tominia every year since 2004 and it’s still going strong, showing no sign of lack of vigour, continuing in full […]
Birds
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Fieldfare migration
With Covid a long way from being over, I’m wishing I was a bird! We probably won’t be visiting family in the UK this winter and this morning […]
Fruit / Harvest
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Apple Harvest
Due to the really cold May this year, the apple trees (Aroma) tried and tried to flower but seemed to give up. I was surprised nevertheless that some […]
Edientomental / Edimentals / Tubers
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Queen Anne’s Thistle: a multi-purpose ediavientomental*
Two years ago I accidentally dug up one of my Queen Anne’s Thistles (Cirsium canum) and I discovered the tubers were quite like the tuberous thistle (Cirsium tuberosum). […]
Annuals / Biannuals / Edible flowers / Edimentals / Perennials
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Indian summer flowers
There were unusually many plants still flowering in the garden in October this year as we experienced a bit of an Indian summer. We’ve now had our first […]
Foraging / Fungi
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Laying down winter chanterelle supplies
It was a busy weekend picking our winter supplies of winter chantarelles (traktkantarell) in the forest. This abundant species is mycorrhizal, associated in Norway with spruce, usually in […]
Fjord views
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Haze from East Europe
Last night the view over the fjord was so hazy we couldn’t see the mountains on the other side of the fjord despite clear skies otherwise and wondered […]
Fjord views
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Night Train from Bodø
The night train from Bodø passing the house, approaching its destination Trondheim, at 7 am this morning. Post Views: 153