Garden tour, Permaculture

Visiting the Koster Islands

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Really looking forward to visiting the beautiful tranquil Koster Islands again at the end of April and Helena von Bothmer‘s permaculture centre and gardens there.  See the following FB event:  https://www.facebook.com/events/1567806430183747

Here are a few pictures from my last trip two years ago, just for a visit…
More about the Koster Islands here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koster_Islands

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North Koster

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The unmanned ferry between North and South Koster

 

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The local “talent”… checking that her husband’s not on his way back from fishing?
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Wild Apple in flower?

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Our stop on the Strømstad to Koster ferry
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The Early Purple Orchids (Orchis mascula) were beautiful! There are several species of orchid on the islands.
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Primula veris / Cowslip / Marinøkleblom in flower
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Blackthorn / Slåpetorn
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Bohuslän-Dals svarthöna, an old race that were apparently brought to Sweden from Mozambique in the 1600s (http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohuslän-Dals_svarthöna )
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Magnificent fig / fiken
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Figs / Fiken
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Rotekte..comes true from shoots
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Galinsoga parviflora is edible although I’ve yet to try it
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Wonderful site of many edible annual opportunistic plants (aka weeds) “intercropped” with squash….increasing the total yield significantly
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Helena von Bothmer amongst the perennials sales plants…
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Planting parsley on a raised bed; notice the luxurious crop of ground elder / Skvallerkål / Kirskål ready to harvest on the right
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Beautiful pond…..Helena has plans to develop an area of marginal edible water plants!
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Medlar / Ekte Mispel with masses of flower buds, this will be beautiful in a couple of weeks..
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Lonicera edulis / Haskap / Blåleddved in the new Forest Garden
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Lisbeth Svendsen from Hvaler explains a method to protect tree roots against voles / jordrotter
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Typha, the supermarket of the swamps!!
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Bocking 14 Comfrey / Valurt…I visited the Bocking research grounds (HDRA) in Essex, England in 1979!!
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Wool mulch!!
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Excellent large greenhouse for producing food for the restaurant!!
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Guldkannan literally means “Gold can” …guess what it’s used to collect ;)
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Helena von Bothmer with Lisbeth Svendsen and daughter Nina from Hvaler…
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Arriving back on the mainland….where I did my first Harryhandel (a slightly derogatory term for trips made by Norwegians over the border to Sweden to buy cheaper food and alcohol….Ours was an Økoharrytur (Organic food is also a lot cheaper and more is available in Sweden).

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4 thoughts on “Visiting the Koster Islands”

  1. I advise you to never bring Galinsoga home if it’s not already there. It’s the most invasive weed I’ve seen so far. Only frost can stop it. It has a short growing cycle and quickly takes every place. I wonder if there still are countries where it’s not introduced. A good alternative to nettle soup, nevertheless.

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  2. Thanks, yes, I’ve seen it growing invasively in several places over the last year. In my area, there are only 3 observations of Galinsoga, all before 1962. I imagine there are some ecological reasons that it hasn’t established…but, yes, I won’t experiment :)

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  3. Indoor sea kale sprouts? What a great way to get a jump on the season! Have you noticed any flavor differences when they’re grown this way?

    Reply

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