September 10, 2013

Finns do have gardens!

It has taken three weeks but I have finally found a Finnish garden! 


We are here visiting my dear friend's Husky farm in Hetta, Finland.... far inside the arctic circle. It takes some extra work to grow veg in this climate. The nights started getting frosty a couple weeks ago.

I have given Anna a hard time for not growing vegetables, as she has so much space on the farm. But I think managing all the volunteers and 120 dogs takes up far more of her time, she does not get to stop working at 6pm like most of us. To be fair, she does have a potato garden this year. We even harvested some baby potatoes and ate them with fondue one night!

Anna's friend Marit sells lettuce and herbs to the local hotels and restaurants in Hetta.  She is also growing loads of potatoes and peas... and successfully attempted squash this year! The green house you see in the background holds tomatoes, but this far North in the arctic it requires supplemental heating, even in their summer. She grows strawberries in pots in her kitchen.

It heartens me that it is possible to grow vegetables this far North. Most of the veg we ate while here in Finnish Lapland was frozen.  Fresh veg is more expensive as it has to be shipped from the South.

Maybe Anna can incorporate the garden work into the farm work done by the volunteers next summer!


No comments:

Post a Comment