Back on the farm

I know I’ve done a couple of updates already but I figured it was worth doing the whole thing and bringing you up to the present day. After all I’ve been on the farm here in Løland for 2 weeks now! Time really does pass quickly when you’re busy.

So as the title suggests I’m back volunteering on a farm/small holding, in Norway this time. This is the first of 3 volunteer placements I’ve arranged for Norway and as before I’ve used  Helpx click to see helpx website to help me set them up. This time the small holding is really at a start up level. Scott and Emilia,

bought the farm last autumn and after what sounded like a nightmare start over winter (frozen toilet waste pipe anyone) are getting to grips with building their dream.

The small holding is based here click here for map and it’s time for real country Norway. The closest big town is Bergen a good 3 hour drive and a ferry ride away. The other towns are about 2 hours away and there’s a few collections of houses with the obligatory Spar within about 30 mins drive. There are also a couple of farms and few house dotted about, but its hardly social central!

To be honest I’m a little jealous. I’ve always harbored a little dream of my own mini farm and they’ve got almost the perfect set up! To get an idea, this is the view from my bedroom window...

Anyway, the farm is about 5 acres of land around the house/chalet, with about 50 acres of forest. There’s a barn, the remains of the original house...

river frontage and a chalet/summer house which they’re currently living in. There aren’t any animals on the farm at the minute, although there are plans for rabbits, chickens and goats. Well I say there aren’t any animals but Scott and Emilia actually breed Bengal’s so there are currently a male, Odin.

A female, Freya...

and their five hyperactive kittens..

Unsurprisingly being kittens its hard to get them to stay still long enough to get a good photo, but I think you can see the cute factor! I have fallen completely in love with them and am definitely getting a couple of Bengals when I eventually settle down.

Given that there’s a lot to do to get the small holding up and running I’ve been pretty busy these past couple of weeks and I’ve been loving every minute. Just to give you an idea of the kind of things I’ve been doing I thought I’d give you a mini photo example of some my work!

So, take the barn for example, the inside walls downstairs started off looking like this...

pretty but also drafty! So, with a few extra stones, some mortar and my skills in wall building (I once built a brick BBQ and somehow managed to get it straight!) you end up with this...

and after Scott and I got busy with the limewash...

I think it looks quite pretty and the limewash helps reflect the light so its not nearly as dark in there any more.

Then you’ve got the insulation. Now I’m not going to say that I did all the insulation because Emilia did a fair bit before I got there, but I’ve definitely done at least half of the main upstairs room and part of the downstairs in the barn. There’s a bit more to go up in the next couple of days as well. Its not a straightforward job because all of the spaces between rafters are different sizes. Constantly different sizes. Also the insulation is basically made of glass fibres, which get everywhere and are pretty painful when you get them on your skin or in your eyes. Hence the reason I look like some weird mix of ninja and odd job man..

I’ve also found and relocated the strawberry patch...

It’s there honest...

See! It took a few days as there were way more plants than I’d originally thought and I had to deturf (is that a word?) the new beds before we could do anything else.

The bottom bed in that last picture is now filled and the strip of green in between the bottom two, has now been replaced with the last strawberry plants. I’m pretty impressed with myself on this one!

Other than that its been lots of digging up boulders/stones etc and removing them from the  fields, relocating blackcurrant and redcurrant bushes and general land clearance. I think I might actually be acquiring teeny, tiny muscles in my arms too! Still its not all been work, work, work. The area around the farm is excellent for gentle hiking and I’ve seen some beautiful sights. Check these out...

Not bad eh?

The only downside to hiking in this area is the fact that its pretty wet. By that I do actually mean, wet ground, squishy mud and weird boggy areas. Not, that the scenery isn’t up to much! It’s gotten so that I’ve actually been out and bought some wellie boots to give my normal hiking boots a rest. I think they might actually be starting to rot!

I’ve also managed to go swimming in the fjord, which was surprisingly warm! Although now the temperature is starting to drop its not nearly as inviting a prospect.

I’ve also managed to see some lovely sunsets...

and Scott and Emilia took me to see the Bøyabreen Glacier tongue...

which has a beautiful glacier lake at the bottom...

We also went to Huldafossen, which is another good waterfall about an hour and a half from the farm...

and a small ‘village’ museum close by...

I really do love the turf roofs.

So that pretty much brings you up to date. I’m here on the small holding until Wednesday when I head back to Bergen to catch the overnight train to Oslo. Once there I’ll be meeting up with Hui and then heading down to the 2nd farm just outside of Oslo for about 3-4 weeks. I’m also applying for jobs over the winter period so I’ll keep you posted on any good results!

Now my feet are freezing and the sun’s disappearing! I’ll catch you again soon x