Farming in Norway on an island in a fjord - I remember looking at the wwoof description and thinking, wow, that must be cool. And it is! I’m quite enjoying it. It is a small place, and if they didn’t have 50 or so chickens here and sheep grazing on pasture, I wouldn’t call it a farm (yet). Although, it does look like a farm!
They just aren’t doing a ton of farming as Erik and Annette are really just getting started here. Erik has been here for about a year, he said, so they are still working on a lot of things like fencing, barn organizing, working out systems for this and that. We’re doing some varied work. Friday, the first day I was here, I helped Simon and Hannah, who are also wwoofing here, clean out the remnants of the old stables in the bottom of the barn. Later I emptied dried calendula and corn flowers out of the herb drier and helped put a new batch in. Saturday they usually take off, but we all worked anyway and did some sorting and organizing in the barn. It’s one of those jobs that will never be finished, and we didn’t really make all that much progress. Today we worked together to run a top wire along two stretches of fence and finished another section of fencing. I also accepted the responsibility for the task of caring for the chickens. It’s one of the things I’ve wanted to experience and now I get to have a taste of it.
Tending the chickens is quite easy, really. Making sure they have food and water and cleaning their poop out from under their roosts and giving them new straw. Right now we’re getting three eggs a day. There’s only a few chickens mature enough to lay. They’ve got quite a few more chickens growing up for the task, though. And one of these days they will have quite a few eggs to keep track of!
The veg garden is a decent size. They have a small diversity of stuff growing, the usual potatoes and carrots, beans, peas, beetroot, etc. There is a small greenhouse Erik constructed out of salvaged materials. They’ve got tomatoes and peppers growing well inside. It’s all well weeded and organized. The main thing they are doing differently, due to the size mainly, is mulching. Mulching with straw and seaweed! I definitely haven’t seen it before, but I had read about doing it. So it is neat to see it, and it makes sense being this close to water.
Which brings me to the beauty of the island and the area. It is one of the most unique and beautiful areas I’ve ever been. I haven’t taken that many photos, and I’m not sure I can really capture the extraordinary scenery and landscape. I must admit that I had this image of a farm on an island in a fjord in my head and this isn’t what I imagined, but I really had no idea. My image was much more steep, mountainous and rocky. I think I had that in my head because they have a herd of around 100 sheep of ancient viking breed roaming around the island that they only tend twice a year. I think the image of viking and untended sheep made me think mountains. I dunno why. On the bus ride here I also passed by some fjords that have huge mountains shooting up on either side of them. But anyway, now that I’m here the island makes way more sense as a farm island.
Not mountainous, but nicely and slightly undulating. Combined with the water all around, it is more than enough to be highly beautiful and interesting. There are trails on this end of the island. They essentially live on the northeast end of the island and are one of the last houses. The rest of the island from their house to the tip is all conservation area and sheep pasture. There’s walking trails that begin just a few meters from the house and wind through the heathlands, passing trickling streams, rocky outcroppings, old stone-wall stables, lots and lots of lush green grasses and ferns, and groups of sheep munching away. Walking around there reminds me of some scenes in the game Myst, from the first of second version. A bit surreal, but beautiful.
I’ll have to try and take more photos showing the area, as this one doesn’t do it anything near photographic justice.
It’s the first place I’ve been that have a composting toilet in the house, in place of the usual water closet toilet. It is really great to see, because it’s the way to go. They’re composting the humanure in a separate pile and using “The Humanure Handbook” for guidance. It definitely has made my mind up to have a composting toilet IN the house, not in an “outhouse.” Other than that, and absolutely no TV, the house is pretty typical. Hot water, refrigerator, electric stove, etc.
That’s about all I have to post right now. It’s getting late and I’m tired! Also, the other chore I signed up for was breakfast. So, I get up every morning to have breakfast ready at 8 am. It’s just porridge and tea, so not a big deal, I just have to get up on time and do it! Nite nite …