Perhaps you are interested in allotment and community gardens in Sweden. Or you want to find out more about the trends in regard to local small farms and cultivations? The this is the text for you. I will give you travel tips for your Swedish trip to gardens and local farms with a focus on the small-scale.
We have previously written about traditional Swedish food and food craft, but not so much about the local gardens, cultivations and farms.
Above all, I want to highlight the initiatives that throughout different time periods as well as currently. What happened during a certain time to make us change the way we grow, cook and eat in a more sustainable way.
I will try to put together a series of articles that also touch on the Swedish love of nature and what nature gives us.
Popular movements and responses to challenges in different periods
When it comes to gardens and local plantations, there is a strong connection to popular movements in Sweden. This is especially true when it comes to allotment gardens, urban plantations and ecological initiatives. These movements can be connected with a zeitgeist as well as social and environmental changes. Common goals have been and are:
Focus on engaging people locally, which strengthens the community. It is important today but perhaps even more so during periods of war and external threats.
Self-sufficiency: For example, the EgnaHem (build your own homes) movement encouraged Swedes to have their own kitchen gardens to increase their food budget. During the world wars, it meant food security. However, today running your own kitchen garden or plantation is a way away from dependence on industrially produced food
Health and well-being: Throughout the ages, gardening and cultivation projects have created greenspaces and relaxing environments. A good example are the Allotment and Community gardens ” that started in Sweden at the beginning of the 20th century. They aimed to give city dwellers, especially the working class, the opportunity to grow their own food, enjoy nature and improve their health. Today, in the larger cities, urban gardening initiatives are popular, these projects are often run by non-profit associations. In addition, there are also other initiatives such as cooperative farming. Consumers and producers cooperate to share risks and harvests.
Make visit to a garden on your Sweden trip
Despite its climate, Sweden is a nation of gardens, parks and botanical gardens. If you start your trip in Greater Gothenburg, there is so much to see and experience. I live in Mölndal and it is a blessing to have the nature reserve Änggårdsbergen around the corner. Hike through a unique botanical museum! In addition, I have Gothenburg’s botanical garden, one of the main parks Slottsskogen and Gothenburg’s garden association at walking or biking distance. A few years ago, I signed up for a tour of the botanical garden with a focus on buds and trees. Check out green walking tours.
Änggårdsbergen North America hike, but now I’m off to look for more local parks and gardens around the country. There is a world out there. In addition to the local garden associations, and the allotment gardens, there are also entrepreneurs and farms that transform the surroundings into stunning plantations and forest gardens that you can visit or stay at. We want to bear witness to the fantastic work they do to preserve a piece of Swedish heritage. In addition these aficionados work for all of us as they try to make the world a greener and more sustainable place.
Trends on the countryside, beyond Allotment and community gardens Sweden
On our trip we also want to visit eco-villages with communal plantations in the countryside. You will learn about modern rural entrepreneurs who strive to be self-sufficient in the food they eat as a family and offer to their guests. There is a joy in making and a joy in sharing knowledge, there is also an enormous joy in eating one’s own ingredients and creating a new and exciting cuisine based on the locally produced food.
Gardens and railways
We want to take you on a journey along the railway system in southern Sweden. Sometimes you may have to get to your final destination on foot or by bicycle. However, we hope there will be a railway station nearby
Why railway?
Of course because it is a good and sustainable way to travel. In addition, there is also an exciting railway history. When the first railways were inaugurated in 1856, they planned that there would be plantings to restore areas. In 1862, a more long-term planned activity began with plantings around the railway stations. This became for many years Sweden’s largest gardening movement. Unfortunately, this national cultivation activity ended in 1972.But mainly different will recommend places that garden lovers should visit. There is so much to learn from the visionaries of yesterday and today. The idea is for the lyrics to take you through a journey through Småland, Blekinge, Skåne and Halland .Another option is to rent a motorhome from us. It will take you directly to the gardens and with a bit of luck they have or they will offer you overnight motorhome parking.
Some of the places you can visit are: Ödevata farm and Countryside hotels with lovely gardens and an aquaponic green house
Edible Forest Gardens in South Sweden
In the coming texts we will explain more about the Edible Forest Gardens. To create a a forest garden you plant in a way that the plants benefit each other as they would in a natural woodland.
Visit gardens around Sweden
Gothenburg and the west coast
- On the Koster island, in the marine national park Kosterhavet, you can join a Permaculture course at Kosterträdgårdar .
- A bit close to Gothenburg on the island of Tjörn you can learn more from Moas Blomstergård.
Railway stations Bohuslän -west coast
- To go to Koster take a train to Strömstad and then you take the ferry to the island
- To go to Tjörn the closest railway station is Stenungsund
Småland , the south center
The below farms are open to visitors. Contact them before and check out activities that are open to the public. Many of the also have small farm shops. Railway stations close by see below.
- In the Village of Vissefjärda you can visit Fiddekulla trädgårdar
- Close to the national Park Åsnen in the village of Lönashult you find Groblads Permakultur
- On your way to Kalmar make a stop at Solmarka Gård. A chance to learn more about bio dynamic farming
- At Torstamåla gård in Eriksmåla they have retreats, yoga and pickers club for those that want to harvest their own vegetables and herbs.
- Ödevata Countyside hotel & farm outside Emmaboda have aquaponic greenhouse, biochar production and green accommodations.
Railway stations in South Småland
Kronoberg country
- Alvesta station
- Diö station
- Gemla station
- Hovmantorp station
- Lammhult station
- Lessebo station
- Markaryd station
- Moheda station
- Vislanda station
- Växjö station
- Älmhult station
Kalmar county se link to web page
Gardens in Skåne, South Sweden
In the town of Höör you can find several Edible forest gardens. In Höör you will find the community School Holma (folkhögskola) that offers forest gardening courses . It is one of the first in Sweden with the aim to spread how to plant and nurture forest gardens.
Train to Höör
The train service Öresund train and Pågatåg stop at Höör train station. You can by direct train from Copenhagen.
