In 2009
we started growing and processing fruits and herbs in our own garden in the small village Verkstrand, in
Finby, South Finland.
Research, information processing and information flow within human
health care is an integrated part of our concept.
In early spring, after a dark and cold winter, it is a delight to experience the flowering cherry tree. - We can sympathize with Ranevsky in the famous book of Anton Chekhov: "If the cherry orchard has to be sold, then I want to be sold along with it".
Although we are a small family business we have a field of vision
directed globally. We want to point out the importance of
sustainability and do our share for it. When other companies boast of
being big and having so and so many employees, we pride ourselves of
being small and pretty. Our Finiah spitz Roffelina keep away harmful animals from our plantage. Our chicken give us eggs.
We have an idea of "slow business".
Not only the nordic climate but sometimes also bureaucracy, dirigisme and envy throw a spanner in the works of innovative enterprising. Against all odds we have succeeded in establishing a productive cherry garden, which is the only professional cherry plantage with product processing in Finland. Our growing was for many years official organic but we got tired of the bureaucracy and decided to become an EWB-garden (EWB = Ecological Without Bureaucracy).
While rambling the plantage there has come up some thoughts of the future. Some of them you will find in the link future of the rural life (in Finnish).
To get a good harvest it is necessary for the pollination to be successful. For that purpose we have our own bee-keeping, which also gives us honey and wax. From the wax we make candles.
In addition to cherries we also grow plums, blackcurrants, chokeberries, hazelnuts and grapes. Our biggest investment is the cherry orchard and we experiment a lot with different species of cherries to see how they manage in our climate and also in various microclimates.
We make jam for sale of our cherries, blackcurrants and plums. There are no additives in our products. Our honey and jams can be bought from local shops and also direct from our farmyard. We also sell through REKO, the system where producers, using Facebook, offer consumers an opportunity to obtain food directly from the producers at regular intervals.
We want to point out that it has scientifically been shown that cherries have many favourable health effects.
It is
generally asserted that wine-growing at our latitudes is not possible
because of the cold climate in Finland. One of our projects is to test open-air
grape growing in our garden. This is a long standing project that was started in 2010. It has taken us many years to find out which grape species can survive in our local microclimate. We can now make wine - for own use - of our grapes. In the autumn of 2017 we got an harvest that enabled us to make our own "arctic" red wine.
Bible Eccles 9:7:
Go, eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, because God has already approved your works.
